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How do you say PERSIGNARSE in English?

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"All right, is it to the left or to the right next? or maybe the chest? Wow, this was so much easier when I was a kid." What Catholics, and also the Orthodox, call PERSIGNARSE can be translated with more than one option but not one word. Here are most, but not all, of them: CROSS ONESELF MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS SIGN ONESELF BLESS ONESELF The option most often used is the first one in the list.

What's CHAV in Spanish?

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"I'm the British equivalent to your Chavo del Ocho. Please, like me." This is a word taken from British culture.  It's an adjective used  as an informal derogatory that usually describes a lower-class youngster who displays anti-social behaviour, and has a  preference to wear either real or imitation designer clothes. In a more general sense,   this word  can be applied, a bit loosely perhaps, to pretty much every culture with a similar nasty element.  In Spanish, the word ÑENGOSO is probably the closest in meaning to what a CHAV is. There is a female version of the word, as well, CHAVETTE.

How do you say AJENO in English?

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"I'm not an AJENO! I'm an ALIEN and you are what I eat!" This one of those words that have no equivalent in English. AJENO essentially means NOT YOURS. Words that are close in meaning, though not exactly the same, are: PRIVATE, UNKNOWN and ALIEN.  "Esto es un asunto AJENO"  would be "This is PRIVATE business." "Esto es AJENO  a mi conocimiento" would be "This is UNKNOWN to me." "Tales costumbres son completamente AJENAS a nuestra cultura" would be "Such customs are completely ALIEN to our culture."

What's RELUCTANCE in Spanish?

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"Ok, ok... I do, I do! With reluctance?" Sometimes, long words in English are similar to their counterparts in Spanish. Comfortable is Confortable and Instrumental is Instrumental, for instance. It's not always like that, though, and such is the case of the word RELUCTANCE. RELUCTANCE or RELUCTANCY is an attitude. It is you when you are unwilling to do something. If you do not want to vote for a certain candidate then you are reluctant to vote for him or her. To put it into Spanish is a bit more complicate. RELUCTANCE is definitely not Reluctancia, and the noun Reluctante does not exist either. The term is RENUENCIA from which we get the noun RENUENTE (unwilling to do something).

What's HEADY in Spanish?

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"Fine, I don't get to be the president, but at least I got this to make me feel HEADY..." Though not necessarily a positive thing something is labeled HEADY when it is stimulating. It can be applied to alcoholic drinks (for obvious reasons), and also to situations that excite your senses in a powerful way such as a good book, a terrific film or a great accomplishment. It can also have a negative side, and then something that is HEADY is impetous or violent. In Spanish HEADY could be, depending on the situation, EMBRIAGADOR, VERTIGINOSO or PRECIPITADO. 

How do you say ANDAR CON PIES DE PLOMO in English?

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Can we make that thing of ANDAR CON PIES DE PLOMO stronger? Whar if we say ANDAR CON PIES DE HIERRO?  The literal translation would be something like WALK WITH LEAD FEET which certainly sounds odd in English if not funny. Of course that is not how you say it in English. We could say WALK ON EGGSHELLS meaning we have to be extremely careful in whatever we are attempting to do. One that is perhaps more common is TREAD CAREFULLY or WARILY.

What's TO SIT IN THE SUN in Spanish?

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"I' m about to eclipse the Sun in 3, 2, ..." This is one of those expressions that do not make any sense in Spanish if they are translated literally.  It is definitely not SENTARSE EN EL SOL which would be quite inconvenient if it could be done for real. The right expression in Spanish is ASOLEARSE or TOMAR EL SOL . There are of course other ways to say the same such as LIE IN THE SUN, SUNBATHE or SUN TAN.