You'd think I'd have more sense than to...

[Emiliana de Lunares]

¡Hola a todos!

Tengo una duda sobre cómo se expresaría la siguiente idea en español. Una mujer está hablando con una amiga suya de lo que hizo la noche anterior. Ella fue a una fiesta y al final de la noche uno de los invitados (que conoció en la fiesta) ofreció llevarla a casa. Ella aceptó y el tipo resultó ser un raro. Le dice a su amiga...

You'd think I'd have more sense than to take a ride from a stranger.

Mi intento...

Debería haber tenido más sentido que eso para no aceptar que un desconocido me llevara a casa.

Lo siento, pero es que no se me ocurre nada. ¿Qué les parece? ¿Sugerencias?
Muchas gracias de antemano por su ayuda

 

[Juju333]

Ok I'm passing through, shouldn't it be "common sense" rather than just "sense"? Sorry for hijacking a little bit.

 

[BLUEGLAZE]

shouldn't it be "common sense" rather than just "sense"?

The expression is 'to have more sense', generally meaning I thought I was/ you were smarter than that -
that being the action you took.

My translation thoughts run this way -

Uno creería que yo fuera más sensato/prudente como para dejar que un desconocido me llevara a casa.

 

[gengo]

shouldn't it be "common sense" rather than just "sense"?

No, this is a set expression.

My attempt:
Pensarías que [yo] tendría más sentido común que pedir un aventón a un desconocido.

 

[Juju333]

Thank you.

 

[Ferrol]

De acuerdo con Blue y también con Gengo, con la salvedad que "pedir un aventón" , no sería entendido en España, ni tampoco, al parecer en varios países de América de habla española, según el DLE de la r.a.e.
Entiendo que puede pasar lo mismo con "lift" , que es el término más
usual en Br English, pero que quizás no sea entendido en US English

 

[Emiliana de Lunares]

@Ferrol En cuanto a la primera parte de la frase, ¿te parece más común decir?: ''Uno creería que yo fuera...'' o ''Pensarías que yo tendría...''

 

[Ballenero]

Uno creería que yo fuera más sensato/prudente como para dejar que un desconocido me llevara a casa.

A mí esos tiempos verbales no me suenan bien.
El resto de la frase sí.

Pensarías que [yo] tendría más sentido común que pedir un aventón a un desconocido

Lo mismo en cuanto a los verbos.
Aventón, si significa hacer autostop, no es válido porque no es el caso, ella ha aceptado su ofrecimiento.

La dificultad está en los dos primeros verbos.
Solo veo la opción de cambiarlos y decirlo de otra manera.

Se supone que
tendría que/debería
- haber tenido más cabeza que...
- haber sido más sensata que...
dejar que un desconocido me llevara.

 

[Emiliana de Lunares]

Gracias, @Ballenero. O sea, ¿no se conjuga el verbo ''haber''?

 

[Ballenero]

Maybe
Cualquiera habría pensado que yo hubiera...

 

[Ferrol]

@Ferrol En cuanto a la primera parte de la frase, ¿te parece más común decir?: ''Uno creería que yo fuera...'' o ''Pensarías que yo tendría...''

Hola Emiliana . Mejor la segunda sin duda.
Más natural : "Creerías/pensarías que yo tenía más sentido común como para no aceptar que un extraño me llevara en su coche"

 

[gengo]

Aventón, si significa hacer autostop, no es válido porque no es el caso, ella ha aceptado su ofrecimiento.

I'm not sure what you mean. That word is commonly used in my variety of Spanish (Mexican), although they also use "un ride" (voz inglesa). Or are you saying that it doesn't work only because she has already accepted the offer? If that's the case, I disagree, because the sentence would have the same meaning as "You'd think I'd have more sense than to ask for a ride from a stranger."

 

[Ballenero]

I really don't know what that word means.
I thought it was the same as hitchhiking.
But if you say in Mexico they say it that way, then I take it back.

 

[gengo]

I really don't know what that word means.

aventón nm	AmC, MX: coloquial (viaje gratis) (UK)	lift n
	(US)	ride n
	Se descompuso mi auto, así que le pedí un aventón al vecino.
	My car broke down, so I asked my neighbour for a lift.

 

[michelmontescuba]

No sé que valor tenga como traducción, pero en una situación informal yo diría algo como: "Tenía que/debería haberlo pensado mejor antes de irme a mi casa/subirme en un carro con un extraño."

 

[michelmontescuba]

Pensarías que [yo] tendría más sentido común que pedir un aventón a un desconocido.

Esta forma no resulta natural en español.
Con respecto a "aventón", no es una palabra obsoleta ni mucho menos. En Cuba, en ciertas ocaciones se prefiere "pedir/dar botella" (coloquial), pero en otras, "aventón" es lo más apropiado.

 

[gengo]

Esta forma no resulta natural en español.

