# Una pregunta



## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Has anybody else noticed everybody here now starts a conversation with, 'Una pregunta' or Una cosa, or Escolta'm / Escucharme? Apologies if you haven't but now do! Verbal tics drive me potty and this is, like, basically, the worst ever, literally. I once had a conversation with someone who accused me of 'literally taking the p1ss'. He didn't see the funny side.

So, is it happening everywhere else? Is there anywhere safe? Where can I hide?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

I've only heard foreigners do it - not any Spanish people.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Helenameva said:


> Has anybody else noticed everybody here now starts a conversation with, 'Una pregunta' or Una cosa, or Escolta'm / Escucharme? Apologies if you haven't but now do! Verbal tics drive me potty and this is, like, basically, the worst ever, literally. I once had a conversation with someone who accused me of 'literally taking the p1ss'. He didn't see the funny side.
> 
> So, is it happening everywhere else? Is there anywhere safe? Where can I hide?


Yes i have!!

And my daughters do it in English too - which for some reason I find far more irritating than in Spanish :confused2:


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Now you mention it, my daughter does too - In English "just one question ..." but I haven't heard her say it in Spanish.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Now you mention it, my daughter does too - In English "just one question ..." but I haven't heard her say it in Spanish.


I hear it in Spanish all the time - & not just from young people - people my age say 'scuchame all the time!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Helenameva said:


> Has anybody else noticed everybody here now starts a conversation with, 'Una pregunta' or Una cosa, or Escolta'm / Escucharme? Apologies if you haven't but now do! Verbal tics drive me potty and this is, like, basically, the worst ever, literally. I once had a conversation with someone who accused me of 'literally taking the p1ss'. He didn't see the funny side.
> 
> So, is it happening everywhere else? Is there anywhere safe? Where can I hide?


I'm confused.


What's wrong with starting a conversation with "Una pregunta" or "una cosa" ?(OH, my daughter, my students do it *all* the time)
Why do you say "now" as if this didn't happen in the past?
Why did somedody accuse you of "literally" taking the piss?


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> I hear it in Spanish all the time - & not just from young people - people my age say 'scuchame all the time!


My (Spanish) mother in law is the worst offender. On Sunday I was with her and noticed she was saying 'Escolta'm' but not following it up with anything else. There's also a guy I work with who winces everytime he says it, he's aware of it, doesn't like it, but can't stop himself.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I'm confused.
> 
> 
> What's wrong with starting a conversation with "Una pregunta" or "una cosa" ?(OH, my daughter, my students do it *all* the time)
> ...


I guess you are more tolerant than I am. The 'literally' and 'basically' thing in English is still around, but people use 'like' a lot now, usually several times in one sentence. 'Like' can be more of an 'erm', a thinking word, like 'pues'. They don't bother me so much. Precursing everything with something unnecessary does. We all have our little foibles. 

I think 'Brexit' is the new verbal tic. (It felt wrong to have a thread without Brexit mentioned).


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Helenameva said:


> I guess you are more tolerant than I am. The 'literally' and 'basically' thing in English is still around, but people use 'like' a lot now, usually several times in one sentence. 'Like' can be more of an 'erm', a thinking word, like 'pues'. They don't bother me so much. Precursing everything with something unnecessary does. We all have our little foibles.
> 
> I think 'Brexit' is the new verbal tic. (It felt wrong to have a thread without Brexit mentioned).


I think the 'una pregunta' 'escuchame' & 'una cosa' thing is quintessentially Spanish. I don't remember it being common in England/English

I have to say I barely notice it when I hear it in Spanish, but your post made me realise that they are said rather a lot

I really notice it when my daughters say 'question' before asking a question though - & it drives me up the wall... just ask the flippin question will you!!??


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The only time hearing "una pregunta" annoys me is when I've been standing in a queue for some time and somebody barges straight up to the front because they've only got "una pregunta" and then proceed to tie up the clerk in dealing with their "pregunta" which is clearly (to them) much more important than anything all the people queuing might have to do, even if that's buying a bus or rail ticket for a service which leaves in 5 minutes!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Helenameva said:


> I guess you are more tolerant than I am. The 'literally' and 'basically' thing in English is still around, but people use 'like' a lot now, usually several times in one sentence. 'Like' can be more of an 'erm', a thinking word, like 'pues'. They don't bother me so much. Precursing everything with something unnecessary does. We all have our little foibles.
> 
> I think 'Brexit' is the new verbal tic. (It felt wrong to have a thread without Brexit mentioned).


