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How to Explain the use of vosotros to refer to an individual in the movie, "El Laberinto del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth)?

The movie "El Laberinto del Fauno" by Guillermo del Toro was set in Spain, with actors well-known in Spanish film, but was created by a Mexican crew (del Toro is Mexican). In the movie, a Faun often speaks to a young girl who he believes is a…
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What might this phrase be? "De un lyr yo soy esclavo desde oy ano d 1778"

I have an old carved coconut, with a Spanish phrase carved into it, which I think says: De un lyr yo soy esclavo desde oy ano d 1778 Or at least, that is my guess at the phrase - you can see what is actually carved in the attached image. Can…
Steve
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What is the slang meaning of 'tigre' in Dominican Republic?

When I was in the Dominican Republic, I heard men referred to as tigres... I took it to mean that they were flirts, but I never really got a good definition. Can anyone explain how calling a man a 'tigre' would translate into English? In Dominican…
Meeka
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9
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¿Qué significa "a poco"?

¿Qué significa la expresión "a poco" usada en México? Por ejemplo: ¿A poco? ¿A poco sí?/¿A poco no? ¿A poco no has hecho la tarea?
Alfredo Osorio
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Why does “a pesar de” signify “in spite of”?

In Spanish and Portuguese, a pesar de means in (de)spite of. But in both languages, pesar has never meant spite – see quotation below on the etymology of spite. pesar hails From Old Spanish pesar, from Vulgar Latin *pēsāre, from Latin pēnsāre, …
user10864
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2 answers

What is the difference between "regresar," "volver," and "retornar"?

I was reading an excerpt of Mi país inventado by Isabel Allende when I came across the word "retornar." I noticed the word while reading the following: Fuera de Chile aguardé durante años que se reinstaurara la democracia para retornar, pero…
Lisa Beck
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What's an uncumbersome way to translate "[he was not] that much of a cartoon supervillain" into Spanish?

I drafted a little 4-minute speech in English which I translated into Spanish and have so far presented once online to a Spanish tutor of mine. Near the beginning of the speech I have somewhat of a throw-away line in which I say something silly…
Adinkra
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9
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Does "carné de conducir" involve meat?

I'm an English developer working on some multilingual software, and I'm just loading in some translations for Spanish (which I believe have been translated by an actual Spanish person). One of the terms is driving licence. This has come back as…
Simon
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¿Cuál es la palabra más generalmente aceptada para decir "calzado deportivo"?

Desde hace mucho tiempo he tenido esta duda, pero recientemente en esta pregunta nuevos zapatos por/para España? me surgió nuevamente. Yo siempre creí que la palabra "zapatilla" era la más generalmente aceptada para decir calzado deportivo. Que…
Dzyann
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Idiom for wrong place at the wrong time

Is there a Spanish (Castilian) idiom equivalent to the phrase "being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Or is simply "en el lugar equivocado en el momento equivocado" commonly used?
Ron Trunk
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¿Cómo traducir "responsive" al español como atributo personal de quien responde de manera ágil, rápida y eficaz?

Me gustaría saber cuál es el término que más se ajusta en español al adjetivo inglés responsive He encontrado una pregunta similar: ¿Cómo traducir "responsive" al español?, pero estoy buscando otra acepción de la palabra. Mientras que la pregunta…
FGSUZ
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4 answers

Spanish equivalent to "he can dish it out but he can't take it"

There's an idiom in English for a person who criticises others but when someone else criticises them, they don't like it. Definition from Cambridge English dictionary: Someone can dish it out but he or she can’t take it: someone easily criticizes…
The Dark Side
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Etimología de la frase popular "Hoy Canta Gardel"

En Chile, es muy frecuente oír el dicho popular "Hoy canta Gardel", aludiendo al singular artista argentino Carlos Gardel. Particularmente se utiliza como forma de mencionar el día de pago o bien cuando se sabe que se recibirá dinero. Al respecto,…
Arnaldo Gaspar
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9
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2 answers

How does the concept of a "buff" work in Spanish?

I am writing about hobbies. The hobbies are being listed as short headlines, with an article to accompany the headline. In English, I would use the term "buff" to make it more obvious what the heading is referring to. For example: Architecture…
big_smile
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9
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A combo insult in Mexican Spanish

I'm writing a screenplay with a Mexican American character in it. At one point she becomes extremely annoyed by news from work and launches into a string of insults in her native language to express vexation. My knowledge of Spanish is…
Alexander
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