Explain this use of por ahi

Question

"Juanita, dicen por ahí que hablas muy bien inglés, ¿a que no?"

Gekkosan said it was "somewhere or other" like, por ahi supe que eres buen hombre....... I heard you were a good guy, but here it seems like it just doesn't exist. IE Juanita, they say you speak English well, don't they?

Secondly, ¿a que no?" and ¿a que sí? here just mean, don't they? and right? don't they, but they often mean, I bet you do and I bet you don't?

I stole this phrase from another site, that had limited information to offer.

Gracias.

Three excellent answers. I think it should be pretty clear by now. :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 2, 2011

Answer 1

Ahí = a specific location (of any size)

Por ahí = somewhere unspecified if you go through the location looking for it

1. prep. Precede a la conjunción que en fórmulas interrogativas con una idea implícita de apuesta o desafío. ¡A que no te atreves! ¿A que no lo sabes?

Filling the gaps:

¿A que no? = ¿(Puedo apostar) A que no (es verdad)?

¿A que es preciosa? = ¿((No apostarías) A que es preciosa?

¿A que se cae? = ¿(Qué te apuestas) A que se cae?

In the past it was more common to say "¿Apostamos a que es ella?" and sentences like that, but shortening them is a very common thing, and it does not necessarily mean a real bet with money, but just an emphatic way to challenge people to confirm your views on something. The above sentences probably translate into English as "isn't it?" and "Isn't she beautiful?"

Answer 2

Laz, excellent answer, but I slightly disagree about this one:

¿A que es preciosa? - Sí lo es

¿((Te atreverías) a (negar) que es preciosa? Sí, me atrevería ???

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¿Verdad que es preciosa? Sí, es verdad

You are right, but it was only an attempt at making sense out of it. The thing is that the structure "a que..." has been generalized and now it is understood by context. - lazarus1907, Apr 2, 2011

Answer 3

"dicen por ahí" means "it is said"/"they say"/"people around here say"