Does ¿vale? mean anything to Mexicans?
Lee las preguntas y pulsa los botones. ¿vale? -> okay?, all right? Does it mean the same thing in Mexico? Ok? All right? Gracias.
13 Answers
Does anyone know the origin of the use of "vale" in Spain?
It comes from Latin valere, meaning "to be strong or healthy, to have power". In Latin this verb was used to wish people to be healthy as a means of saying goodbye -a kind of "I wish you stay well and healthy". This "vale" was also used in Latin at the end of a letter, which nowadays is disappearing. Notice that a word like "invalid" means in- (negative prefix) plus "valid", from Latin "validus", meaning "healthy".
The idea of "having power" in Latin was extended "to be albe to do things, to be worth", applied to the value (same root) of things; thus "valer" in modern Spanish. From this root we have words like "value", "valid", "avail", "equivalent", "valiant", "evaluate", "valour", "convalesce", "invalid", "prevalent", "valetudinarian"...
The expression "vale" used in Spain to mean OK is relatively recent (about 50 years, maybe more), since many of our grandparents never used it. Some people think it started in Madrid, where it was very popular while it wasn't used that much in many other places. One of the intransitive meanings of "valer" in Spanish is "to be adecuate / acceptable / valid / helpful", so it is not that strange to conceive that "vale" can be understood as "It is acceptable or adecuate" in terms of agreement.
No. Los españoles son los únicos que usan Vale en lugar de OK o Está bien. Para el resto de los hispanoparlantes, incluyendo a los mexicanos, vale signfica to cost, be worth or to mind/care.
Vale un ojo de la cara .... it costs or it's worth an arm and a leg.
Me vale (un pepino or an expletitive)... I could not not care less about...
We use to say "¿sale?" however some people also say "¿vale?". Another word is "¿va?" (I'm Mexican)
I just remembered ¿sale y vale? to mean OK? Also ¿va que va? / ¿zaz?
Hmmm, I don't know about that
somebody also said one cannot use coger in other countries, it is always rude, and not really true, Cubans use it the same way we do, for example.
I am calling mister wonderful green Gekko to this thread, and our friends from Venezuela and Chile
Cuando estaba en Mexico, usaria "vale" en lugar de "está bien" y todo me entendían raspberry ... Entonces, cuál es la respuesta correcta?
It seems very popular to say "We don't say this or that in Latin America".
In my opinion, Lazarus is on the right track here. I agree that there are no absolutes.
Where I grew up in Latin America, "vale" is normally used in a different way, closer to "bud":
"¡Vale, vamos al cine!" - "What say we go to the movies, bud?"
However, if somebody there uses an expression like "Lee las preguntas y pulsa los botones. ¿vale?", nobody will question it. Is is not the way people usually speak in that country, but it is not a weird, unheard of expression.
I'd say that as time passes, I am getting the impression that the use of "vale" to mean "Ok?" is becoming more widespread and common everywhere, as people hear it on TV, and see it on the Internet, Twitter and the such. I have certainly heard many Latinos use it in recent times.
It seems very popular to say "We don't say this or that in Latin America". As Heidi said, I've heard hundreds of times people saying that "coger" is not used in Latin America except in a rude way, which is not true. In some countries it is a normal word used by everyone, while in others is generally avoided, even though they know it is used sometimes without a sexual meaning; and finally, there are countries where it is only used in a rude way.
Roberto Carlos Cortés remató fuerte, el arquero del Cali no logró coger la pelota
Source: Colombian Newspaper (El Colombiano)
Back to the "vale" in Mexico...
Mexico has a great variety of terms used in different regions. "Vale" meaning "OK" is never heard where I am in the state of Jalisco; however, "OK" is used constantly.
About thirty years ago a Mexican from the state of Morelos told me that "sale y vale" can be used, but never "vale" by itself. However, I have not heard that here in Jalisco.
No. Los españoles son los únicos que usan Vale en lugar de OK o Está bien.
Hmmm, I don't know about that
somebody also said one cannot use coger in other countries, it is always rude, and not really true, Cubans use it the same way we do, for example.
I am calling mister wonderful green Gekko to this thread, and our friends from Venezuela and Chile
Vale in Spanish esp in Spain is used like Ok in English
Cuando estaba en Mexico, usaria "vale" en lugar de "está bien" y todo me entendían 
... Entonces, cuál es la respuesta correcta?
Does anyone know the origin of the use of "vale" in Spain?
Vale, vale.
This is funny...I just heard a Mexican say "vale" in the sense of "OK" to his girlfriend a couple of hours ago... 
Nos vemos más tarde... ¿hecho? (otra palabrita para "vale")
