markp 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 Could someone translate this Costa Ricain saying to English ¡cuidado pierde! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shea 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 Could someone translate this Costa Ricain saying to English ¡cuidado pierde! I put this in my online translator and it said "care loses", which makes no sense to me. Maybe it's something like he who hesitates, loses. What is the context in which this expression is used? There used to be a feature in amcostarica where the writer talked about CR dichos (expressions). Too bad that ended. The column was pretty interesting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Epicatt2 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 Could someone translate this Costa Ricain saying to English ¡cuidado pierde! Hola Mark, I have never heard this particular dicho in all the years I have been coming to CR. Maybe one of our Tico members could chime in with an explanation. I did find online, however, that 'pierde cuidado' means 'never mind'. In spanish that could also be rendered as 'déjalo', 'no hay cuidado', or 'no importa'. Espero que esto le ayude . . . Paul M. == Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Epicatt2 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 Could someone translate this Costa Ricain saying to English ¡cuidado pierde! AN UPDATE: The construction you have put here is out of context which makes it hard to explain. Can you maybe give us a couple of examples of it in use, from whatever experience you may have had? In any event, I spoke with a friend of mine this evening after my earlier post here and he said that construction is fairly common in spanish. An example he gave me was this... something a mother would say to her child: ¡Cuidado no se cae! [ Be careful; don't fall down. ] Or maybe when encountering a dog: ¡Cuidado no muerde! [ Careful he doesn't bite (you). ] Or even if you said it to the dog: ¡Cuidado no muerde! [ Watch it; don't bite (me). ] Maybe this will give you a sense of how that construction is used. It's not that different from how we caution others in english. Okay... Hope this helps more than my earlier post! Cheers! Paul M. == Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markp 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 this saying is on a T-shirt my tica wife bought, I asked her what it means in english and she says i have no idea how to esplain it to you, its a saying we use in Costa _Rica. just thought I would ask to see if any had an idea... Mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Epicatt2 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 The Google Translator says this means, "taken care of it loses". That explains a lot . . . With all due respect David, that Google Translator translation just above is perfectly dreadful, as are most all computer generated translations. As one learns more and more spanish (or any foreign language) this phenomenon becomes more and more apparent. Some (computer) translations are all but unintelligible, and can leave a person scratching their head, ¡carray! The human brain is so far the only decent translation tool and on an average, everyday basis we humans only use about 10% of its capacity. [sigh] Regards, Paul M. == Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Epicatt2 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2011 this saying is on a T-shirt my tica wife bought, I asked her what it means in english and she says i have no idea how to esplain it to you, its a saying we use in Costa _Rica. just thought I would ask to see if any had an idea... Mornin' Mark, I am now really very curious to know what it means, too. Is it possible you might get your wife to write what it means down in spanish, or maybe provide some examples and then you could post it here in spanish so we can see her 'original' explanation. Then there is a much better chance of understanding its meaning. BTW, did you show her what my friend the professional translator offered as an explanation with examples in my earlier post? It would be interesting to see how close he got to the meaning. Meanwhile I'm gonna ask my Tico taxi-driver friend if he can explain to me what this particular 'tiquismo' means. Cheers! Paul M. == Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldcabre 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2011 My daughter says " no gano". Or more or less, you didn't win. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markp 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2011 My daughter says " no gano". Or more or less, you didn't win. hat sounds right, as my wife says this is a smart comeback that you say to someone if you are arguing or debating something with them. learning every day thanks for all the feedback. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shea 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2011 I sent this to my Spanish-speaking friend, who grew up using both English and Spanish. She said it means "Caution loses." She said it's the equivalent of "He who hesitates is lost." That's basically what I thought at the beginning of this thread. Does that mean I was right for once? I'm going to write this in my diary! lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luv2fish 0 Report post Posted June 16, 2011 how bout you snooze you lose!! LOL Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Epicatt2 0 Report post Posted June 16, 2011 how bout you snooze you lose!! LOL Hi Luv2fish, Christopher Howard on another site posted these two tiquismos a few months back: "Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente - When you snooze, you lose. "This one is a play on words but means the same thing. - Camarón que se duerme amanece en ceviche - A shrimp that goes to sleep ends up in a ceviche (a raw fish dish)." Okay, hope that answers your question. And ain't it grand that it's also a 'fishy' saying, ref your Forums user name? Cheers! Paul M. == Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
