> [...] > > >>> I will be turning up with a box of tissues. > >>> > >>> Estoy muy constipado, as our Espanish friends say. > >>> > >>> Bob > > >> In my rudimentary Spanish (Cuban & Los Angeles' Mexican) I would > >> interpret that as saying you're very constipated... > >> > >> For that you need a ROLL of tissues, not a box... > > > Although you would think it would mean that if you went by > Spanglish and > > not real spanish. It actually means he has a cold, so he > needs a box of > > tissues and not a roll of toilet paper. > > >> keith whaley > > Hi Gonz, > > My Spanish-English dictionary says a cold is constipación, > but the 'net > says 'constipación' is Spanish for the English "constipation.' > > There was a 'constiparse' which reportedly means "to catch a > cold," but > I'm not capable of translating that to everyday Spanish... >
? 'To catch a cold' in everday Spanish is 'constiparse'. > It doesn't list constipado as a word at all. 'Constipado' is the past particple of 'constipar'. > However, taking Bob's first two words, "I am very..." that fits > constipated better than "I am very cold." > I don't know how to say "I have a cold." Literal translations > certainly > don't work [Tengo un frio."] <g> > > keith To say 'I have a cold' you say 'Estoy constipado'. 'Estoy muy constipado' means I have a nasty cold, that's all. In fact, it has now moved on somewhat and I am just plain bunged up, which is really where 'constipado' comes from, hence the similarity to 'constipated'. It's a well-known false friend, like 'embarazada'. You can say 'tengo frio', but it means 'I am cold'. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
