"Que va" y otros de Ernest Hemingway...
I have been reading Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", which of course takes place in Spain during the Spanish civil war. I have found the many Spanish utterances Hemingway included to be delightfully interesting, and a great addition to my Spanish language education, as it seems to display cultural slang that I have not been exposed to before. I have primarily been learning Latin American Spanish, and so perhaps these are things that are specific to Spain, but I am curious as to the meanings of a few of these phrases: (I apologize that many may be vulgar, as I understand that Hemingway often chose to censor the English in his writing, but allowed the Spanish depict "obscenities")
¡Qué va!
¡Me cago en la leche!
These are the ones that I am thinking of right now. If anyone can explain the meanings, and/or if they are relative today, and in which cultures, I would appreciate it!
Also, if others who are familiar with Hemingway can think of other examples and list them, that would be great too. I will continue to post as I come across others. Thanks!
1 Answer
¡Qué va! = Go on!, Get out of here! No way!. An indication of disbelief or disagreement, not telling someone to leave. Very common when I was a teenager in Caracas in the 1970's. I don't know if it's still in use or not.
