outdated sayings
(I am english speaking + learning spanish.) Please give comments on 1) my attempts at questions using spanish, then 2) if saying are still commonly used
tengo muchos diccionarios de español-a-íngles, y alguna expresiones me parece "old-fashioned" [i have many english-to-spanish dictionaries and it seems to me many of the "sayings" are out-of-date....]
Does anyone still actually use any of these terms? And if so, what age groups? [Hace quienes todavía usar estas palabras? Y que así, cual grupos de gente?]
OUTDATED TERMS? CORRECT, o, ¿ incorrecto transduciendo? 1) de fija = surely 2) ¡mecachis! or ¡cielos! = heavens! 3) ¡menos mal! = lucky break 4) ni rey ni roque = nobody 5) ¡allá él/ella! = that's his/her business! 6) hacer de las suyas = to be up to ones old tricks 7) ¡trato hecho! = it's a deal! 8) Ser de cajón = ??? one dictionary says "obvious" one says "just the thing" or "in vogue"
4 Answers
? 1) de fija = surely I never heard this one before
2) ¡mecachis! or ¡cielos! = heavens…mechanis is new to me. ¡cielos meaning “oh! Heavens is still use but not by teens.
3) ¡menos mal! = lucky break …..currently in use.
4) ni rey ni roque = nobody …never heard this one before
5) ¡allá él/ella! = that's his/her business!............still in use.
6) hacer de las suyas = to be up to ones…still in use
¡trato hecho! = it's a deal! Still in use
8) Ser de cajón = ??? one dictionary says "obvious" one says "just the thing" or "in vogue" never heard this one until now.
What about these makes them seem out-of-date to you, machamaria? Usually, the dictionary will mark a word or expression as "anticuado" or "formal" if it is not in general use.
I did find ¡Hecho! (= de acuerdo) -> agreed!, it's a deal! under "Hecho", but the first entry for "trato" reads:
1 (= acuerdo) deal
¡Trato hecho! It's a deal!
...so that makes me think that it is probably still commonly enough heard in normal discourse. But it seems to me that to have the feeling for that subtlety in a language, a person would have to be a long time in the country where the language is spoken.
A native Spanish speaker will be more helpful. The rest of us have to depend on the dictionary.
Interesting phrases and a great question. ¡allá ellá¡ certainly trips off the tongue. Ni rey ni roque reminds me of the English phrase, neither fish nor fowl. While it doesn't mean the same thing as nobody it may be closer to the intent of the Spanish expression. ¡menos mal! Is a rather pessimistic way of saying good luck, literally meaning less bad. Interesting stuff.
Expresiones fuera de moda, anticuadas, en desuso (old fashioned, old, no longer used). Now for your examples:
1) De fija -- I've never heard it but I can infer it means for sure
2) ¡mecachis! or ¡cielos! =*heavens! Sounds good.
3) ¡menos mal! = lucky break. OK. It can also mean Thank God!
4) ni rey ni roque = nobody --- I am not sure what this means
5) ¡allá él/ella! = that's his/her business! --- Perfect!
6) hacer de las suyas = to be up to ones old tricks --- Perfect!
7) ¡trato hecho! = it's a deal! --- Perfect!
8) Ser de cajón = To be perfectly logical.
