Thread: translation

Hi there - i have a friend who is venezuelan and he has posted this phrase on his email - yo tambien mari - i can get yo tambien but what does mari mean? anyone have any idea. i haven't been able to find it in the dictionary. thanks.

At first I thought it was your name... are you sure she/he's not confusing your name?

no, because my name is elizabeth. so he's saying "me too Mary" ??

LOL, Your friend must be from Spain. It's common slang to say Mari to anyone. This is a bit like a few years ago, when everyone said goodbye by saying "Hasta luego, Lucas", even if no one had that name, or even to girls or saying "aquí mi primo/a ha hecho xxxx" to refer to someone who's done something silly even if that person is not your cousin, it could be a perfect stranger. I can't think of anything similar in English.

Thank you Goodnightmoon so much. That makes sense since he has told me that before for other things.

Originally Posted by Goodnightmoon

LOL, Your friend must be from Spain. It's common slang to say Mari to anyone..

Interesting... I've never heard it before...

So glad I could help, EAR!

Originally Posted by mem286

Interesting... I've never heard it before...

It's the kind of colloquial stuff you don't normally hear in films, you have to be in the country

Well....I´m from Spain and I never heard anyone using "Mari" with this sense ..perhaps I´m wrong.......or perhaps it depends on the country (southamerica). Nevertheless I heard the use od "María" like a slang.....for example when you are talking about a middle-aged lady. For example "La María esa se queria colar en la fila" in order to say that a lady wants to strain itself in the row of a store for example.
About using the name "Lucas" in "Hasta luego Lucas" it´s due to a spanish humorist that used to say that phrase in a TV program of humor.

Sorry if I made mistakes in english....and if I did it, please correct them....thus I will learn!

No sé de qué parte de España eres, pero desde luego eso de "Mari" es muy normal en Madrid. Nadie ha dicho nada de Suramérica. Lo que tú dices de María, suena a "maruja" o "marujona", o sea mujer de mediana edad de clase baja. Llamar a alguien Mari no es llamar a esa persona maruja sino hablar en broma, similar a "aquí mi prima".

Hello EAR,
I think the best way to find out is just ask your friend what he meant by "mari"