GraceReborn

A friend keeps using the phrase "a mil" in emails to me. He's Peruvian, if that makes a difference. Oh, and he never uses accent marks and misspells things all the times, which make translating a challenge, lol. But he seems to write this consistently the same... It seems like he's saying he's busy in context, but all the translators and dictionaries I've look through only have it as meaning the literal "a thousand", and that doesn't make sense in context:

"Lo siento he estado a mil."
"A mil con el trabajo."
"Yo estoy a mil, sin conexcion de internet, y ayer me quede sin baetria en el celular..."

Thanks for any help!

vicente

I am not familiar with this phrase either but I'm pretty sure you are right in your interpretation that he means busy or overloaded much like we would say "a ton".

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vicente

ScottJ

Yeah, the sense of "estoy a mil" is that the person is really busy and that is why he/she didn't have time to write to you. I have also come across "a full" with the same meaning.

mariabelen

Hi!! Scottj is right. "Estar a full" or "estar a mil" mean exactly the same and they're vey commonly used in informal writing or speaking.

Saludiños,

Bel

Ezequiel

My guess is that "estoy a mil" is a shortened version of "estoy a 1000km por hora", which in terms of speed would mean that you're so busy that you just can't stop doing things fast, one right after another.

walterzev

Yes, it means you are soooooooooooo busy, so very busy that you cant`take care of anything else or perform any other duty you have been assigned to.
Like I am running at a speed of 1000 km/h, I can`t stop, I can`t lose any time, I have so many things to do now.

Hope it helps.

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Walter Landesman
English to Spanish Translator

ScottJ

I agree with the 1000km interpretation, but I wonder where the "a full" expression comes from...

walterzev

It`s about the same.

"Full" is the English word meaning complete and taken as such into this expression in Spanish to mean you are full of stuff to do, your To Do ist is full, complete.

So, instead of Estoy a mil (running at 1000 km/h), they say estoy a "full", so busy... my schedule does not have any empty or blank entry, I am exhausted, sorry I can`t take care of that, etc, you choose according to the context.

This expression I understand is used mostly among teens and young adults.

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Walter Landesman
English to Spanish Translator

ScottJ

I suppose that makes the most sense...I was just curious as to whether there was a different story of origin.

Ezequiel

Could "a full" come from "at full capacity" or "at full speed" and turned into spanish slang?

Sounds reasonable to me =P