You're mean!

[Dragona]

Hi yall,
OK so I need help with this one word....mean.....and it's not the one that means meanings..hahaha...
So here's an example in context of the word...

My daughter did something she wasn't supposed to do, so I gave her a time-out. She began to cry and said "You're mean mommy!"

OR

"Mommy, he was being mean to me!"

I tried to tell my mom about these incidents, but ended stuck on the mean word. So I asked my brother who in turn asked another friend (you know how it goes...you ask your advisor and he asks his advisor! hahaha) and the result was grocera.
I know that Dominicans and Boricuas (NYC term for Puerto Ricans) would've said mala. I've had a Boricua friend tell me in both languages consecutively...you're mean, que mala....when we've been joking around.

Can anyone else give me their input?
Thanks
Dragona

[SandraT]

Hi Dragona, here in Cuba we say mala/malo too. This is the most frequent. We can also translate it as hateful: odiosa/odioso.
We can also say baja. A person who is baja is capable of doing MEAN things...
I think the definiyion of mean in English can help for other possible translations.

average: approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value; "the average income in New England is below that of the nation"; "of ...

• mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand what I mean!"; "what do his words intend?"
• hateful: characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean mood"
• base: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality; "that liberal obedience without which your army would be a base rabble"- Edmund Burke; "taking a mean advantage"; "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"- Shakespeare; "something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics"
• entail: have as a logical consequence; "The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers"
• excellent; "famous for a mean backhand"
• denote or connote; "`maison' means `house' in French"; "An example sentence would show what this word means"
• intend: have in mind as a purpose; "I mean no harm"; "I only meant to help you"; "She didn't think to harm me"; "We thought to return early that night"
• beggarly: marked by poverty befitting a beggar; "a beggarly existence in the slums"; "a mean hut"
• (used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity; "a mean person"; "he left a miserly tip"
• have a specified degree of importance; "My ex-husband means nothing to me"; "Happiness means everything"
• think of: intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about people who gossip!"
• beggarly: (used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve contempt
• destine or designate for a certain purpose; "These flowers were meant for you"
• an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n
• bastardly: of no value or worth; "I was caught in the bastardly traffic"
  wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

[Hebe]

Hi! here are two alternatives. there will probably be more coming

Hope it helps

Mommy, he was being mean to me!"

Mami, él estaba siendo rudo conmigo,
Mami, él me estaba haciendo maldades

[Hebe]

By the way; other words for mean would be "cruel" or "malvabo (a)"

Great day for you both my friends

[ElVizconde]

In Fact, "mean" can be different things in Spanish. The right word is based on the context.

[Dragona]

Gracias Sandra, Hebe y Vizconde.
Ahora ya tengo a...

mala/o
cruel
baja/o
malvada/o

Y las usare de acuerdo a la situacion.
Gracias!
Dragona

[Leslie M]

JUST ONE COMMENT: As Shakespeare could have said :

THE MEANING OF MEAN IS A MEAN THING TO GLEAN