Hi All,
Would someone be so kind as to translate to Spanish:
“Please, do not lock this door.”
Thanks for your help.
Cordially,
Paul
I suggest trying the forums at wordreference.com if you do not receive an answer on this forum. There are many Spanish-speaking members there who can help you.
I’ve never known of a one-word equivalent in Spanish of the English “to lock”, but a periphrasis. The only one-word I know which expresses this is the Spanglish, nonstandard “laquear” (>to lock), among Hispanics in the U.S.
I would suggest “Favor de no cerrar esta puerta con llave.”
Why don’t you feed Spanish-kit with the question, Paul? 
Dido 
Because I’m lazy. I figured that the good souls at spanish-kit.net, many of whom spend their siestas here in textkit, would see and answer my post. Thank you, FiliusLunae for your offering. Now to see if it works…
Aeneas. 
Another “kit” website! Are there more?
Funny, the first thing I thought of when I read Jeff’s “Dido” was also Aeneae femina misera.
-David
Hey David,
I’m delighted you picked up on that. I assume that Jeff meant ‘ditto’.
Cordially,
Paul
“No cierren esta puerta con llave, por favor.”
Jefe: “¿Cómo te dices?” means “How do you say yourself?” (Bad Spanish and bad English). You might have heard a Puerto Rican or a Cuban say “¿Cómo tú dices?”, but in any case, the right question is: ¿Cómo se dice?" (In reference to the Spanish Kit forum.)
“¿Cómo te dices?” could also be a literal and incorrect translation of the Catalan “Com et dius?” (What´s your name?)
It feels good being an expert in something without trying!
“No cierren esta puerta con llave, por favor.”
If that doesn´t work, try this:
“Al que cierre esta puerta con llave le corto los huevos.”
Yeah, this could work too. Personally, though, I see the construction «favor de + infinitive» as more neutral (and formal), since it has no marked person. Indeed, your rendition, certainly correct, is more direct. I wonder who the audience is for the message.
Hehe…
No em diguis que parles català? 
“[…] I see the construction «favor de + infinitive» as more neutral (and formal), since it has no marked person.” (FiliusLunae.)
“Favor de …” is one of those phrases that has lost words through time, FiliusLunae. The original form is “hagan [ustedes] el favor de …” (3rd person, formal plural). I´ve always seen it used by uneducated people trying to sound educated previously.
I´m Catalan and can speak Catalan, but I don´t.
Well, indeed, I was well aware of how that construction came about. It is not something that would be used in speech, as doing so might be considered pedantic. Rather, it is quite common in writing, and that is how I have always seen it: in hospitals (Favor de no fumar), in libraries (Favor de guardar silencio), in buses (Favor de ofrecer estos asientos etc). It’s like the use of the infinitive alone for commands, “No fumar”, “No gritar”, “Parar”, “Buscar”, etc. In which case, for the phrase in question, we’d have: No cerrar esta puerta con llave, (por favor). Again, these are used solely in writing, as I’m sure you wouldn’t come up to a friend and say “No gritar!”; you’d say “No grites!”.
After writing the above, I visited the RAE, and I found the following, which might settle this:
favor de.
- expr. Am. Cen., Chile, Col., Ecuad., Méx. y R. Dom. hágame el favor de.
So, it’s clear that it’s somewhat of a regional thing. Living in California, I am used to reading “Favor de…” all the time, and it doesn’t seem odd to anyone, or “uneducated”, as you say. If it were actually spoken, then I’d agree that it could sound pedantic. “Hagan el favor de” is more colloquial and so used.
I’m guessing you live in Catalunya, then?
I´m Catalan and can speak Catalan, but I don´t.
Per què dius que pots parlar el català, però que no ho fas? A tots els catalans que conec (i no son molts) els agrada utilitzar la seva llengua encara més que el castellà.
haha and 
I did mean ditto. My mind must have been somewhere else.
bueno, si quieres sentir mejor, entonces debes crear una cuenta a Spanish Kit también . Traduje el canción ‘Amante Bandido’ y creo que necesitaré ayuda.
