Mystery Tweet - Puecia

Question

This is yet another funny tweet from Venezuela:

puecia - tu me gusta cuando tu te caya

ponqe entonse no ladiya

This is a parody of "malandro" (hood, gangsta, hooligan) Venezuelan slang, but it's fairly easy for any Spanish native or proficient speaker to figure it out. So native and advanced students please keep off. If you know without even thinking about it what it means, please don't post the answer, let everyone guess a bit.

Answer 1

Poem:

I like you when you shut up
Because then you don't irritate me.

Wheh! That apparently was a lot harder than I had expected! Well done! See my explanation post. :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 2

but it's fairly easy for any Spanish native or proficient speaker to figure it out

... Are you sure?

ladiya?

Is puecia a proper name?

Ja, ja, ja. No lo leas, ¡pronúncialo! - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

That's how I'm reading puecia...as a proper name -- not that it is, but that is how I'm reading (understanding) it. - webdunce, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 3

Hmmmm native speakers are having a hard time = beginners' heaven

Puecia, is it a modified pues ?

caya: calla?

ponqe: porque?

entonse: entonces?

Ladiya: Ladilla?

Well, that part's easy enough. What does it all mean? How do you translate this? Keep in mind this some sort of thug saying this... - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 4

And, for the record, it should be "tú me gustas cuando tú te cayas", right?

Do Venezuelans also drop random final s sounds?

This is part of what makes it a parody, and funny. More on this when the final answer is published. ;-) - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 5

Also, I'm assuming it's the second line that's the mystery, right? I'm reading the top line fairly easily.

I'm assuming that the second line is a badly-spelled version of..

¿Por qué entonces no ladillas?

Which doesn't make any sense as they seem to be using the word crab (ladilla) as a verb.

But, I guess it would help to confirm if I have corrected it correctly. (Or should I leave ladilla as a noun, sin la esse?)

At least I have some hope of understanding it. I look at some of Heidita's and just give right up. - webdunce, Oct 16, 2011

If we combine what you and Elmar wrote, we're getting pretty darned close. So the trick now is really - what does it all mean? - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 6

I like it when you fall because you get rid of the crab-lice. WHAT? hahaahahahaha

He's telling the other guy that he's full of crabs - that he's very dirty?

Well, now: this is slang. The literal meaning has little to do with what's being said. :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 7

Puecia - tu me gusta cuando tu te caya

ponqe entonse no ladiya

Pues, tu me gusta cuando tu te calla porque entonces no ladrido.

So, you like me when you shut up because you aren't barking.

Nice try. However, if you read the other posts, you'll see that we already established that there is such a thing as "ladilla", it's not "ladrido". - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 8

Hey, pigs - I like you when you shut your mouth. That way there are no cops (itchy crabs) on my back.

All right, all right. We're getting colder going down this track. BIG hint: there are no cops involved in any way here. :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Jejeje...okay...I'm calmer now - --Mariana--, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 9

ladiya?

I think I can guess that one

Puecia however....hmmmm, I am sending you a PM,

La misma respuesta que a Cogu. El truco está en pronunciarlo. - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 10

My attempt (hope you're okay with this...I could almost be considered advance in some ways)...

Here's my interpretation...

Puecia, I like it when you fall. So, why don't you make like a crab and start crawling around on the ground right now?

Interesting. Most unexpected interpretation. :-) Ok, I'll give you and Elmar a very important tip: there's no falling of any kind involved. Check out the conjugation of "caer", and you'll see what I mean. - Gekkosan, Oct 16, 2011

Answer 11

Okay, I had assumed that caya was subjunctive of caer (which is caiga). That's how advanced I am.

I guess it is actually callas.

Corrected(?): Puecia, tú me gustas cuando tú te callas. ¿Por qué entonces no ladillas?

Puecia, I like you better when your trap is shut. So, why don't you just ...?

Edit: Okay, I thought ladilla was a marine crab...I just reread the definition...it is a louse. That totally escapes me at this point.

Not bad at all, we're getting there. :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 12

Puecia - tu me gusta cuando tu te caya

ponqe entonse no ladiya

I like you when you keep silent, that saves me the crabs

Your song (rhythm) is so bad

Listening it is like having crabs. (too bad it makes him itch) jejejeje

Gekko, are you a native Spanish speaker or a success story of learning Spanish? :) - Elmar, Oct 17, 2011

He is native Spanish speaker, and he is truly fluent in English. - webdunce, Oct 17, 2011

indeed, the only really fluent guy I know, I actually would not say fluent, I would say biliingual, I am fluent, but i am not bilingual. - 00494d19, Oct 17, 2011

Heh-heh... this is funny Elmar. Very creative. Not right, but definitely creative. :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 13

HINTS

Ok. Webdunce and Elmar have been skirting ever closer to actual meaning of the quote. Webdunce is very warm, and Heidi just dropped a very important hint within her last message.

At this point, the thing that naturally is confusing everyone is that one little bit about the ladilla. So how do crabs fit within this all?

Let's look at it this way: just try to think about the sensory experience of being host to these delightful little critters, and how you may feel after having them around for some time.

Jejeje..okay, I'll give it another read and see if I'm still as confused as ever. - --Mariana--, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 14

Here's a wild off-the-wall idea:

Police, I love to see you fall/fail.

It's like I just got rid of the crabs.

Heh-heh-heh... Very clever and creative, but no, that's not it. - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Answer 15

Explanation:

Lorenzo, as usual, did a great job working his way through different good guesses in order to arrive a the best answer.

Here's the original quote:

puecia - tu me gusta cuando tu te caya

ponqe entonse no ladiya

Several people, including Webdunce, Elmar, Sanlee, and Heidita provided a lot of good clues, and got started with the basic translation of the quote.

The "correct" Spanish version, as most correctly deduced (excepting for "pueciea", which apparently was much harder than I expected), is as follows:

"Poesía,

Tú me gustas cuando (te) callas,

porque entonces no ladillas".

Easy enough, right?

Except that, what does "ladillas" mean? You figured out quickly enough that "ladillas" are crab lice (yuck!) - so how does that fit in here?

This is an extremely common slang expression in Venezuelan slang. Everybody uses it, all the time, and it is roughly equivalent to how we use "to bug", in English:

"Don't bug me" - no me ladilles.

"You're bugging me" - me estás ladillando.

Eres muy ladilla - you're really annoying.

Why? Well, think about it: these things are lice. Extremely annoying bugs, that cause fierce itching and all sorts of problems. So by extension, "ladillar" means to annoy or bug.

Having said all that, we discover that this is a little "poem" written by some "gangsta" guy /gal to his / her dear buddy:

"Poem:

I like it when you're quiet

'cause then you don't bug (me)"

Lovely, isn't it?

wow! makes perfect sense. Gekkooo, me ladillaste la cabeza con esta puecia! jajajajajaj . Thank you. Gekkosan! - Elmar, Oct 17, 2011

jeje, very nice, qué genial, al menos pillé lo de poesía, lol. menos es nada:P - 00494d19, Oct 17, 2011

I was right to read it as a verb. First I thought it was a marine crab. Then I figured out it was a louse. Where I went horribly wrong was in reading ladillas as a *command*, which would be ladilles. Lot's of memorable lessons learned on this one. Thanks! - webdunce, Oct 17, 2011

Glad you all liked it. I thought that it was less obscure than Heidita's fearsome "Mysteries"; but looks like it was pretty tricky! :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011

Very romantic! - --Mariana--, Oct 17, 2011

Isn't it, though? - Gekkosan, Oct 17, 2011