The use of like is a whole different thing to me. That can actually obscure the meaning of a sentence not only to foreigners, but people of different generations. It's one of those props that teens use to help them feel more "in", but then become disabling. For example they use like so many times that it becomes a source of ridicule by "normal" people ie not their peers. Some find it difficult to speak without it and this means they don't function well in more adult environments in the every day world.
Around here a few years ago it was the use of _super, tia, and tronco _that did it

As for Brexit, I know it's important but good grief am I bored of it.


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

Nobody has mentioned "¡vale!" I'm in a class this summer in Spain and the young woman who sits beside me, as the professor lectures, every minute or so articulates a "vale". I don't even think she is aware. Sometimes I even hear 'vale, vale" with a head nod. This is not common in the other 90% of the Spanish speaking world. Do any of you English speakers feel bothered when someone says "OK" constantly?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xolo said:


> Nobody has mentioned "¡vale!" I'm in a class this summer in Spain and the young woman who sits beside me, as the professor lectures, every minute or so articulates a "vale". I don't even think she is aware. Sometimes I even hear 'vale, vale" with a head nod. This is not common in the other 90% of the Spanish speaking world. Do any of you English speakers feel bothered when someone says "OK" constantly?


_Vale_ is a constant in Spain. I really noticed it when I came here from Colombia as there they use _cierto_ in the same way, at least they did in Cali where I was based.

Another thing that newcomers often notice is the use of _sí_. The idea seems to be why say _sí_ once if you can say it 5 or 6 times. Or maybe 10.
The converstaion might go something like this
_ - Decidimos comprar este.
- Ah sí! Sí, sí, mucho mejor, claro que sí. Sí, sí, sí._


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

It annoys me sometimes when people ask me questions (and it's not just me, they do it to other Spanish people they know as well) the answer to which is blindingly obvious. You meet them in the supermarket and they say "¿Compra, no?", I'm mopping the pavement and it's "ah, limpiando, no?" or painting a wall and "pintando, no?". What can you say but "si, si, si"?

Everybody here says vale all the time, plus claro, claro.


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## Jumar (Mar 14, 2012)

In the UK the trend now is to start a sentence with "I mean"!!!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Jumar said:


> In the UK the trend now is to start a sentence with "I mean"!!!


or "So ...."


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

I often here the more elderly people here in Spain start their sentence with "Pero" then pause before continuing!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

tebo53 said:


> I often here the more elderly people here in Spain start their sentence with "Pero" then pause before continuing!


Either that or "Bueno".


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Jumar said:


> In the UK the trend now is to start a sentence with "I mean"!!!


OR
which drives me mad

Start with 

So
and end with

You know what I mean


YES I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN I SPEAK ENGLISH DO YOU!!!!!!


Vale

Used all the time here


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> It annoys me sometimes when people ask me questions (and it's not just me, they do it to other Spanish people they know as well) the answer to which is blindingly obvious. You meet them in the supermarket and they say "¿Compra, no?", I'm mopping the pavement and it's "ah, limpiando, no?" or painting a wall and "pintando, no?". *What can you say but "si, si, si"?*
> 
> Everybody here says vale all the time, plus claro, claro.


I'd roll my eyes, grin, & say no.....


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> or "So ...."


That's the one that gets under my skin.  It's like saying "the thing I am going to say next is the conclusion, the rest of you are redundant".

I often start sentences with "una pregunta" but I haven't noticed others doing it. The andalus equivalent to _escúchame_ is _cúshame_, which I hear all the time. _Venga _and _vale_ seem to be more or less interchangeable. _Pero bueno, ¡seguimos!_


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

xolo said:


> Nobody has mentioned "¡vale!" I'm in a class this summer in Spain and the young woman who sits beside me, as the professor lectures, every minute or so articulates a "vale". I don't even think she is aware. Sometimes I even hear 'vale, vale" with a head nod. This is not common in the other 90% of the Spanish speaking world. Do any of you English speakers feel bothered when someone says "OK" constantly?


No, I just assume it means they are listening! As you say, it's a verbal nod. I didn't realise _vale _was only common in peninsular Spanish though.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> I'd roll my eyes, grin, & say no.....


