# ¡Háblame en español! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547 "2000-10-19T16:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/1 "2000-10-19T16:40:15Z")
What is the Spanish words for “to sniffle” or " a case of the sniffles?" I’ve never been able to figure this out with any dictionary, I’m embarassed to say. Thanks in advance, ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/2 "2000-10-19T17:20:18Z")
Well, babelfish translates “runny nose” as _que moquea nariz_, but it brings _que moquea nariz_ back as “that moquea nose.” I tried to get it to translate _moquea_ into English by assuming that it was a verb and guessing at the infinitive, but with no luck. You might try to find _moquea_ (or some variant) in a printed dictionary. (I also tried the travlang dictionaries with even less success.) ---
**Author:** ![Grendel69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7bcc69/32.png) [@Grendel69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel69)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/3 "2000-10-19T19:42:59Z")
“curiosear” is the infinitive form of to sniffle. i think that you can just use “sorbo” for the noun. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/4 "2000-10-19T19:53:53Z")
curiosear means to investigate or enquire. hardly a case of the sniffles ---
**Author:** ![Grendel69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7bcc69/32.png) [@Grendel69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel69)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/5 "2000-10-19T21:38:53Z")
That’s what I thought too. I had heard of some weird idiomatic transformations, but that took the cake. I don’t trust these online dictionaries. Let me get home and get my hard copy… In the mean time, I think it might just be the infinitive form of sorbo. Sorber. If all else fails you can use the quite verbose phrase “Hacer ruido con la nariz.” ---
**Author:** ![AETBOND417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@AETBOND417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AETBOND417)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/6 "2000-10-19T21:41:10Z")
My dictionary says “derretido” is “runny.” ¿Una nariz derretida? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/7 "2000-10-19T21:58:04Z")
derretido is melted as in icecream or snow. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/8 "2000-10-19T23:51:39Z")
After consulting several Spanish-English dictionaries and native Spanish speakers, I think that “Estoy resfriado/a” is about as close as you can get. “Resfriado” implies a slight cold, while “el gripe” implies that you’ve got the flu or a bad cold. ---
**Author:** ![jwg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@jwg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jwg)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/9 "2000-10-19T23:54:57Z")
tengo catarro - Texas Spanish ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/10 "2000-10-19T23:57:35Z")
**A ver si puedo ayudar** I am not yet sure on the meaning of sniffle but, based on what I have read so far on this thread and on my dictionary’s entry for the word, I believe it means to have a clogged or stuffy nose. If that is indeed right, having the sniffles would be equivalent to: estar resfriado, which means having a cold; estar trancado, which means having a clogged nose. Of course you can be trancado without being resfriado so I believe you are going for the former rather than the latter. Another related translation: To blow off your nose: sacudirse la nariz. If you could explain to me in more detail what sniffle means I could probably be of more help. **Tomndebb** said that runny nose means que moquea la nariz. Since I don’t know exactly what runny nose is I can only assume that the definition he gave is correct. In any case, que moquea la nariz means that a liquid transparent mucus is flowing out of your nose. For all of those who mentioned sorbo and sorber: I checked the dictionary to verify why you brought that up and to my surprise it included sniffle among the translations for sorbo. I really wouldn’t trust that definition. I have been talking in Spanish all my life and to my understanding its only usage is to indicate a sip of a drink. The infinitive form of the noun, sorber, means to sip, to swallow. A synonym would be tragar, which by the way is the most common usage. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/11 "2000-10-20T00:16:47Z")
One dictionary I consulted used the verb “gotear”=“To trickle” for runny nose, which is similar to sniffle. I think of a sniffle or “a case of the sniffles” as having a slight cold. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/12 "2000-10-20T00:55:54Z")
> [@](#): > > liquid transparent mucus is flowing out of your nose Well, _that_ is certainly one way to describe a runny nose! Of course, I was just casting about for similar words or phrases since “sniffle” was not returning an answer. **quasar** , if the mucus was flowing more slowly and you kept “sniffing” it back up into your nose (until your mother or spouse ordered you to “go blow your nose” and clean out the passages), _that_ would be an example of the sniffles. ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/13 "2000-10-20T01:05:52Z")
