When the guards ask me, Como esta su esposa, I sometimes joke, Como una serpiente. I want to say "Mean as a snake," but mean doesn't seem to translate in this adjective form.

Question

The guards ask how is your wife and I want to say "mean as a snake," I usually just say "Como una serpiente. I don't find a direct translation for "mean" as an adjective.

Answer 1

Well, as "mean" has several meanings in English even opposite ones as in "she's mean" and "she cooks a mean curry".

So, it has several translations in Spanish for each of the meaning of "mean", in your example, as a bad thing, it would be "vil", "despreciable", "mala/o", "mezquino/a", "tacaño/a"... basically.

Answer 2

Here's the problem:

Como está su esposa means "how is your wife doing/feeling"

If he said

Como es su esposa then your sentence would work, otherwise it doesn't work.

Mean as a snake = "tan mala como una serpiente" / "tan malvada como una serpiente"

"mala" como una serpiente, Jeez - geouk, Nov 1, 2011

typo, caught me as I was correcting it. - jeezzle, Nov 1, 2011

I'm quick... - geouk, Nov 1, 2011

Answer 3

You may want to ask yourself why a guard is asking you about your wife in the first place. Does he have access to things that you don´t?

Yes, they know she's very elderly in intensive care and it makes them feel better to hear there's some sign that she's hanging on to life. - Panama_bobhardin, Nov 2, 2011

Oh. It was explained to me that your reply was ridiculous, rude and ill mannered. I didn't realize, thought your were just some nice person. - Panama_bobhardin, Nov 2, 2011

This is the problem when you don't provide context. "A guard" indicates prision or similar, but "Intensive care" - which you neglected to mention in your question - indicates a hospital or similar. So my response is not so ridiculous. - 005faa61, Nov 2, 2011

Now that I understand your situation, I should like to wish you and your wife well. Misunderstandings can be avoided by providing context - 005faa61, Nov 2, 2011