Demalas

Question

Would someone please translate the word "demalas" for me? I would appreciate your help. I have searched several different online dictionaries/translators with no success. I am also wondering if it is a word only used in Colombian Spanish.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

My daughter use to say '¡De malas!". That expression is a slang for 'Bad luck!' or 'I'm sorry for you!', or 'It's your problem'.

Thank you,

Answer 2

I am interested in learning Colombian Spanish, as well as "standard" Spanish. I understand the comments of others advising me not to learn slang, but the point is that I still want to be able to understand what my new friends from Colombia are saying, whether it is slang or not, regardless of the fact I myself might not speak the way they do. It is a matter of appreciating their culture, and wanting to understand what they try to communicate, even if their language may seem crude to others. I do appreciate everyone's efforts to help me.

I'm available. When you have a question or anything just tell me.

Answer 3

Una pregunta para mi amigo Pablo ...

¿En Colombia, se usará la expresión "coger un taxi"? La razón por qué pregunto es que está esa expresión en la lista que dio A Overby arriba. Si "de malas" se usa en Colombia y también "coger un taxi", quizá esa lista de frases viene de un chat colombiano y no portorriqueño.

Estoy curioso, nada más.

You are right. Usted puede decir: 'necesito coger un taxi'. Que tenga un buen día.

Answer 4

A Overby

Wow, a new member who filled out his profile! That is good; it helps us understand you better and know how to help you more. I wish others would follow your example.

Answer 5

I am interested in learning Colombian Spanish, as well as "standard" Spanish. I understand the comments of others advising me not to learn slang, but the point is that I still want to be able to understand what my new friends from Colombia are saying, whether it is slang or not, regardless of the fact I myself might not speak the way they do. It is a matter of appreciating their culture, and wanting to understand what they try to communicate, even if their language may seem crude to others. I do appreciate everyone's efforts to help me.

I appreciate your desire to learn and be able to relate. That is important, and I have tried to do that as well.

I would not be the most qualified person to speak about some supposed difference between "Colombian Spanish" and "standard Spanish." I do know that the Spanish spoken in Colombia is among the purest and most respected of that of all the Latin American countries. To me the accent and diction of the Colombians are beautiful. I wouldn't equate the kinds of things you posted with "Colombian Spanish." It may have been written (or spoken) by Colombians, but it would not be typical of the language of that country. It would be roughly equivalent to what one would expect to hear in a ghetto or from "gangsta rappers." Well, maybe not quite that bad, but you get the point. Don't get me wrong ... I am not saying that your friends are that type of people--maybe that was from an online chat where young people were abbreviating, typing carelessly, and throwing slang around, as is typical in many chatroom settings.

It is good to be able to understand, but I caution you as a new learner of Spanish not to make a mistake that I did when I was new to learning Spanish. I spent time with some young people of a certain country who were well-meaning in trying to teach me, but the things I learned from them made me sound uncooth and uneducated when I would speak with older or more cultured people. These first-learned habits were then hard to break. So, if you want to learn enough to understand what you are reading/hearing, that's your decision; I would advise you, though, not to respond in like manner. Learn to speak/write correctly, and you won't be sorry. And this site is a great place to help with that.

Answer 6

I am interested in learning Colombian Spanish, as well as "standard" Spanish. I understand the comments of others advising me not to learn slang, but the point is that I still want to be able to understand what my new friends from Colombia are saying, whether it is slang or not, regardless of the fact I myself might not speak the way they do. It is a matter of appreciating their culture, and wanting to understand what they try to communicate, even if their language may seem crude to others. I do appreciate everyone's efforts to help me.

Answer 7

Una pregunta para mi amigo Pablo ...

¿En Colombia, se usará la expresión "coger un taxi"? La razón por qué pregunto es que está esa expresión en la lista que dio A Overby arriba. Si "de malas" se usa en Colombia y también "coger un taxi", quizá esa lista de frases viene de un chat colombiano y no portorriqueño.

Estoy curioso, nada más.

Answer 8

Here a sentence:

"Podemos ser de malas para los empleos pero no para la psicología..."

http://www.otraparte.org/ideas/antioquia/antioquia-05.html

Antioquia is a Departamento of Colombia. The translation: 'We can have bad luck to get a job but not for psychology'.

It seems 'De malas' is also used in Mexico.

Thank you,

Answer 9

Lazarus is right. This is a bunch of slang and street talk, possibly Puerto Rican, and maybe from some kind of internet chat or something like that. I have heard this type of speech before, and not from educated people.

I agree with Lazarus ... you don't want to learn that kind of Spanish.

In the sentences you listed (as Lazarus has said, full of grammatical and spelling errors) it is slang for "de malas," with varied meanings like bad mood, unwillingly (de mala gana), bad luck, fortune, or results (mala suerte), bad attitude, etc.

Answer 10

Here are a few phrases I have found using this term.

Found... WHERE? Random Internet search? In a slang digest? None of them seem to make much sense in standard Spanish, unless you say "de malas", and even then, half of the sentences could only be a regional dialect or strong slang.

All the sentences, by the way, have spelling mistakes, and some, even grammatical mistakes, so I wouldn't bother... if you want to learn a Spanish that it is understood everywhere (that is, if you don't want to sound like a foreigner trying to talk like "Yau men, cul in da hud")

Answer 11

Here are a few phrases I have found using this term. I hope it helps to identify the word I am hoping you can translate:

Me pusiste demalas
Demalas Mijo!!
No pero que demalas, y asi voy a seguir luchando.
Yo si soy muy demalas.
Tan demalas el tipo que siempre que cogia un taxi le tocaba parado
...y pues demalas si no le gusta el voz
...pues demalas si no tenian bien los papeles
que demalas mi hermana es una ijue
Tiene que ser uno muy demálas en la vida para que le pase lo que le paso a este individuo ? definitivamente muy demalas.
soy demalas en esto

Thanks for your help.

Answer 12

As Nathaniel said, "démelas", with an accent and "e" instead of "a", is a standard Spanish command, not a Colombian one. Nevertheless, if you don't tell us where you heard that word, and possibly a wider context, we can only make random guesses.

Answer 13

I think you may be dealing with two words here ... "de malas", in which case more context would be helpful to be sure. If someone "está de malas", it means they are in a bad mood.

Welcome to the forum, A!

Answer 14

Would someone please translate the word "demalas" for me? I would appreciate your help. I have searched several different online dictionaries/translators with no success. I am also wondering if it is a word only used in Colombian Spanish.

Thanks for your help.

Démelas

Dé - command form of Dar (to give)
me - me
las - them (feminine)