runny (adjective) 1.[food] derretido(da) 2.[nose] que moquea; [eyes] llorosos(as). sniffle (intransitive verb) [during a cold] sorberse los mocos; [when crying] soberse las lágrimas. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/14 "2000-10-20T02:28:34Z")
There is no word for sniffles in Spanish for the simple reason that Spanish speaking people do not sniffle. Just like there is no word for wussie. And for the same reason there is no word for macho in English. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/15 "2000-10-20T03:13:32Z")
The term “moquear” which has appeared in this thread would be appropriately translated as the (nonexistent) English verb “to snot” (from moco = mucus = well, you know). (Está moqueando mucho = He is snotting a lot) A case of the sniffles here in PR would be as “un leve catarro” (a slight cold). “moquear” is not used here. The clogged-nose phenomenon is referred to as “estar tupido”. A flu or severe cold would be referred around here as “la monga” ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/16 "2000-10-20T15:18:44Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by JRDelirious_ > A case of the sniffles here in PR would be as “un leve catarro” (a slight cold). “moquear” is not used here. The clogged-nose phenomenon is referred to as “estar tupido”. > A flu or severe cold would be referred around here as “la monga” Spanish is heavily dependent on the region in which it is used. Grammatically wise it is the same everywhere but, as soon as vocabulary enters the equation, problems surface and communication is affected. Take for example the above-cited post by **JRDelirious**. Where he lives they call a clogged nose as estar tupido while over here we refer to it as estar trancado or tengo taqueada la nariz. BTW, **JRD** where are you from? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by tomndebb_ > > Well, that is certainly one way to describe a runny nose! Of course, I was just casting about for similar words or phrases since “sniffle” was not returning an answer. > > quasar, if the mucus was flowing more slowly and you kept “sniffing” it back up into your nose (until your mother or spouse ordered you to “go blow your nose” and clean out the passages), that would be an example of the sniffles. The term runny nose is very well coined then, since the liquid mucus is running out of your nose. As to the translation for sniffle, having read your description of the “phenomena” I don’t think that there exists a specific word that carries that connotation. If you wanted to describe the act (art?) of snnifling you would have to say aspirar los mocos or tragar mocos con la nariz perhaps. Aspirar means to breath in. Since the mucus is located inside the nose you don’t have to refer the action of aspirar as being done via the nose, that is indirectly understood… In the same vein, tragar is to swallow, which you usually do with your mouth. As such, it would be convenient to state that you are “swallowing” with your nose; it then follows that you are tragando mocos con la nariz. [Hi Jack] What I am about to say may appear ridiculous to some, maybe even sick, but the fact remains that I am a sniffler and somehow the sniffled substance doesn’t taste bad, it is actually O.K. I doubt that anyone would admit to this, as most people feel embarrassed to accept publicly their liking of their own farts, or mucus for that matter. In any case, that is the consequence of society’s conventionalities and stigmas and not objectivity; somehow certain bodily emanations have been “ostracized” and considered as taboo through humanity’s conflicted history. Don’t get me wrong, they can occasionally be disgusting, but take the sniffle argument for example, **tomndebb** implied in his post that this is disgusting and improper, while in reality it is a practical and efficient way to unclog your nose. Extrapolating from his stance on the issue as well as from experience, my original assumption about the disregard to which this emanations are subjected seems to be confirmed. Not that it matters. Of course it doesn’t. I just thought it was interesting and wanted to see if I could obtain some “doper-feedback” regarding the issue. [Bye Jack] ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/17 "2000-10-20T15:28:21Z")
Meessa stupid! I didn’t catch **JRDelirious reference** to Puerto Rico. Oh, well… ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/18 "2000-10-20T16:56:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quasar \* > **Meessa stupid!** Are not! You thought he meant Public Relations. Thanks for the help, all. It makes me so happy I could cry. (sniffle!) ---
**Author:** ![Estrella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Estrella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estrella)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hablame-en-espanol/37547/19 "2000-10-20T17:17:56Z")
Ha Ha! Yeah, what sailor and quasar said. While I didn’t enjoy reading so many versions of a really icky thing, I was amused. The thing about online dictionaries is that they don’t often take idioms into consideration. I have _never_ heard of some of the phrases people found in thier dictionaries. I think when programming these things, dictionaries are fed one country’s version of a phrase, and that phrase might be something completely alien to a whole lot of other native Spanish speakers. I vote for “refriado”.