Wrong Way!
In the Houston airport the other day I glimpsed a sign in English and Spanish; the English said "Wrong Way" in big red letters and the Spanish version said something like "Sentido Contrario" or something like that. Because I couldn't write it down I"m not sure:
What is the proper idiom in Spanish for "Wrong Way"?
and though I understand "contrario," the "sentido" puzzles me (if I remembered it correctly) as sounding strange.
12 Answers
Sorry I didn't give the context more fully. It was a pedestrian walkway where only people going one direction were allowed, and it was analogous to a freeway off-ramp where you shouldn't enter going the wrong way. Lazuras obviously had it right. I didn't know sentido referred to direction. Thanx everybody.
Although road signs will of course vary from country to country, in the US "Entrada prohibida" would be "Do not enter." These signs are used on surface streets, while "Wrong way" signs are only used on freeway on-ramps. Here is a picture of the former.
Heidita, I think for "sentido único" we'd say "one way." In the link you provided, when it says "Prioridad al sentido contrario," I think we'd say "opposing traffic has the right of way." Does that sound right?
By the way, I've never seen a situation like the latter. In rural Missouri, if there's a one-lane bridge, both directions of traffic have a sign that says "YIELD." So we joke about the two vehicles that arrive and sit there forever . . .
Natasha said:
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In Spain we say "Ir en sentido contrario" when you are driving the wrong way.
In that case, could we translate dirección as dimension rather than direction? Otherwise, I get "Each direction has two directions," which is nonsense.
lazarus1907 said:
It makes perfect sense in Spanish.Particularly when talking about traffic or maths, it is often said that for each "dirección" there are two "sentidos".
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Go to this site and scroll down to the red sign.
[url=http://www.google.com/imgres'imgurl=http://www.arizonaroads.com/pics/i8wrongway.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arizonaroads.com/interstate/i8.html&usg=__3ui0-ep17NokflV3LH5HeJqMNFM=&h=300&w=230&sz=14&hl=en&start=38&tbnid=YOEp8c809Q1yKM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Sentido%2BContrario%2522%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS177US231%26sa%3DN]http://www.google.com/imgres'imgurl=http://www.arizonaroads.com/pics/i8wrongway.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arizonaroads.com/interstate/i8.html&usg=\__3ui0-ep17NokflV3LH5HeJqMNFM=&h=300&w=230&sz=14&hl=en&start=38&tbnid=YOEp8c809Q1yKM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Sentido%2BContrario%2522%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS177US231%26sa%3DN[/url]
Heidita said:
Can you tell me what they meant by "wrong way"? Where was this sign'?
As it appears, it should have read:
¡prohibido el paso!
Doesn't sentido also translate as direction. I think this sign referred to vehicles and it was saying "wrong direction" ie like a one way street.
It makes perfect sense in Spanish.
Particularly when talking about traffic or maths, it is often said that for each "dirección" there are two "sentidos".
Can you tell me what they meant by "wrong way"? Where was this sign'?
As it appears, it should have read:
¡prohibido el paso!
