"To Seal / Close an Envelope"

Question

Trabajo en una clínica como intérprete y acabo de oír alguien dijo lo siguiente mientras yo esperaba a una cliente en la sala de espera:

"¿Quieres que lo tranque?" Yo entiendo que esto significa "Do you want me to seal / close the envelope?"

La persona que dijo el antedicho estaba sosteniendo un sobre en la mano y le pidió a otra persona si quería el sobre sellado.

Las preguntas mías son: **¿es muy común utilizar el verbo Trancar (--> "tranque") para significar "to seal a letter"? el verbo que conozco es Sellar.

¿Hay alguien que me pueda explicar el significado de este uso del verbo *trancar?

¿Alguien sepa si sólo se usa así en ciertas regiones o dialectos?

Answer 1

Are you sure she said ¿ quieres que lo tranque ? and not ¿ quieres que lo LAME ? as in lick the envelope and close it.

Yup, I am sure. but thank you for the suggestion! never would have thought of that - riverphoenix1970, Mar 8, 2012

Answer 2

Well, well well after some more thought about this, I think that I have figured out what was said about this envelope ! She asked if she should "FRANQUE THE ENVELOPE " not " TRANQUE " To franque or to stamp, with a Franking machine (Estampilladora or Franquedora ) is the noun for the machine. This just goes to show listening skills are more important above everything else.

Answer 3

I'm from Argentina, and to us, "trancar" means to lock.

Never heard of this use. It's local for sure.

Yes, I agree with you Guimmys - "trancar" significa "to lock" for me as well - riverphoenix1970, Mar 8, 2012

Answer 4

Excellent question. I would use cerrar.

Answer 5

Hello riverphoenix. Well, this certainly is a strange one! As Guimmys has already intimated, it's more than likely to be a South American word. In fact, the word 'tranque' means 'reservoir' in the Southern Cone area (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay). In Venezuela, 'trancar' means 'to close or shut' (fam). This is as much as I can help you with. Good luck! Kind regards...Jool.

Answer 6

En España nunca he oído "trancar un sobre". Normalmente decimos "cerrar un sobre".

Answer 7

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who gave me feedback I greatly appreciate it. FYI the person who used this phrase was Puerto Rican so perhaps it is a colloquialism within that dialect because I can't make out why someone would express the sentence that way either.