Llamar para atrás
Is "llamar para atrás" a valid expresion? I know the sintaxis is right but It sounds so much as "Spanglish" to me. I've heard it used for mexicans inside the US as a literal tranlation of "call me back" and I also believe it used in Puerto Rico. Never heard it in other Spanish speaking countries I've visited. I would like to know about other countries.
7 Answers
Totalmente de acuerdo contigo. Etratando de conocer otras opiniones para aclarar el tema.
In fact, "call me back" would translate into "llamame". What would translate into "te llamo luego" or similar expressions is "I'll call you back".
Bye!
What is wrong with parquear? Double-click it here and you'll get a definition. Even the RAE defines it as a synonym of aparcar.
There is a very pronounced Iberian bias on this forum. Just because the Spanish language was born in Spain, that doesn't mean that its offspring (dialects) aren't perfectly valid. After all, Spanish itself was nothing but such an offspring of Latin, and was considered vulgar Latin for many years.
I'll say it again: there are mistakes made out of ignorance, and there are regional variations that are used very intentionally, and these two types of deviation from "standard" Spanish should not be treated the same (although the line between them may sometimes be blurry).
One example of "picking up structure" from another language in English is adding the suffix -ee. This comes from French, but we now use it with non-French words. We can even make up new words with this suffix. For example, if you mentioned getting into a fight with a friend, and I said to you, "Were you the slapper or the slappee'," you would know exactly what I meant.
It is very common for such grammatical constructions to migrate into other languages, and it is a normal part of the evolution of every language on earth. There is no human language that is pure in the sense of being unaffected by foreign languages.
I have an American friend who lives in Mexico (central Mexico, I believe). She said that she hears "Anglicized" words even there, such as parquear for to park. Even I know that it should be estacionar 
It's interesting that in the U.S., we pick up Spanish words ("yo quiero Taco Bell"), but I can't think of any instances of picking up the structure.
This is not so much Spanglish as it is the Spanish language spoken with an English structure. In English one would say "Call back." This translated directly to Spanish would be "llamar para atras." The Spanish words are literally correct, however the structure is English. To ask someone to "call back would not be expressed in this manner, in Spanish. The message above provides a good or a more correct way to translate "Call back."
A final word on this; Spanglish is frequently heard among Latinos in the United States and is carrying over to Latin America. I believe there are a number of reasons for Spanglish, however I will not comment on such a controversial subject. My only suggestion is to try to understand Spanish in a cultural context and not try to translate directly from English to Spanish or Spanish to English. This can be done, only to a certain limit.
It is definitely Spanglish,, Guillermo, and unfortunately relatively frequently used in Latin american countries. Not in Spain.....so far!!
No Guillermo, that is improper spanish. Te devolvere la llamada or
Te llamare en un momento, or te llamare luego.