Sometimes in the supermarket I've felt like saying no, I've just come in to get out of the rain, but fear the sarcastic humour might be lost in translation. 

I did wonder at first if people were just saying those kinds of things to us because they thought we wouldn't understand anything more complicated, but no, they still say them to other Spanish people they must have known all their lives.

Come to think of it, it often used to annoy me at work if someone came up to my desk and said "oh, are you having your lunch?" when they were going to interrupt me anyway,


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> Sometimes in the supermarket I've felt like saying no, I've just come in to get out of the rain, but fear *the sarcastic humour might be lost in translation.
> *
> I did wonder at first if people were just saying those kinds of things to us because they thought we wouldn't understand anything more complicated, but no, they still say them to other Spanish people they must have known all their lives.
> 
> Come to think of it, it often used to annoy me at work if someone came up to my desk and said "oh, are you having your lunch?" when they were going to interrupt me anyway,


actually you have a point - not sure if it's just me, but sarcasm doesn't seem to be a Spanish thing at all


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

My (Spanish) sister in law seems to use _sabe(s) _after nearly every sentence. I find it interesting that my Spanish is no where near fluent, but I can pick up the idiosyncrasies which are most annoying.


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## Jumar (Mar 14, 2012)

One of our older friends here, who speaks in Totanero so strong that other Totaneros sometimes can't understand him, always ends his sentences with si or no, which gives us a 50/50 chance if understanding him!!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Helenameva said:


> I guess you are more tolerant than I am. The 'literally' and 'basically' thing in English is still around, but people use 'like' a lot now, usually several times in one sentence. 'Like' can be more of an 'erm', a thinking word, like 'pues'. They don't bother me so much. Precursing everything with something unnecessary does. We all have our little foibles.
> 
> I think 'Brexit' is the new verbal tic. (It felt wrong to have a thread without Brexit mentioned).


Well I didn't think I was especially tolerant, but it seems I am after reading all these posts, so I'm going to give myself a smiley as I think that's a positive thing

Maybe I'm so used to people butchering the English language every day (I used, every day to get up at 7:00, He does work in this company? He start at 9:00, How does he relax himself? This all from the class at 13:30 today. Where to start with the corrections I ask myself!?) that I leave the Spanish to do what they want with theirs


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Chica22 said:


> My (Spanish) sister in law seems to use _sabe(s) _after nearly every sentence. I find it interesting that my Spanish is no where near fluent, but I can pick up the idiosyncrasies which are most annoying.


Is it just _sabes _or the ultra pijo( Posh, snobby affected) _no __sabes_??

_O sea_ was another pijo lexical quirk, but I think it's gone out of fashion a bit now.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Believe it or not, I've just popped out to the supermarket for something I forgot this morning, and who should stop me in the street but a lady who had "una pregunta" - she wanted to know where the new hairdresser's salon was! Very timely.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> The use of like is a whole different thing to me. That can actually obscure the meaning of a sentence not only to foreigners, but people of different generations. It's one of those props that teens use to help them feel more "in", but then become disabling. For example they use like so many times that it becomes a source of ridicule by "normal" people ie not their peers. Some find it difficult to speak without it and this means they don't function well in more adult environments in the every day world.
> Around here a few years ago it was the use of _super, tia, and tronco _that did it
> 
> As for Brexit, I know it's important but good grief am I bored of it.


I've just remembered the equivalent of _like _in Madrid is _plan_ as in
Diego estaba en plan "no sé tía", y yo le dije en plan" te lo voy a explicar pero muy despacio chico", sabes en plan "no vas a salir con lo tuyo, tío"...?

If you get my drift.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> Believe it or not, I've just popped out to the supermarket for something I forgot this morning, and who should stop me in the street but a lady who had "una pregunta" - she wanted to know where the new hairdresser's salon was! Very timely.


And did you slap her round the face or were you able to contain youself and give her an answer?!


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> It annoys me sometimes when people ask me questions (and it's not just me, they do it to other Spanish people they know as well) the answer to which is blindingly obvious. You meet them in the supermarket and they say "¿Compra, no?", I'm mopping the pavement and it's "ah, limpiando, no?" or painting a wall and "pintando, no?". What can you say but "si, si, si"?
> 
> Everybody here says vale all the time, plus claro, claro.