I fixed the ‘Comó te dices’ error, muchas gracias. I was trying to use the tu form and I guess I got carried away.
jeff
How did that work out, Paul? The truth is that signs in Spanish don’t say please; at the most thank-you. A plain Prohibido cerrar con llave should do.
.
I hope that the uneducated bit didn’t sound very snobbish, FiliusLunae. I think that the origin of the phrase in question is a bad translation from English. Anyway, educated people tend to write public signs without regional expressions. My guess on the motivation of the favorderos was wrong, I think after further thought. My new guess is that they are trying to sound official.
I don’t live in Catalonia, no. If I did, I would speak some Catalan. I’m getting ready in my living room the Bastille Scene for July 14. I recycle from my Nativity Scene the donkey, the cow and the caganer. You might not know that the caganer is the Greatest Catalan Contribution to Western Civilization.
http://www.amicsdelcaganer.org/
.
Thanks from the heart, Jeff. My natural modesty restrains me from opening an account on Spanish-Kit. I’d be the one-eyed king in the Land of the Blind! Maybe if I could have a subforum called Ask the Bard…
está bien. nunca daño a pedir digo, y no seré ciego para siempre
gracias,
jeff
But at least people would get more accurate answers. I don’t think it would be bad to answer all the questions you consider you can and want to. And, of course, it’s always good to learn things from our own language We tend to use it so badly.
“[…] amante bandido […].” (Jeff)
Jeff… Jeff!
I think I’m going to post songs from The Back Street Boys in Inglés-kit.
What you need is a good copla like La Zarzamora or Antonio Vargas Heredia; or a good corrido revolucionario like Juan sin Tierra.
Antonio Vargas Heredia, by Rafael de León
Con un clavel granate
temblando en la boca,
con una varita
de mimbre en la mano,
por una vereda
que llega hasta el rio
iba Antonio Vargas
Heredia el gitano.
Entre los naranjos
la luna lunera
ponía en su frente
la luz de azahar,
y cuando apuntaban
las claras del día
Llevaba reflejos
del verde olivar;
del verde olivar.
Antonio Vargas Heredia
flor de la raza calé
calló el mimbre de tus manos
y de la boca el clavel,
y de la boca el clavel.
De Puentegenil a Lucena,
de Loja a Benamejí;
de Puentegenil a Lucena,
de Loja a Benamejí;
las mocitas
de Sierra Morena
se mueren de pena
llorando por ti;
Antonio Vargas Heredia
se mueren de pena
llorando por ti.
Era Antonio Vargas
Heredia el gitano,
el mas arrogante
y el mejor plantado
y por los contornos
de Sierra Morena
no lo hubo mas bueno,
mas guapo y honrado.
Pero por culpita
de una hembra gitana,
su faca en el pecho
de un hombre se hundió,
los celos malditos
nublaron sus ojos
y preso en la trena
de rabia lloró;
de rabia lloró.
Antonio Vargas Heredia
flor de la raza calé
calló el mimbre de tus manos
y de la boca el clavel,
y de la boca el clavel.
De Puentegenil a Lucena,
de Loja a Benamejí;
de Puentegenil a Lucena,
de Loja a Benamejí;
las mocitas
de Sierra Morena
se mueren de pena
llorando por ti;
Antonio Vargas Heredia
se mueren de pena
llorando por ti.
.
Juan sin Tierra, by Jorge Saldaña
Voy a cantar el corrido
de un hombre que fue a guerra
y anduvo en la sierra herido
para conquistar su tierra.
Lo conocí en la batalla
y entre tanta balacera,
el que es revolucionario
puede morir donde quiera.
El general nos decía
peleen con mucho valor,
les vamos a dar parcela
cuando haya repartición.
Mi padre fue peón de hacienda
y yo, un revolucionario;
mis hijos pusieron tienda
y mi nieto es funcionario.
Gritó Emiliano Zapata:
“¡Quiero tierra y libertad!”,
y el gobierno se reía
cuando lo iban a enterrar.
Vuela, vuela palomita,
párate en aquella higuera,
que aquí se acaba el corrido
del mentado Juan sin tierra.