Greetings and replies

Question

I´ve come across some expressions that I did not know before. Please check me out.

¿Cómo esta? - No me puedo quejar = I can´t complain.

Voy tirando = I´m OK - I´ve been worse. (I´m glad I got that sorted out as to me tirar is to pull and I would hate to think I had said to someone I´m on the pull.)

Tirando on it´s own I´m not sure - would this just be OK?

La verdad es que mal = not sure but would it be something along the lines of the truth is not good?

Thank you

Answer 1

The three are perfect.

Tirando is a very usual expression for saying.... pse! so-so

pse - please explain. so using tirando would be like saying así, así? - caza, Sep 29, 2010

Roughly, yes it is. Más o menos. Ni fu ni fa. Neither specially good, nor bad. Going, conformed with the life. - cogumela, Sep 29, 2010

Tirando in this context has a different meaning than pulling, according to the RAE: "Durar o mantenerse trabajosamente". So it's basically like saying "still hanging on". - bill1111, Sep 29, 2010

You are right, Bill, but I only wanted to express that it is often colloquially used in not so critical context, meaning (we live without luxury, but actually we're fine) - cogumela, Sep 29, 2010

Answer 2

Why is it "No me puedo quejar" and not "No puedo quejar"?

Well I´m not terribly sure - probably because it´s referring to "myself" as not complaining. Anybody else please? - caza, Oct 10, 2010

PS I was actually learning parrot fashion from a list on the blackboard and had not come across these particular expressions before. - caza, Oct 10, 2010

I asked a spanish friend and he confirmed what you're saying, that you need to refer to yourself ^.^ Not obvious to me, we don't do it in that way in swedish. - okiaji, Oct 11, 2010

Answer 3

Any further thoughts on a colloquial meaning for "La verdad es que mal" anyone? I´m thinking of something like "well not really very good" in the context of "How are you?".

Interestingly enough all these expressions came up in a mixed ability class as a form of revision and none of us were familiar with them.

Answer 4

those are true spanish words

Answer 5

Thank you so much for this post. I have learned far more in a few moments about

ordinary greetings and ways of expresing oneself colloquially than I have in 6 months of study.

I would like to see more of this type of discussion because it puts a human face and

voice on a flat text, especially what joyce was saying about kissing a person twice

on meeting for the first time , I do that here and often wondered if that was the

custom in spain. thank you all for enlightening me.

Answer 6

I continue to need work on all of my choices for polite interaction on greeting people.

I first learned when meeting someone to say, "mucho gusto." This means "with much pleasure," or, "it is very much a pleasure to meet you."

Then, I moved to Madrid and learned that "much gusto" is a very Latin American way of greeting someone new, and not done here.

Here, it is more appropriate to say, "encantada" (if you are a woman speaking), or "encantado" (if you are a man). This means, "I am enchanted to meet you."

When someone else says "encantado/a" and kisses you twice, as is the custom, it is also okay to say, "lo mismo," meaning "the same to you."

Thanks Joyce but I was atcually asking about the examples in my post that I was´nt clear about. Yours are also useful to adding to my greetings vocab. We use mucho gusto y el gusto es mío here in Southern Spain Also igualmente as lo mismo. - caza, Sep 29, 2010

I don't know about "mucho gusto" being a latin american thing, it is used throughout Spain as well. As for replying to "encantado" or "mucho gusto" you can say "lo mismo digo". - bill1111, Sep 29, 2010