What Does 'No Mas' Mean?

[Jim B.]

It may sound like a silly question to some. But what does the Spanish phrase "no mas" mean? I've heard it used in a couple of contexts. My father claims he heard it once from a boxer who wanted to end a game. I have a Spanish-English dictionary. But I assume like many English phrases, this phrase might be more than just the sum of its parts. Also, Intertran wasn't working, or free at least, the last time I checked.

[Q.E.D.]

It means "no more".

[JohnM]

The phrase "no más" means "no more", in the sense of "enough", or, as with the boxer you referenced, "Enough, I quit!"

[Sample_the_Dog]

Your father was no doubt referring to the infamous welterweight title match between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. When Duran ended the fight in the eighth round, saying "no mas", he was widely accused of taking a dive. In this context, "no mas" can be translated as "that's it" or "I can't go on".

[JohnM]

D'oh! QED beat me to it while I was verifying the accent mark. That'll teach me to preview.

[Mr. Moto]

Originally Posted by Sample_the_Dog

Your father was no doubt referring to the infamous welterweight title match between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. When Duran ended the fight in the eighth round, saying "no mas", he was widely accused of taking a dive. In this context, "no mas" can be translated as "that's it" or "I can't go on".

I had the pleasure of meeting Roberto Duran once.

I was on a six-month South American deployment in the Navy, and a buddy and I were shooting pool in a bar in Panama City when Roberto Duran walked in with his whole entourage.

He's a national hero there, of course, so the whole place went nuts. Duran went down the bar and to every table, shaking hands with every patron and asking them how they were doing.

When he got to us, and discovered we were American sailors, he actually stayed and talked to us for a few minutes about how much he enjoyed America, and how nicely Americans always treated him.

Very nice guy, to us. A real class act. And he left us both with a good sea story to tell.

[whitetho]

Originally Posted by JohnM

D'oh! QED beat me to it while I was verifying the accent mark. That'll teach me to preview.

This may be a dumb question, by why is there an accent on this one-syllable word?

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by whitetho

This may be a dumb question, by why is there an accent on this one-syllable word?

It's often because the word w/o an accent has another meaning:

Si (w/ accent) = Yes

Si (w/o accent) = If

But I'm not certain the case of mas.

[Excalibre]

Originally Posted by whitetho

This may be a dumb question, by why is there an accent on this one-syllable word?

"Más" has an accent to distinguish it from "mas", an old-fashioned (at least) word meaning "but".

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Yep, because of Duran's usage of it, typically, when you hear one of us gringos use it, it means "I give up!"

[ummm... yeahh...]

Originally Posted by Earl Snake-Hips Tucker

Yep, because of Duran's usage of it, typically, when you hear one of us gringos use it, it means "I give up!"

...or the French.