oops - can this be right? google gave me bad word
How would you say "That sucks!" as we mean it in English without it being a bad word or expression?
9 Answers
"That sucks!" as we mean it in English without it being a bad word or expression
Probably the translation/explanation that you found via Google means exactly what the English expression means. Welcome to the world of people who (sometimes for years) repeat words/expressions that they have heard without ever bothering to find out what their real meanings are and then discover the meanings to be not at all what they expected.
The OED labels "suck" (as you have used it) as "coarse slang" (almost certainly, what you intend by "bad" word). Of course, many speakers (not just those of English) simply repeat the words/phrases that they have heard without ever taking the trouble to find out exactly what they mean (simply assuming that they mean whatever the listener interprets them as meaning).
When you have large (huge, actually) numbers of speakers doing this, the "meanings" of words can change. 30-40 years ago, "That sucks!" was considered to be an obscene equivalent of "That is disagreeable/unpleasant/distasteful" (but with a very specific meaning). Yet, in the course of only slightly more than a single generation, we have people (English speakers) using this phrase with no idea of its original meaning.
Ah, you have discovered that an expression that has passed into widely accepted use in English in fact has quite vulgar origins. If I had used that expression when I was a teenager I would have been severely punished.
I agree that you will have to make do with a somewhat watered down translation if you want to avoid vulgar language in translating "that sucks" into Spanish.
But I would also urge you to consider your audience when you use the English expression. Some of your older listeners might still find it offensive.
Well, considering the English phrase uses a bad word that's not surprising. We're just so used to hearing it we've forgotten what it really means.
"Bad" words are measured in the ear of the beholder.
That sucks ............ Eso no se vale (weak) Eso es una m***a (stronger)
Well, do they have something more like "That's a bummer!" ? I don't want to use profanity - even if its well known/used.
I´ll try to avoid bad words:
Vaya bazofia! or Qué porquería!
Yes, I'd also say "¡es una m***a !"
It's difficult to translate that without using "bad words", at least without toning it down somewhat. I'd go for stuff like: "menudo bajón", kind of like "what a downer", but that isn't a faithful translation; when I think of "that sucks" it's mostly bad words that come to mind.
¡miércoles!
