Dictionary error:aclarar

Question

It's listed as "to carlify". Everyone knows "to carlify" is "carlifirar".

Hehe...I thought YOU had the typo...my eyes showed it as correct in the dictionary until I saw valerie´s post. - webdunce, Nov 13, 2009

lol. Vamos a aclaramos mejor. - jeezzle, Nov 13, 2009

Answer 1

OMG you guys are missing the point. It's a typo. In the dictionary. It says

CARLify

As in, to make more like Carl.

We should Carl-ify the dictionary and make it more like Carlos, who has been proofreading the Spanish version of this site and is GREAT at catching errors. jejeje

Good catch. - webdunce, Nov 13, 2009

Answer 2

Look at it...it says carlify! It's misspelled! Carlifirar was a joke...everyone knows carlify is carlifirar....joke..... No one has a sense of humor tonight I guess.

I do I do I do!!! jejeje I was typing at the same time you were, I guess! - Valerie, Nov 13, 2009

O.K. , you got us. Sometimes we study so hard we get too serious. Thanks for lightening the mood. - billy-jones, Nov 13, 2009

Answer 3

Ay, caramba, que me rindo...estoy rendida...me duelen hasta los huesos...y - fíjate que gasté mis últimas fuerzas corporales en gatear por el suelo para alcanzar esos diccionarios...No me digas que caí en la trampa...

Answer 4

I am not familiar with this word but always keep in mind that Spanish has many words which have the same or a similar meaning, just like English. I have a friend who thinks that if he asks a Spanish speaking person "¿como esta? they must answer "muy bein." It is a language and that person can answer any way they choose. Just think of all the ways you could answer the question "how are you?" in English. You could say virtually anything, from "fine thanks" to "my finger hurts." By the way aclarar has over 12 meanings, one of which is "illuminate" which is pretty close to "clarify". I have seen some Spanish words that have over 50 definitions. I hope I didn't sound harsh in giving this answer. Best of luck.

Answer 5

I looked in 3 additional dictionaries (Wordsworth bilingual and Norma Spanish to Spanish and Grijalvo Spanish to Spanish). "Aclarar" does mean the same thing as "clarificar".

At first I wondered if there was a difference in meaning, in that one might mean to clarify thoughts and the other mean to clarify chemicals or liquids, but that thought fell apart when both the Spanish to Spanish dictionaries used both meanings for both words.

Answer 6

clarify = clarificar

Answer 7

Jeezzle:

I looked at four dictionaries. That would be the two that SpanishDict uses, my own "Big Fat" Collins and the Real Acedamica Española. Every one of them state that one of the meanings of "aclarar" is "to clarify".

Sometimes words have synonyms. Consider the similarity between "ultimately" and "finally". Two words can have the same meaning.

Please don't cry "Error" just yet. I don't think the sky is falling.

Or, maybe we shoild just keep this secret from the people who make the dictionaries. Whaddya think??