Another one of my work colleagues always says Sí sí sí sí all the time someone's talking to him. The other popular one I'd forgotten is Cla Cla Cla Cla (claro). People don't seem to mind sounding like an old Morris minor starting up.

Anyway, I've realised today, my verbal tic in English is 'you know'. I also say 'saps' (sabes) quite a lot, but that's less of a verbal tic and more of a way of making sure I'm making sense.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> And did you slap her round the face or were you able to contain youself and give her an answer?!


Not only did I give her an answer but I actually walked her to the door of the new hairdresser's salon. Is there a smiley for a halo?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> Not only did I give her an answer but I actually walked her to the door of the new hairdresser's salon. Is there a smiley for a halo?


:angel:

close enough?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Another one which probably drives a good few of you up the wall is _nada_ used to start a sentence used to mean that it's not very important


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> It annoys me sometimes when people ask me questions (and it's not just me, they do it to other Spanish people they know as well) the answer to which is blindingly obvious. You meet them in the supermarket and they say "¿Compra, no?", I'm mopping the pavement and it's "ah, limpiando, no?" or painting a wall and "pintando, no?". What can you say but "si, si, si"?
> 
> Everybody here says vale all the time, plus claro, claro.


Isn't that just a Spanish version of what the English do when they say "nice day" when the sun is obviously shining, or "horrible weather" when it's p1ssing down? Just a way of making contact.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> Isn't that just a Spanish version of what the English do when they say "nice day" when the sun is obviously shining, or "horrible weather" when it's p1ssing down? Just a way of making contact.


Yes, I'm sure it is.


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

I quite like "una pregunta", if said by someone Spanish I get my mind set for a rapid translation in my head, I still have to do that, as they will need a Spanish reply. If I use it to a Spaniard they seem to listen more carefully as they know I am English and not fluent and will probably have to decipher it.
BTW how do Spaniards know IU am English? I am always having an English menu thrust in front of me in restaurants, I politely ask for a Spanish version if only to check the content as sometimes the English translation is quite dodgy.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

stevesainty said:


> BTW how do Spaniards know I am English? I am always having an English menu thrust in front of me in restaurants, I politely ask for a Spanish version if only to check the content as sometimes the English translation is quite dodgy.


Some possible clues:

The time of day - if you are expecting to eat lunch at 12.30 or dinner at 8, you're probably English.

You choose a table in the sun rather than the shade.

You aren't sure whether you will get table service or not and keep looking round anxiously for a waiter.

Your clothes are clearly M&S Blue Harbour range.

Your head and the back of your neck are deep red.

You order a large beer when it's 35ºC.

Or possibly they just heard you talking English while you were looking at the menu outside ...


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Some possible clues:
> 
> The time of day - if you are expecting to eat lunch at 12.30 or dinner at 8, you're probably English.
> 
> ...


Agree with all except the beer. I don't know any Spanish people who stop drinking beer when it's hot.

The clothes are just different, especially I find in older people. Also the physical charateristics.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Agree with all except the beer. I don't know any Spanish people who stop drinking beer when it's hot.
> 
> The clothes are just different, especially I find in older people. Also the physical charateristics.


But the Spanish drink their beer in small glasses or botellines, they don't order a jarra which will be warm by the time you're half way down.

When we are in tourist areas they often give us large beers without asking, which really irritates me.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

pues..... una cosa....


when I do support for Spanish GCSE & A level I always tell them to say _pues...._ if they get stuck during the oral exam

they actually get points for that, rather than saying _erm...._


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> But the Spanish drink their beer in small glasses or botellines, they don't order a jarra which will be warm by the time you're half way down.
> 
> When we are in tourist areas they often give us large beers without asking, which really irritates me.


Well, it would depend on how long you take to drink it...


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> pues..... una cosa....
> 
> 
> when I do support for Spanish GCSE & A level I always tell them to say _pues...._ if they get stuck during the oral exam
> ...


Yes, same in the First and CAE. It's "good" to say something like _Hmm, let me think_, or _that's a good question_


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## I'gil (Jul 29, 2016)

We use this kind of words in place of sorry and please... a different approach I guess..:eyebrows:


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## Balvert (Jul 31, 2016)

I often kick off with 'una pregunta' but that's only because there is room for improvement in my Spanish and it gives me a few seconds to figure out the next bit...


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