que se yo!

Malevo

Malevo

Senior Member
Buenos Aires
Argentina, Spanish
Hola. Vi en una pelicula que le preguntaron algo a alguien. Esta persona respondio en ingles algo, y el subtitulo español fue "que se yo!". La pregunta es como se dice en ingles. Gracias!
 
    • Sr. Moose said:
    ¿Qué sé yo? What do I know?
    Click to expand...
    Well, that is the literal translation.
    Do you use it as an expression to mean "What can I know about this matter"

    "Creo que lloraban, reían, gemían o qué se yo / quién sabe qué hacían."
    I think they were crying, laughing, groaning or what do I know / who knows what they were doing.

    Another example:
    ¡Este nuevo artículo servirá para tanto! Barrer, limpiar paredes, lavar loza... ¿qué se yo!
    This new product will be useful for so many things! Sweeping, wall cleaning, dish washing... you tell me!
     
    Last edited:
    Milton Sand said:
    Well, that is the literal translation.
    Do you use it as an expression to mean "What can I know about this matter"
    Click to expand...
    I use the expression "(Gosh/Heck), what do I know?" in two situations. 1) When I feel it would be more polite, modest or safer to not honestly comment. 2) To soften a comment I've already made that may cause controversy.
    Milton Sand said:
    Another example:
    ¡Este nuevo artículo servirá para tanto! Barrer, limpiar paredes, lavar loza... ¿qué se yo!
    This new product will be useful for so many things! Sweeping, wall cleaning, dish washing... you tell me!
    Click to expand...
    In this context, I guess in English it would be expressed rhetorically as "Gosh, who knows!", implying the product's infinite possibilities. Although, "You tell me!" is very close and has its place in conversation, too.
     
    Sr. Moose said:
    I use the expression "(Gosh/Heck), what do I know?" in two situations. 1) When I feel it would be more polite, modest or safer to not honestly comment. 2) To soften a comment I've already made that may cause controversy. In this context, I guess in English it would be expressed rhetorically as "Gosh, who knows!", implying the product's infinite possibilities. Although, "You tell me!" is very close and has its place in conversation, too.
    Click to expand...
    Great. I'll keep that in mind.
     
    Hola,

    Y en este caso? Es una entrevista.

    La cosa no es tan sencilla, la pregunta es demasiado general y la respuesta también tendría que ser demasiado amplia. No podríamos decir... que se yo... hay que hacer esto o esto otro.

    It's not so simple, the question is too general and then the answer would have to be too broad. We couldn't say, who knows???, this or that should be done.

    Gracias!
     
    Translation is a tricky business at best. The most accurate translations often have little to do with the actual words being spoken or written. Rather they deal with the feeling or idea. In this case, "que se yo" litterally means "What do I know?" But that's not what one would say in English. If I say, "que se yo" in Spanish I usually mean either "who knows?" or "How would I know?" in English, depending upon the context.
     
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