Sour or Bitter: Confusion about La Palabra del Día

Question

I want to make sure I fully understand the word of the day. (I started to post this under the 'official' thread La palabra del día: agrio posted by Issabela but I didn't want to cause distraction from the purpose of her post.)

I have read up on this at SpanishDict (agrio), Collins (agrio) and RAE (agrio)

My understanding is that it basically means two things (although not limited to these two):

--1. sour taste -literally (i.e. vinegar, citrus, etc.)

--2. bitter, smart/rude -figuratively (i.e. remark, attitude)

My understanding is that agrio translates to 'bitter' only in the figurative sense. So if I wanted to say, "A bitter dispute arose." I would translate that as "Surgió una agria disputa."

However, some of the examples being posted use the English word 'bitter' for the literal flavor or taste. Wouldn't this be the Spanish word amargo? So would "La leche agria" be "Sour milk" or "Bitter milk"?

Would someone please help?

I was looking at the same information...good question. - aloshek, Nov 19, 2009

Answer 1

Yes chapa, a lot of this expressions can't be translated literally. They just sound weird in Spanish.

I don't think I would use the word agrio in your example above. "Surgió una agria disputa." --- I would say "Surgió una disputa acalorada" = a heated argument

For milk, you are correct, we use "leche agria."

It is good that people bring up these points, this way it helps everybody learn how to properly use words and expressions.

On that same thread MoKay just brought to my attention an expression I had misused while making a correction for somebody else.

A lot of people here make mistakes, thanks for keeping your eyes opened and pointing them out.

Answer 2

For milk, you are correct, we use "leche agria."

So does that mean "Sour milk" or "Bitter milk"?

I appreciate robertico's comments, but are there any other comments that could help me understand the word agrio?

sour milk --- leche vieja like Fran said - 0068e2f4, Nov 19, 2009

Answer 3

For what it is worth, "agridulce" as in Chinese food, means "sweet and sour". I would therefore agree that if old milk is called leche agria, then it should be called sour milk in English, which it is, and not bitter milk. Who says anything other than sour milk? Now, butter milk - that is something entirely different.......