What's your favorite Spanish/English phrase?

Question

The Community Phrasebook has been up for over and month and we already have over 1,000 entries. Way to go! But we need 5,000 by August, so we need to pump up the participation. Any time you see a cool new phrase or compound word, go ahead and plug it into the phrasebook!

Let's see how many phrases we can get this week! My goal is 30 phrases. What's yours?

Now it's very far from your goal (76 phrases) :) - Fidalgo, Apr 26, 2010

I attempted to submit two entries. One disappeared within the first couple days, but the other remained on hold for weeks and just recently disappeared. I guess they were rejected? Can it be arranged so that an automated notification be sent? - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

Also, I cannot find any record of what I attempted to submit. Can this somehow be added? As a sidenote, I think the phrasebook is a wonderful idea! ¡Gracias! - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

You should see a tab at the top of the phrasebook that says "My Contributions" with the status of each phrase on the right. - Paralee, Apr 26, 2010

Yes, this is where I was able to follow the first for about two days and the second for a few weeks. - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

Answer 1

Great post, Paralee!

The three moderators are working hard to review all the submissions.

Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Please type carefully and proofread before you submit! I totally understand having trouble typing correctly (anyone who knows me can vouch for this!), but when phrases are submitted with typing errors it obviously takes time to correct them.

2. Make sure that your phrase really exists. Remember that some things are not direct translations! For example - this is something that a colleague of mine was chuckling about many years ago - "voy a mosca a Madrid" does not mean "I am going to fly to Madrid"! It's a chuckle to read these things, but - once again - if we get 3000 submissions in one week and we are doing grammatical and spelling changes, this takes time.

Thanks for all the submissions - keep 'em coming, well typed and well researched so you can be confident that they are valid phrases!

Very good points Mountaingirl! Please be careful when you type! And be patient with our new moderators! They are so awesome! - Paralee, Apr 26, 2010

Here's a laugh - I almost posted this with two ridiculous typing errors! Easy to do if a person doesn't proofread! :) - mountaingirl123, Apr 26, 2010

Thanks, again, for all the hard work! - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

Answer 2

Paralee,

I think that many members do not realize that they can add terminology, even single words for many topics that they may already be knowledgeable in.

I have added several words related to music and medicine. I verified this with Mountaingirl, who assured me that this was something you were looking for. I'm sure that there are many people out there who can contribute technical terms for the areas they are expert in.

For example, I added the word "bemol" which is the Spanish word for "flat". This is a musical term, which is not listed in the regular dictionary here. I think if people were aware that they can do this and were also aware of the many categories they can choose from, you might get tons more answers.

Related to this topic, I was wondering whether these categories would eventually be listed. For instance, if I had never been to this site, but was interested in learning some Spanish words related to music, I don't think I would necessarily know that this information was available. Also, how many times do people come to the forum in search of medical definitions. I think if they saw a heading, tab, etc. labeled "medicine", they would be able to find what they were looking for much easier.

I really appreciate all of the work that you guys are doing to get this phrasebook up and running. I know it can't be easy sifting through all of the suggestions, sentences, etc. Muchas gracias to all who are involved!

Great post, Nicole - mountaingirl123, Apr 26, 2010

Another question...I have submitted close to 150 entries. Should I keep adding more or wait to see what happens with the ones that are still pending? - Nicole-B, Apr 26, 2010

Gracias Patti, You are always so encouraging! :) - Nicole-B, Apr 26, 2010

Keep submitting, although check under "buscar/search" to see if they are duplicates. We're starting to see duplicates, which is understandable. - mountaingirl123, Apr 26, 2010

Answer 3

Dando y dando, pajarito volando.

Scratch my back, I will scratch yours.

Answer 4

I have a few questions regarding phrasebook entries.

1.What if a few simple grammatical mistakes are made in the entry up for submission? Would the entire submission be rejected for the mistakes? Would it be sent back to the submitting user for correction? Would the administrator make the corrections?

2.Can an automated notification system be put into place that makes the submitting user aware of the submission being accepted/rejected, as well as any reasons for rejection?

3.Can attempts at duplicate entries be somehow immediately recognized and made known to the submitting user? (I did search my attempted entries prior to submitting, but maybe it was slightly different or something)

1. the admins make the corrections and submit it; 2. i'll ask chris about putting a notification in place; 3. i'll ask if this is possible since we did it with the forum, but all phrases are welcome! even tiny differences are worth nothing and having. - Paralee, Apr 26, 2010

Okay, thanks. :-) - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

Great questions Dan! - Nicole-B, Apr 26, 2010

The moderators have no idea who submitted which phrase. We have not deleted any, to my knowledge. Moderators make corrections if the phrase can be understood. - mountaingirl123, Apr 26, 2010

I am hoping that the process can be improved so that status notifications may be automatically sent out with reasons for rejection, as well. Perhaps the moderator will have a radio button to select "Already previously submitted" as a reason for rejection. - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

By the way, I just want to clarify that I am happy about the two new moderators we have. I am sure that you both are very busy and are doing a great job! :-D - danrivera, Apr 26, 2010

Answer 5

"Jumped the Gun" (precipitarse)

Mary jumped the gun by starting the test before the teacher told her to begin.

"No way" (de ninguna manera)

There's no way I'm going to do that.

"I'm all ears" (soy todo oídos)

What did you want to talk about? I'm all ears.

"Beat me to the punch" (adelantarse)

I was going to ask you out but he beat me to the punch.

"Time flies" (tiempo vuela?)

Time flies when you are having fun.

Hi Marianne - put them in the Phrasebook - you get points for it :))) - ian-hill, Apr 26, 2010

Answer 6

When I was a kid living in Mexico City the first time, my best friend, Luís, would always say, and it has stuck with me all these years, ¡Me lleva la fregada! (Cuando ya estás harto. When you are at the height of frustration).

2 favorites in British English: "I'll have a bash" - "I'll try"......................If someone mentions a person's name insinuating they might be well known, and you don't know this person, you say, Who's [ie: Rachel] when she's at home?