Spanish - Expressions regarding dating (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Spanish - Expressions regarding dating
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12 messages over 2 pages: 1 2

Ogrim
Heptaglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 4644 days ago
991 posts - 1896 votes

Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian
Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian

Message 9 of 12

06 May 2014 at 12:38pm | IP Logged

Reisender wrote:

Ogrim wrote:

As regards the expression "estar a dos velas" it is quite common in Spain and means "to be broke" or "to have no money". I have never seen it used with a sexual meaning though. It would be easier to tell if seen in context.

In the show, the protagonist tells his friends that he has been going 57 days without sex now. They respond by saying "estas a dos velas". He gets defensive ("no estoy a dos velas!") and they argue for a bit. The conclusion? "Necessitas una mujer!"

Well, I've been looking around the web and came across this where they say that nowadays the expression can also be used meaning not having sex, so that is clearly what is meant in the show. However, the meaning of being broke is still the most common.
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Reisender
Triglot
Newbie
Italy
Joined 5456 days ago
30 posts - 44 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Latin, Ancient Greek, French

Message 10 of 12

06 May 2014 at 1:13pm | IP Logged

Ogrim wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Ogrim wrote:

From the website:

Quote:

“Estar a dos velas” significa, en su origen, carecer de recursos pecuniarios. (Hoy en día también podemos aplicarlo a la falta de sexo o ligoteo).

So that's that. Thanks!

From your responses, I gather that this idiom is very rarely applied to the context of courtship? Would a native speaker have trouble understanding the phrase, given that the context is clear?
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jpmtl
Diglot
Groupie
Canada
Joined 4007 days ago
44 posts - 115 votes

Speaks: French*, English
Studies: Spanish, Russian

Message 11 of 12

06 May 2014 at 8:29pm | IP Logged

One word I haven't been able to find the meaning of is 'morboso', which is widely used on "dating" websites. After reading some discussions, it seems natives can't seem to agree on the definition (and some don't even know what the words mean, other than the dictionary definition).

Some claim it means 'sleazy', or 'kinky' others 'horny', or 'hot'. All those words are clearly different in English, so they can't all be a correct translation.
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Bruno87
Diglot
Groupie
Argentina
Joined 4387 days ago
49 posts - 72 votes

Speaks: Spanish*, English
Studies: German, Portuguese

Message 12 of 12

07 May 2014 at 3:31am | IP Logged

jpmtl wrote:

One word I haven't been able to find the meaning of is 'morboso', which is
widely used on "dating" websites. After reading some discussions, it seems natives can't
seem to agree on the definition (and some don't even know what the words mean, other than
the dictionary definition).

Some claim it means 'sleazy', or 'kinky' others 'horny', or 'hot'. All those words are
clearly different in English, so they can't all be a correct translation.

Morboso is related with all kinds of perversions, it can be sexual as well as moral.

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