Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Mija / mi'ja

English translation:

dear, my dear, darling, honey, sweetie, miss

Added to glossary by Marialba Baez
Aug 14, 2010 05:22
13 yrs ago
9 viewers *
Spanish term

Mi'ja

Spanish to English Art/Literary Slang
Contexto: woman asking somebody (a stranger) for help and he answers:

¿Qué pasó, mi’ja? ¿En qué la puedo servir?

Ese mi'ja (mi hija) que usualmente lo usamos entre parientes y amigos para indicar :sweetie, dear, you, my friend, son, etc...en este caso, cual seria la mejor manera de traducirlo? Pense en "Ma'am" "Miss" "dear" o "Sweetie"...No se, "daughter" no suena natural.

Gracias por la ayuda
Change log

Aug 14, 2010 07:17: Beatriz Ramírez de Haro changed "Language pair" from "English to Spanish" to "Spanish to English"

Aug 19, 2010 14:24: Marialba Baez changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/41402">Marialba Baez's</a> old entry - "Mi\'ja"" to ""dear, my dear, darling, honey, sweetie""

Discussion

Marialba Baez (asker) Aug 15, 2010:
Observacion.. Se trata de un hispano hablando con una hispana. Como sabemos, entre los hispanos nos tratamos mucho de "mi amor", etc., incluso entre extraños, especialmente cuando se esta prestando un servicio (en tiendas, restaurantes, etc)...lo mismo ocurre en ingles de EE. UU. donde se le llama "sweetie" a todo el mundo, especialmente son las mujeres las que usan ese termino con extraños, pero dependiendo de la situacion (ej: una mesera le dice "thank you, sweetie" a un extraño que le ayuda a recoger una servilleta o que se yo)...Pero en fin, lo que queria decir era que la traduccion es de la trascripcion de un interrogatorio policial, para beneficio de los detectives que solo hablan ingles y en caso de pasar el caso a un tribunal. No es nada literario ni mucho menos :-) Perdonen si hubo confusion. Gracias a todos por la ayuda.
Monica Colangelo Aug 14, 2010:
No me parece que dear, honey... sean adecuados. Creo que tu explicación del uso en español confundió a varios. No creo que si una mujer consulta a un hombre extraño en la calle, él le responda con "dear", "honey" o "love"
Marialba Baez (asker) Aug 14, 2010:
Pais... Los Estados Unidos... La nacionalidad de ella es guatemalteca, pero la de el no se...solo que trabaja en un aeropuerto de Texas.
Christine Walsh Aug 14, 2010:
Pais? Un uso informal como éste varía muchode pais a pais. Para dónde es esta traducción?

Proposed translations

+7
6 mins
Selected

my dear, darling

Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

mijo2 -ja pronombre (apelativo) (AmL fam) dear;
¿qué le pasa, mijita? what's the matter, darling? (colloq)

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-08-14 06:49:37 GMT)
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Me alegro de que te sirva :)
Note from asker:
Gracias!
Peer comment(s):

agree Bárbara Oliver
33 mins
Muchas gracias y saludos Bárbara :)
agree eski : "My dear"; I'd say. (since it's a stranger)Saludos, eski
1 hr
It sounds more appropiate, thank you very much eski :)
agree franglish : simply "dear"
2 hrs
Thank you very much franglish :)
agree Robert Feuerlein
3 hrs
Thank you very much Robert :)
agree Maria Druetta
7 hrs
Thank you very much med80 :)
agree Jairo Payan : De acuerdo, respecto al texto en español, lo he visto escrito con apóstrofre: Mijo, mija, mijito, mijita
8 hrs
Muchas gracias y saludos jairo :)
agree Adriana de Groote : De acuerdo con franglish, simplemente "dear". Algo así como "Yes, dear, what can I do for you?"
9 hrs
Thank you very much Adriana :)
agree Christine Walsh : Or even 'dearie'. Depends on age of both speakers, social group, region, etc. An older speaker in the UK might use this, and the register is similar.
9 hrs
Thank you very much Christine :)
disagree Jacqueline Rosa-Kuhn : This is not the meaning when this word is used by a stranger to a stranger.
19 hrs
The use of Mi'ja in Spanish has the same connotations of "dear, darling" in English.
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks again."
+1
4 mins

miss

Yo diría "miss" porque es un poco menos educado. Madam es lo más correcto y más educado.
Note from asker:
Gracias!
Peer comment(s):

agree Jacqueline Rosa-Kuhn : I'm Puerto Rican and I know this phrase. In this specific case, this is absolutely the best option!
19 hrs
Thanks, jkuhn
Something went wrong...
+2
3 hrs

love

What happened love; what's the matter love
Note from asker:
Thanks!
Peer comment(s):

agree Wendy Streitparth : Maybe its regional, but I think this is now more common than dear.
4 mins
Thanks :)
agree cmwilliams (X) : especially for UK but not sure about US.
1 hr
Thanks :)
agree Cinnamon Nolan : Yes, especially for the UK. Very common form, in line with the informality of the Spanish, would be "What happened, luv?"
3 hrs
You're right. Thanks
disagree Monica Colangelo : I am sure it is not used with a total stranger.
8 hrs
I'm afraid it is in the UK!
Something went wrong...
+5
1 hr

honey

Another common alternative:

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-08-14 06:52:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

was overjoyed that no one had bought him yet. I longed to hold him and brush away the cobwebs between his ears. I wanted to say, “It's all right, Honey. ...
books.google.com.mx/books?isbn=1558747257...

Saludos,
eski

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Note added at 13 hrs (2010-08-14 18:45:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks Marialba;
I know that this a common enough expression, having lived in the States (where I grew up) with a son and four daughters of my own; I often used it –even when referring to one of their female friends whom I'd only recently met.

Saludos from a very rainy Acapulco,
eski
Note from asker:
That's true. Thanks!
Peer comment(s):

agree Lizette Britz
1 hr
Thank you & muchos saludos from (a rainy) Acapulco, Lizette! eski
agree Thayenga
8 hrs
Hi Thayenga: Thanks for your confirmation! eski
agree Christine Walsh : A good choice for US English.
8 hrs
Gracias y muchos saludos, Chris! :)) eski
agree ldfx
9 hrs
Gracias por tu confirmacion, ldfx: Saludos! eski
agree Sibylle Gray : Yes, down here in the deep South, strangers call you "honey" all the time - clerks at stores, librarians, and, of course, the same holds true for above-mentioned scenario. "Sweetie" is also used a lot in those situations.
1 day 20 hrs
Thx Sibylle; I grew up in Coconout Grove, Fl: "Honey" was and, I believe, still is–used quite widely: My girlfriend's mom used to call me 'honey', but then again.I think she knew I had a secret crush on her...:)) Saludos from DEEP South (Acapulco!) eski
Something went wrong...
+1
1 day 21 hrs

sweetie

In the US, "sweetie" or "honey" are a good choice, esp. in the South.



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Note added at 1 day21 hrs (2010-08-16 03:14:24 GMT)
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In this case, the example sentence should read: "Hey sweetie, what can I do for you?"
Example sentence:

Hey honey, what can I do for you?

Peer comment(s):

agree eski : Why, shucks..now–aint y'all a SWEETIE if theah eva' was one? BTW; Honey, just read your profile and was blown away: ¡Felicidades, MAESTRA!!! :)) eski
13 hrs
Something went wrong...
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