Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
...que quién mandaba,
English translation:
and I was like, who\'s in charge here, what\'s going on, where\'s the adult here?
Added to glossary by
Teressa Weaver
Jun 9, 2017 01:31
7 yrs ago
Spanish term
...que quién mandaba,
Spanish to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Idiomatic Usage
This is a witness interview at a police station. The speaker is a long-term resident in California, probably from Mexico.
She is talking about a kid hitting a little girl.
No, él le decía “hey, shut up, shut up, stupid shut up” y la niña... Y yo decía que quién mandaba, entonces se oyó cuando él, como si le pegara no sé si con un zapato, no sé si con un cable; porque se oyó como cuando chicotea y le pega, ya cuando ta-ta, así duro, ...
And I said ????, then you could hear when he, like if he was hitting her I don't know if with a shoe or a cord; because you could hear like whipping and he hits her, like so "ta-ta", that hard, --- this is on video and she strikes the table as she says "ta-ta".
She is talking about a kid hitting a little girl.
No, él le decía “hey, shut up, shut up, stupid shut up” y la niña... Y yo decía que quién mandaba, entonces se oyó cuando él, como si le pegara no sé si con un zapato, no sé si con un cable; porque se oyó como cuando chicotea y le pega, ya cuando ta-ta, así duro, ...
And I said ????, then you could hear when he, like if he was hitting her I don't know if with a shoe or a cord; because you could hear like whipping and he hits her, like so "ta-ta", that hard, --- this is on video and she strikes the table as she says "ta-ta".
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +5 | and I was like, who's in charge here, what's going on, where's the adult here? |
12316323 (X)
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| 3 | to the guy asking the questions |
David Hollywood
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| 3 | who says? |
Heidi Newby-Rose
|
Proposed translations
+5
23 mins
Selected
and I was like, who's in charge here, what's going on, where's the adult here?
I'm pretty sure it's her own reported speech or thoughts, i.e., her reaction to the situation.
Note from asker:
| I like this. Makes sense. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Marcelo González
: My pleasure. And the feeling is definitely mutual :-) >That's my understanding as well.
6 mins
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|
Thanks, Marcelo. My impression is that you definitely have an "ear" for Spanish and colloquial speech patterns (which tend to be ungrammatical and intuitive- can be hard to explain). So, I always value your insights :)
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|
| agree |
JohnMcDove
: Fully agree with "who's in charge here". The girl uses "indirect" style. Literally, "...and I was like THAT who's in charge here"... The "THAT", so unnatural in English, is used in Spanish, instead of the colon.
1 hr
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Thank you, John. I don't have enough space to respond to you here like I'd like, so I'm going to write it in the discussion space.
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|
| agree |
neilmac
4 hrs
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Thanks, Neil.
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| agree |
franglish
6 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Charles Davis
: Normal colloquial Spanish, not open to any other reading, in my opinion. Nonsensical if "quien" is not interrogative. And "I was like, who's in charge here?" is an ideal colloquial equivalent. NB speaker hears attack: children are not in her presence.
6 hrs
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Thanks, Charles, for your thoughtful explanations. Completely agree.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "This is perfect. Thank you."
5 mins
David Hollywood
Native in English
Works in field
worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
190
to the guy asking the questions
in this context
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Note added at 6 mins (2017-06-09 01:38:08 GMT)
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I would say this fits in line with the register required
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Note added at 16 mins (2017-06-09 01:47:48 GMT)
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or just: and I said to him
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Note added at 18 mins (2017-06-09 01:49:53 GMT)
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but better to include some level of subserviance here
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Note added at 6 mins (2017-06-09 01:38:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I would say this fits in line with the register required
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2017-06-09 01:47:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
or just: and I said to him
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2017-06-09 01:49:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
but better to include some level of subserviance here
Note from asker:
| Thank you, this is helpful. |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Charles Davis
: "Mandaba" means giving the orders, not asking the questions, and for this to work it would have to be "a quien mandaba", not "que quien mandaba".
7 hrs
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|
thanks Charles and my "asking the questions" is tantamount to "giving the orders"
|
2 hrs
Heidi Newby-Rose
South Africa
South Africa
Native in English
South Africa
Member of SATI
Native in: Afrikaans 
, English
Works in: German to English, Spanish to English, Afrikaans to English, and 3 more.
who says?
It seems she is talking to the person who is saying "shut up" and challenging him on who gets to tell the girl to shut up.
Example sentence:
and I said "who says?"
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Charles Davis
: Apart from the fact that this is inherently implausible, she does not appear to be in the presence of the person saying "shut up". Note that she describes hearing, not seeing, the blows that follow.
5 hrs
|
Discussion
"I was like" in this sense is extremely common nowadays among British speakers under the age of about 50, but it's only been common in UK English for about 25 years or so.
"Estaba como que" as a calque of "I was like" in this sense is not, to my knowledge, used in Spain, but it does seem to be used quite regularly in American Spanish. In Spain, "estaba como que" is commonly used with the same meaning as "estaba como si", and is sometimes followed by the indicative rather than the subjunctive.
The asker shared in a comment that she was hearing all of this through an apartment wall (wish it had been shared at the beginning). So, I can easily imagine someone getting worried as they realize that a child is hurting another child, and thinking, where are the adults? Is she seriously being hurt? Do I step in? Do I call 911? It looks like she may have.
I understand it as a literal and serious question-- Where are the parental authorities? Is anyone going to step in and stop this boy?