'lo que sea de cada quien.
'lo que sea de cada quien.
I am struggling in an attempt to read 'La muerte de Artemio Cruz? by Carlos Fuentes. In it there is a paragraph that reads:
" 'Ah, pero el viejo ahí sigue igual de taimado, sin dar su brazo a torcer. Prefiere morirse a renunciar, lo que sea de cada quien."
How do you translate the expression "'lo que sea de cada quien", and is it an idiom?
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Estoy tratando de leer 'La muerte de Artemio Cruz por Carlos Fuentes. Hay un párrafo lo que se escribe:
" 'Ah. pero el viejo ahí sigue igual de taimado, sin dar su brazo a torcer. Prefiere morirse a renunciar, lo que sea de cada quien."
¿Cómo se traduce la expresión "'lo que sea de cada quien'", y ¿es un modismo?
Gracia por su ayuda.
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10 Answers
James Santiago said:
SO why is there a comma in the sentence in question in Spanish'
I think the idea is "He'd rather die than give up, regardless of how much someone owes him."
I thought you were working.
But thanks anyway, that clears it up . . . I would go back to working if there were anything to do here!!
SO why is there a comma in the sentence in question in Spanish'
I think the idea is "He'd rather die than give up, regardless of how much someone owes him."
Nice! And now it makes perfect sense. It isn't a set saying at all, but just regular Spanish! The "de" is the possessive of "quien."
Thanks, Natasha. Now I can get back to paying work.
I found the English version online on Amazon.
"And not only that. Even the people who owe him money are getting out of hand. They don't want to pay him another cent. They say with all the interest he's already charged them they've paid more than enough. See now, Colonel? They believe all things are going to change.
"Ah, but the old man is as stubborn as ever, won't give an inch. He'd rather die than give up whatever it is someone owes him."
He lost the last round of dice and shrugged . . .
SO why is there a comma in the sentence in question in Spanish? To me, the comma made it more confusing . . . What do native speakers think'
Didn't you say you were going to pick something easier this semester? 
I am glad to see that you folks that are very proficient/fluent in Spanish are having a bit of a problem with this. I have been trying to become competent in Spanish for about 20 years, and have only limited success. I, as part of a study group, have read about a dozen Spanish language books and find that the one we are reading now -- La muerte de Artemio Cruz -- to be almost impossible, mainly due to the Incredibly weird style used by Carlos Fuente.
To put the text into a bit more context, the following includes the paragraph that precedes the one I quoted above
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'Y no sólo eso. También los deudores se le alebrestaron; ya no quieren pagarle más. dicen que con los intereses que ha cobrado y está pagado de sobra. ¿Ve usted, mi coronel? Todas tienen tanta fe en que ahora las cosas cambiarán.
'Ah. pero el viejo ahí sigue igual de taimado, sin dar su brazo a torcer. Prefiere morirse a renunciar, lo que sea de cada quien.
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I did post the same question on WR because I was still confused by the answers I received on spanishdict.com. I could not go from my literal translation to the ones I received from you folks, and was hoping to find a link. I think I now have the answer to my problem -- It is a matter of culture. One must have a deep seated feel for the language that is well beyond common textbook knowledge.
Thanks again for you help.
Adrian
Priscy said:
Lo que sea de cada quien, podría decirse de otra manera como: "para ser justos...". Es decir, cada persona tiene algo caracteristico de su personalidad, y no hay porqué quitarselo. Te pongo otro ejemplo:
"Aunque no es muy inteligente, lo que sea de cada quien, tiene un buen corazón."
That's a very nice answer, Priscy. However, it makes me wonder how that phrase came to have that meaning. I can't quite make the connection from the literal meaning of "lo que sea de cada quien" (whatever may be of each person) to "para ser justos" (to be fair). Do you know how it came to be used this way?
Furthermore, that explanation doesn't seem to fit the original quote. That is, changing the phrase to "para ser justos" doesn't seem to fit there. Judging from your explanation, it would seem to be something like "sobre gustos no hay nada escrito." Or, in English, "there's no accounting for taste" or "to each his own." But those English sayings don't seem to fit here, either. Natasha's translation is not bad, but it leaves me dissatisfied.
I see that Adrian has posted the same question at WR, but hasn't received any English translations yet. I myself can't think of the perfect translation, but I wonder if it might be close to this: "He'd rather die than give up, but that's just him." Or, "...and you know how he is."
Natasha y Priscy,
Gracias por su ayuda.
Adrian
Lo que sea de cada quien, podría decirse de otra manera como: "para ser justos...". Es decir, cada persona tiene algo caracteristico de su personalidad, y no hay porqué quitarselo.
Te pongo otro ejemplo:
"Aunque no es muy inteligente, lo que sea de cada quien, tiene un buen corazón."
I searched for this on books.google.com and it appears that they are playing a gambling game? Here's my guess at what it means.
Oh, but that old one there is equal in cunning, without letting his arm be twisted. He'd rather die than give up, whatever any other person might have.
