Day 92: Mola Versus Está Padre
In a streetwear store in San Miguel de Allende, Marcos (A), an exchange student from Madrid, asks Osvaldo (B), the owner, about sneakers and a cap.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Buenas tardes. ¿Tiene zapatillas blancas como las del escaparate? Y esa gorra verde mola muchísimo.
Good afternoon. Do you have any white zapatillas, sneakers, like the ones in the window? And that green cap is super cool.
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B
¿Zapatillas? Aquí así les decimos a las de tacón, joven, y dudo que le queden. Lo que busca son unos tenis.
Zapatillas? Here that's what we call high heels, young man, and I doubt they'd fit you. What you're after is a pair of tenis.
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A
Pues nada, unos tenis. ¿Y cómo dicen aquí que una gorra mola? Porque en clase nadie me pilla.
Oh well, tenis it is. And how do people here say a cap “mola,” that it's cool? Because nobody in class gets me.
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B
Diríamos que está padre. Y si nadie le cacha el “mola”, es porque aquí “molar” solo lo dice el dentista.
We'd say it's padre. And if nobody catches your “mola,” it's because here the only one who says “molar” is the dentist.
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A
¿Padre? ¿Y qué pinta mi padre en una gorra? Lo de aquí sí que es raro: en clase me dicen “güey” hasta para saludarme.
Padre, father? What's my father doing on a cap? It's the slang here that's odd: in class they call me “güey,” dude, even just to say hello.
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B
Pues usted dice “guay”, que aquí suena igualito a “güey”. Si se lo dijese a un señor de mi edad, más le valdría correr.
Well, you say “guay,” which here sounds just like “güey.” If you said it to a man my age, you'd better run.
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A
¿“Dijese”? Eso aquí no lo dice nadie: me está vacilando. Aunque yo tampoco me libro: cuando digo “chido”, me sale acento de telenovela.
“Dijese”? Nobody says that here: you're pulling my leg. Then again, I'm no better: when I say “chido,” it comes out in a soap-opera accent.
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B
Lo de “dijese” fue por cortesía, joven. Y si quisiese sonar de aquí, arrastre tantito el “chido”, y con la gorra puesta: pruébesela.
The “dijese” was just me being polite, young man. And if you wanted to sound local, drawl the “chido” a little, and with the cap on: try it on.
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A
A ver: “está bien chida la gorra”. ¿Y cuánto es lo menos, jefe, si me llevo los tenis?
OK: “está bien chida la gorra,” this cap's really cool. And what's the lowest you'll go, boss, if I take the sneakers?
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B
¡Ah, caray, esa expresión es de tianguis! Un madrileño regateando es lo más chistoso que ha entrado aquí: gana usted, se la dejo en 450.
Well, I'll be, that expression's pure street market! A Madrileño haggling is the funniest thing ever to walk in here: you win, it's yours for 450.
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A
Hecho. Y reconozca que ganarle en su tienda mola, y está bien padre.
Done. And admit it: beating you in your own store mola, and it's bien padre too.
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