Acuestate?

Question

I know "acuestate" to mean "lay down" but my daughter (who is better at Spanish than I am) says it also means like "Leave that alone" -- so like if she was touching something in store that was fragile could I say "Acuestate" and that's what it would mean?

Not used like that in Argentina. - 00e657d4, Jun 1, 2011

Not used like that in Spain, as far as I know. - lazarus1907, Jun 1, 2011

Answer 1

I have never heard it used that way. To me, acuestate means lie down, go to bed, but never leave that. Maybe in some stretch, along the lines of stand down, but I seriously doubt it.

Answer 2

¡Acuéstate! means You lie down! ¡Deja éso! means Leave that alone!

Answer 3

"Acuéstate" can only mean (you) "lie down."

I suppose in some strange usage, one wihout a good working knowledge of his own language might possibly say "¡Acuesta eso!" but it´s still very strange. With this same senario, a common phrase is "¡Deja eso!"

I love how you used the tilde on " it's" instead of an apostrophe. My computer won't do that. - Beatrice-Codder, Jun 1, 2011

Answer 4

The only way I've heard it used is as a command that means, essentially, "go lay down". My friend uses this phrase with her dogs rather a lot. So there may be undertones of "stop that" or "leave that alone" or something else of that nature when used in a certain context, but the actual translatable meaning doesn't change as far as I know.

Answer 5

It could be something "the kids" are saying these days. I don't know about Spanish, but in English kids make stuff up or use common words in different contexts all the time. For example: "I'm gonna get my swerve on." I'm still not sure what swerve means in that context.

Answer 6

I should mention that we learn mostly from Mexican immigrants in Colorado and this is the dialect we are most interested in. We like to know where this dialect differs from other Latin Americans because it is great to know. But also if only Mexicans said it that way we would definitely consider it "correct" that way.

Well, I live in Mexico and I have never heard it used that way... I will ask my hubby later when he gets home. - NikkiLR, Jun 1, 2011

Speaking as a Mexican national living in Mexico, I agree, never heard it. - Rey55, Jun 1, 2011

Great thanks.That pretty much settles if for me then. - kristl, Jun 1, 2011

Answer 7

I was thinking more like "leave it" -- as "Lay you" -- "Lay it down" - so "Lay you" could be lay it down.

Answer 8

That's funny. If I'm telling a child to put something back where they got it from (in a store), I would say 'put it down' or 'put it back', but not probably 'put it to bed'

Idiomatically, 'put it to bed' in English connotes settling a matter finally. A native Spanish speaker could probably contribute a better opinion.

Yes, but "¡Acuéstate anda!" doesn't translate literally either. - lorenzo9, Jun 1, 2011

What does "¡Acuéstate anda!" mean? - kristl, Jun 1, 2011

Yeah, right! - lorenzo9, Jun 1, 2011

Answer 9

Could it possibly be "acuestale" which could translate as lay it down.

It would be Acuéstalo or Acuéstala (not acuéstale).- put him/her to bed. - margaretcorwin, Jun 1, 2011