Confusing words - Mean

Wednesday, 09 November 2011 09:33

Written by Editor

The question arose in class recently as to how you say "mean" in Spanish.
Of course, it all depends which meaning of mean you mean.

The original question I was asked was "What does orgulloso  mean? Save
Which in Spanish would be ¿Qué significa orgulloso?
To which one might reply Orgulloso significa proud   -  Orgulloso means proud.

Equally one could say  ¿Cómo se dice orgulloso en inglés? 
How do you say orgulloso  in English?
And the reply would then be  Orgulloso se dice proud
which translates loosely as orgulloso means proud.

If you want to ask someone "What do you mean? 
it is best to  use  ¿Qué quieres decir?
What do you mean by that?  -  ¿Qué quieres decir con eso?
I didn't mean to do it would be Lo hice sin querer
(Literally, I did it without wanting to)
He/She didn't mean to do it  -  Lo hizo sin querer
To stress that you mean what you are saying use  -  Lo digo en serio (I mean it)

If someone is mean as in stingy or penny-pinching
they are tacaño  if male and tacaña if female.
If someone is mean as in mean-spirited or plain nasty we use malo/mala.

And if you want to say that someone means well - Tiene buenas intenciones.

Hasta la próxima - Until next time.   
Valerie

Valerie runs the Centro Idiomas Language School in Coin.
Her books, “The First Twelve Shortcuts to Spanish” , “The Second Twelve Shortcuts to Spanish”   & “The Third Twelve Shortcuts to Spanish” (€5 each) and  “The Verb Book” (€7) are available from The News office in Coin, Woody’s Cards and Books in Los Boliches, David’s Books in Los Boliches or by email from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Valerie's books can also now be bought from her website - www.cslspain.com or call 952 450 747.