quedarse manco - Is there a figurative sense, or modismo?

Question

Claro que usted tampoco se queda manco, Daniel

Daniel has arrived home late (just after midnight), and his friend makes the statement quoted above just after he has declaired:

"Yo, tampoco duermo mucho. Dos, tres horas a lo más."

I looked up "manco" (which usually means one-armed) and found this:

• MODISMO: no ser manco (= astuto) to be nobody's fool.

I also know that quedarse is often equivalent to and can be translated as ser. Nonetheless the context does not help me understand what the friend means in exclaiming to Daniel "que usted tampoco se queda manco...".

Any ideas?

Answer 1

It is a common idiom where "Usted tampoco se queda manco" is not too different from "You are not exactly below the standard we are setting here", i.e. you are not that bad yourself.

Answer 2

Yes, lazarus1907, I agree that "You are not exactly bad yourself" is quite the same as "to be good at something." ...and in American English the expression is also a complement - one which includes a hint in it of surprise and admiration.

Moreover, your translation fits the context better - Daniel Sempere's late arrival is as or more unusual than his friend's still being there (in Daniel's father's bookstore).

Interesting, too, I posted this almost a day ago - without a "feel" for this expression at all. And now I read it and wonder why I did not immediately understand.

So thank you again.

Answer 3

Thank you, lazarus1907. I suspected that since "quedarse" may often be translated as "to be" then "no ser manco" might just be the equivalent to "no quedarse manco". But with "modismo's", suspecting / guessing doesn't always work

Another translation that my Collins gave me comes yet closer, I think, to what you explain:

no ser manco en algo -->to be pretty good at sth

Oddly enough, this latter entry is not marked as "Modismo"....

I will surely have to read the entire page a few more times until I "truly" understand. But I think I will sooner or later now be able to "get it", as we say in American English.

When you say "You are not exactly bad yourself", at least in England, it is actually understood as a complement, so "to be pretty good" is not too far off. - lazarus1907, Feb 4, 2011

compliment - 0074b507, Feb 5, 2011

..whoops. I will not use "edit" to correct this but let it stand as a lesson for our non-native English speakers to show how easy it is for us, too, to make mistakes in English:-) Thank you!! - Janice, Feb 5, 2011