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Although the origins of 'moot point', appear to have the opposite meaning, I'm wondering does anybody have a short phrase in Spanish for the modern meaning:

something irrelevant or not valid for discussion.

JoulSauron
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Keith
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  • Are you also looking for a Spanish phrase for the other meaning of "moot point"? That is, a point that doesn't make any difference. – Walter Mitty Mar 23 '13 at 23:16
  • No. In fact http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moot_point gives 2 distinct and nearly opposite meanings, so the 'other' meaning would not be a point that doesn't make any difference, but rather a point that is relevant and on the table for discussion. The translation I ask for and what you describe are the same meaning. – Keith Apr 07 '13 at 17:26
  • La definición que das acerca de moot point no coincide con ninguna de las que encontré. El término se usa para algo controversial, que es distinto de irrelevante. Esta pregunta merece ser eliminada por desinformación – tac Oct 04 '23 at 02:16
  • @tac moot has different meanings on the two sides of the Atlantic, a fact which leads to confusion. For me it means not decided, open for debate (originally in a moot court) but I understand that in North America it means decided, not open to debate. – mdewey Oct 04 '23 at 13:53
  • @mdewey Either it is decided or not decided, that doesn't mean it is irrelevant , out of scope, or not to the point – tac Oct 04 '23 at 17:10

5 Answers5

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The closest I know of is no tiene que ver

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¿Qué tal decir que algo está fuera de lugar?

OnaBai
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In Mexico we also use "eso no va al caso" o "ni al caso".

From RAE:

caso

ni ~.

  1. expr. coloq. U. para indicar que algo no se toma o no debe ser tomado en consideración.
Alfredo Osorio
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  • Eso no viene al caso. (Cuba). – qPCR4vir Mar 25 '13 at 13:25
  • I am, in fact, trying to translate my own poetry. So it's very difficult, as 'moot point' even conjures up images of the kind of person who would use the phrase. This is good, although in over 10 years in Mexico, it never entered my lexicon. – Keith Apr 07 '13 at 17:28
  • Eso no viene al caso o cuento (España) – OnaBai Apr 07 '13 at 17:46
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One way to say it could be:

Un argumento inválido.

Nicolás Ozimica
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Paul
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  • Que un argumento sea o no sea válido no tiene nada que ver con lo que está preguntando el OP. La relevancia o la controversia no son equivalentes ni de cerca respecto de la validez. – tac Oct 04 '23 at 02:18
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In general, I'd simply choose irrelevante.

That -of course- means irrelevant, which might not be exactly equivalent to moot point.
But, as a general translation, it seems to me more appropiate than other proposed expressions (that might be better in special cases).

leonbloy
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