Thanks for letting me know. I guess it's just a case where the basic way of thinking is different in the two languages (which is what makes learning foreign languages so interesting). The concept of the English is that not accepting a ride from a stranger is common sense, so it would be natural for you to assume that I was that smart. It's a way of putting yourself down by admitting you did something dumb.

Other examples:
-Wow, your back is bright red.
-Yeah, you'd think I'd have enough sense not to lie in the sun for six hours.

-Oh, my stomach hurts! You'd think I'd have enough sense to stop eating sooner.

 

[michelmontescuba]

Exactamente. Hay una diferencia en el modo de pensar, porque no elaboramos ese tipo de ideas de esa manera. Es por eso que si seguimos la misma estructura terminamos con una frase poco natural; aunque ojalá y lo hiciéramos, porque suena mucho mejor en inglés que en español.

 

[MonsieurGonzalito]

You'd think I'd have more sense than to take a ride from a stranger.

Uno pensaría que yo debería haber demostrado el criterio suficiente como para no aceptar que un extaño me lleve.

 

[Ricardo Cid]

to have more sense than to do sth = tener el suficiente sentido común como para no hacer algo
She has more sense than to go out on her own = tiene el suficiente sentido común como para no salir sola
You ought to have more sense than to get involved with him = deberías tener más sentido común como para no involucrarte con él.

 

[Mister Draken]

A ver, el "you'd think" es impersonal y por eso las opciones tienen que ser impersonales (uno, se pensaría, tendría que + inf., cualquiera, etc.).

Cualquiera sabe que el sentido común indica que uno no debe hacer autostop y subirse al auto de un desconocido.

 

[gengo]

A ver, el "you'd think" es impersonal y por eso las opciones tienen que ser impersonales (uno, se pensaría, tendría que + inf., cualquiera, etc.).

I'm not sure about that. You may be right, but "you" here could also be referring directly to the other person. I can see it both ways.

What do other NESs think?

 

[rajulbat]

If I'm sitting at a table in a café telling my good friend about a party the night before, and I tell the friend, "You'd think I'd have more sense than to...," the "you" is my friend, and not the impersonal you, i.e., "one would think I would have more sense than to..."

 

[User With No Name]

If I'm sitting at a table in a café telling my good friend about a party the night before, and I tell the friend, "You'd think I'd have more sense than to...," the "you" is my friend, and not the impersonal you, i.e., "one would think I would have more sense than to..."

Really? I guess there's no clear distinction in that context, but that seems to me to be just a vague, rhetorical "you," rather than a specific reference to the opinion of the person sitting next to me.

 

[Mister Draken]

Si no es un tú impersonal, entonces la frase es:

Sabes que el sentido común indica que uno no debería aceptar que alguien que acabas de conocer te lleve en auto a tu casa.

La descripción dice que el conductor del auto es otro invitado de la fiesta, de modo que no es exactamente un autostop y sí un aventón.

 

[OtroLencho]

Really? I guess there's no clear distinction in that context, but that seems to me to be just a vague, rhetorical "you," rather than a specific reference to the opinion of the person sitting next to me.

I agree; in this context I'm not involving my companion's judgement in the self-flagellation.

 

[rajulbat]

Really? I guess there's no clear distinction in that context, but that seems to me to be just a vague, rhetorical "you," rather than a specific reference to the opinion of the person sitting next to me.

It's just my personal opinion, but to me it feels like I'm basing the expectation that my friend would think this or that based on his previous knowledge of my actions from other times I have told him about things I've done in similar situations. So, based on his familiarity with my personality (prudent, cautious), he would think that I would have acted contrary to the way I actually acted (recklessly).

 

[gengo]

It's just my personal opinion, but to me it feels like I'm basing the expectation that my friend would think this or that based on his previous knowledge of my actions from other times I have told him about things I've done in similar situations. So, based on his familiarity with my personality (prudent, cautious), he would think that I would have acted contrary to the way I actually acted (recklessly).

That's exactly what I was thinking. It's rather like when we ask rhetorically, "Can you believe it?" To me, that is asking whether the other person believes it, but I suppose you could also be asking whether anyone would believe. Therefore, I can also see the other side of the argument.

 

[User With No Name]

It's just my personal opinion, but to me it feels like I'm basing the expectation that my friend would think this or that based on his previous knowledge of my actions from other times I have told him about things I've done in similar situations. So, based on his familiarity with my personality (prudent, cautious), he would think that I would have acted contrary to the way I actually acted (recklessly).

That's exactly what I was thinking. It's rather like when we ask rhetorically, "Can you believe it?" To me, that is asking whether the other person believes it, but I suppose you could also be asking whether anyone would believe. Therefore, I can also see the other side of the argument.

I still tend in the other direction, but I think it more than likely depends on context. Not "context" in the WordReference sense, which we actually have here, but the actual circumstances and the individuals involved in the conversation and their relationship to each other. In speech, even intonation could play a role.