Sep 5, 2017 18:47
6 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term
Puede sonar la flauta
Spanish to English
Other
Slang
This appears in an email exchange. The conversation is as follows:
Person A:
Nuestro amigo me ha llamado enfadado porque no le hemos contestado. Quieres sentarte con el la proxima semana? Imagino que también con el socio, verdad?
Person B:
Ok. Puede sonar la flauta. Al amigo deberíamos citarlo en la oficina, no?
Person A:
Citaré a los dos para el martes.
Person A:
Nuestro amigo me ha llamado enfadado porque no le hemos contestado. Quieres sentarte con el la proxima semana? Imagino que también con el socio, verdad?
Person B:
Ok. Puede sonar la flauta. Al amigo deberíamos citarlo en la oficina, no?
Person A:
Citaré a los dos para el martes.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+3
9 mins
Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
US Court Cert. 1980 Ph.D. 1981
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
20
Selected
He could get lucky OR He could get a bit of luck
This is an idiom and according to the Oxford Dictionary "sonar la flauta" means "to get a bit of luck".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Domini Lucas
: agree it has something to do with ´getting lucky´ as per googled links. not sure re which person
6 mins
|
| agree |
Barbara Cochran, MFA
21 mins
|
| agree |
Marcelo González
13 hrs
|
| neutral |
Robert Carter
: Hi Michael. While this might be a legitimate interpretation of the phrase in isolation, contextually I don't think it makes sense.
7 days
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+2
55 mins
Phoenix III
United States
United States
Native in Spanish
&
English
Specializes in field
United States
True words...
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
, Spanish (Variant: Latin American)
Works in: Spanish to English, Spanish, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
20
That's an idea!/that'll work/that could be
This context lends itself more to interpreting than to a literal translation.
In LatAm, "le sonó la flauta/se le prendió el bombillo" means that the person "finally" had an idea. I truly believe that this is the right interpretaion in this case as well.
Lat but not least, Google is not the bible of translation. If a thousand people write baca and it comes up on Google with a million hits it only means that one thousand people and Google are dead wrong and the one person who writes VACA is 100% right.
In LatAm, "le sonó la flauta/se le prendió el bombillo" means that the person "finally" had an idea. I truly believe that this is the right interpretaion in this case as well.
Lat but not least, Google is not the bible of translation. If a thousand people write baca and it comes up on Google with a million hits it only means that one thousand people and Google are dead wrong and the one person who writes VACA is 100% right.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Marie Wilson
: I've never heard this expression so I'll take your word for it, as this makes more sense in the context.
9 mins
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Thanks so much, Marie!
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| neutral |
Domini Lucas
: re interpretation I totally agree. It's why I went with 'we' as an option. If you have experience of the phrase I can but bow to your knowledge as it does make sense. Do you know if it is also used that way in mainland Spanish?
3 hrs
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I don't know if it is used in European Spanish, but it's common in LatAm as I said. Language is expression and if it doesn't make sense we're just not communicating. :0) This one a classic example.
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| agree |
Robert Carter
: "That'll work" is exactly what came to mind when I first read it, but I'd never heard this phrase used before.
19 hrs
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I have heard a million times but not in this context. Many thanks!
|
+1
15 mins
Domini Lucas
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Academic and Literary Translator
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: Spanish to English, Greek to English
We could be lucky
I just googled as it was a term I hadn´t heard before. both this link and the other one I googled seem to point to it having something to do with luck. Not having heard it before I am not sure from the context whether it is ´"He could be/get lucky" or "we" (meaning "one". So best wait to see what others say as well...
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-09-05 19:56:13 GMT)
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I totally agree that Google is not the bible of translation. But none of my hand held dictionaries or Colloquial Spanish books had it (possibly too old) so it was a starting point as the two seemed to coincide and one link was a discussion.
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Note added at 4 hrs (2017-09-05 22:59:51 GMT)
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I think also that the internet including google can offer some help specifically where slang is concerned. As also social media.
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Note added at 4 hrs (2017-09-05 23:13:49 GMT)
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I have found another hand held dictionary Collins 2001 which does feature a similar phrase. It has "sonó la flauta (por casualidad)" translated into English as "it was a fluke, it was sheer luck" but it doesn't specify whether it is mainland or LAm Spanish. The (por casualidad) is the dictionary´s inclusion and brackets not mine.
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Note added at 1 hr (2017-09-05 19:56:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I totally agree that Google is not the bible of translation. But none of my hand held dictionaries or Colloquial Spanish books had it (possibly too old) so it was a starting point as the two seemed to coincide and one link was a discussion.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2017-09-05 22:59:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I think also that the internet including google can offer some help specifically where slang is concerned. As also social media.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2017-09-05 23:13:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I have found another hand held dictionary Collins 2001 which does feature a similar phrase. It has "sonó la flauta (por casualidad)" translated into English as "it was a fluke, it was sheer luck" but it doesn't specify whether it is mainland or LAm Spanish. The (por casualidad) is the dictionary´s inclusion and brackets not mine.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Ellen Klabbers
: I think this is the closest to the original meaning. Interesting article: http://working-language.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/sonar-la-fla...
14 hrs
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Fascinating article. Can I save the link?
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19 hrs
we might hit (the) jackpot
Here's another option. An idiom that means " to achieve great success, esp through luck"
Reference:
Discussion
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/sonar-la-flauta.4593...