to take someone at his/her word - ? - English Spanish Translator Org: Translation Forum � Translators Forums

deller · 07-11-2009, 08:54 AM

Hola a todos!
I'm really stuck with this one. There is a sort of special meaning in English that I'm not sure I can render in Spanish with what I've found. The idea is that someone has offered to take care of another person's dog, so they take her at her word, meaning that they want to sort of grab the opportunity before she has a chance to change her mind, and that they are taking her literally, and sort of hoping that she really means it and won't back out, like it's almost too good to believe.

I have found the expression creer en la palabra de alguien, but I'm not sure if this just doesn't mean to believe them, not necessarily to grab the opportunity like it does in English.

On the Real Academia site, I find so many things that sound sort of possible that I'm really confused, like coger la palabra, or just phrases without a verb like palabra de rey, palabras de buena crianza, palabras de or�culo, santa palabra, etc., but I've no idea how you'd fit those into the sentence I need: She offered to take care of the dog, so we took her at her word.

Can anyone help with that?

Thanks for any assistance,
Diane

aleCcowaN · 07-11-2009, 09:18 AM

La expresi�n que usamos en la Argentina es "te/le tomo/tomamos la palabra" y significa exactamente lo que t� dices. No la encontr� en el diccionario de la RAE, pero figuran varios casos de Espa�a, Argentina y M�xico en el Corpus del Espa�ol Actual de esa misma instituci�n:

Quote:

"- Me parece que yo aqu� estoy de sobra -dijo, abriendo el paquete-. Ah, estupendo. Oye, Daniel, dile a tu padre que ando buscando un libro titulado Matamoros: cartas de juventud desde Ceuta, de Francisco Franco Bahamonde, con pr�logo y anotaciones de Pem�n.

- D�lo por hecho. Le decimos algo en un par de semanas.

- Te tomo la palabra, y me voy ya pitando que me esperan treinta y dos mentes en blanco."

"La sombra del viento", Carlos Ruiz Zaf�n, Espa�a, 2001

"- Cre� que le ten�a miedo a las fieras.

- Usted ha dicho sabiamente que es un miedo err�neo. Le tomo la palabra y le repito que me tendr� muy pronto en Kenya, de visita. Ver� qu� d�cil soy para las excursiones."

"La octava maravilla", Vlady Kociancich, 1982, Argentina

Laurinha Traducciones · 07-11-2009, 09:52 AM

Coincido con aleCcowaN.
Creo que la mejor opci�n que tenemos en espa�ol es "tomar la palabra".
Aqu� encontr� esto en Wiktionary:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tomar_la_palabra

Si necesitas m�s ayuda por favor cont�ctame. Gracias.

deller · 07-11-2009, 10:06 AM

Many thanks to both of you, aleCcowaN and Laurinha - excellent responses with examples to help me, and it sounds like exactly what I needed, just that shade of meaning I was looking for!

Un millón de gracias,
Diane

07-11-2009, 08:54 AM	#1
deller New Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	to take someone at his/her word - ? Hola a todos! I'm really stuck with this one. There is a sort of special meaning in English that I'm not sure I can render in Spanish with what I've found. The idea is that someone has offered to take care of another person's dog, so they take her at her word, meaning that they want to sort of grab the opportunity before she has a chance to change her mind, and that they are taking her literally, and sort of hoping that she really means it and won't back out, like it's almost too good to believe. I have found the expression creer en la palabra de alguien, but I'm not sure if this just doesn't mean to believe them, not necessarily to grab the opportunity like it does in English. On the Real Academia site, I find so many things that sound sort of possible that I'm really confused, like coger la palabra, or just phrases without a verb like palabra de rey, palabras de buena crianza, palabras de or�culo, santa palabra, etc., but I've no idea how you'd fit those into the sentence I need: She offered to take care of the dog, so we took her at her word. Can anyone help with that? Thanks for any assistance, Diane

07-11-2009, 09:52 AM	#3
Laurinha Traducciones New Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina Age: 33 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 8	Re: to take someone at his/her word - ? Coincido con aleCcowaN. Creo que la mejor opci�n que tenemos en espa�ol es "tomar la palabra". Aqu� encontr� esto en Wiktionary: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tomar_la_palabra Si necesitas m�s ayuda por favor cont�ctame. Gracias. __________________ 'Siempre ten�s que luchar por ser el mejor, pero nunca creerte que lo sos.' 'You must always strive to be the best, but you must never believe that you're one.' 'Voc� sempre tem que lutar por ser o melhor, mas nunca acreditar que voc� � o melhor.' Juan Manuel Fangio ~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://laurinha-traducciones-musica.blogspot.com/ http://laurinha-traducciones-frases.blogspot.com/ http://laurinha-traducciones.blogspot.com/

07-11-2009, 10:06 AM	#4
deller New Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Re: to take someone at his/her word - ? Many thanks to both of you, aleCcowaN and Laurinha - excellent responses with examples to help me, and it sounds like exactly what I needed, just that shade of meaning I was looking for! Un millón de gracias, Diane

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