Travis Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 I love the "What does this mean in English?" thread, but it seems to have worn itself out. So... The other day I was in an intercambio. The teacher/facilitator is Mexican, but has spent a good deal of time in the US and has almost perfect US/California English. We were talking about idiomatic expressions, and out came: "Go with the flow." None of us could come up with a good way to communicate the idea in Spanish. But I gotta think the same idea exists in Mexican culture. We talked about "Sigue la corriente", but if I understand that correctly, it's used more like how we might say "just humor her" or "play along". Sometimes it would work, but not always, depending on context. Then a few days later, I thought how in some contexts, "Ni modo" might be used, but ni modo is so much bigger than that. Anybody have a good way to communicate "go with the flow" in Spanish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowyco Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 "Allá donde fueres, haz como vieres. " ? "Ir con la mayoría Sumarse a la mayoría Seguir a la mayoría." ? "Haré lo que la mayoria diga". when with a friend. "Yo haré lo que se diga - lo que decida el grupo." when talking with a group of friends. ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex45920 Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Seguir el rollo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Really? El rollo? Thanks. I've seen several different translation attempts on the internet, including some of yours snowco. I think I'll bat this one around with my Spanish teacher(s) tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbviajero Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Seguir el rollo,to me means to play/go along with what someone is saying whether it's true or not,rather than contradicting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrguero Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Try: no te preocupes or deprocúpate or no te aguites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 I am becoming convinced that there is no real equivalent in Spanish, and that the phrase you would use depends on the context and situation. In English, "Go with the flow" is amazingly versatile, and could be used in any of the following situations. 1. You're in a government office and the bureaucrat in front of you insists that you provide another document even though you know it's not necessary and isn't part of the official requisitos. You decide it's not worth the fight, and just go with the flow. 2. cbviajero's example above. When someone you know is saying something that isn't true and you know it, but rather than contradicting, you just go with the flow. 3. You're with a group of friends, and you want everybody to go play futbol, but everybody else wants to go to a bar, so you just go with the flow. Dejarse llevar is another translation that we talked about today and comes close, but only applies to certain situations, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex45920 Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Seguir el rollo,to me means to play/go along with what someone is saying whether it's true or not,rather than contradicting them. Alright, then I'm going with. "Ir con el rollo" or "Vaya con el rollo." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiko Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 "Quise ahogar mis penas en el licor pero las condenadas aprendieron a nadar" ..... Frida Kahlo I wanted to drown my sorrows in the liquor but the bad words they learn how to swim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Liana Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 "Quise ahogar mis penas en el licor pero las condenadas aprendieron a nadar" ..... Frida Kahlo I wanted to drown my sorrows in the liquor but the bad words they learn how to swim. "I wanted to drown my sorrows in liquor, but the damned things learned how to swim." 'Las condenadas' refers back to 'penas'...it doesn't mean bad words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiko Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Thanks for clarifying that, I've had it explained to me both ways by native speakers. Your concise explanation makes perfect sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CG2U Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 You got it right, "Sigue la corriente, muevete con la corriente, ve con la corriente, o ahogate con la corriente..." ok, the last one was a joke No worries, Mexicans get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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