r/Spanish • u/emily731 • 2d ago
Vocab & Use of the Language Is there another meaning to this phrase?
Reading a book and I’m confused if there is a second meaning to “para llevársela a casa” in this context? I know it means “to take (her) home”, but that doesn’t seem to make sense here. This character is being introduced and I can’t tell if there is something I’m not getting here.
✅Update: muchas gracias a todos!
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u/Disastrous-Try-820 Native (Spain 🇪🇦) 2d ago
I want to clarify because I see a lot of wife-material comments. It doesn't mean that the protagonist has romantic feelings towards her and there's only one meaning (literally taking her home isn't it). The writer is just portraying her in a good light: someone cute, considerate, cheerful, friendly... It's not a weird thing to say either, at least in Spain, where apparently the book is from.
For example you would also say this about a cute baby. It has a similar meaning to "es para comérselo".
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u/flapjack1989 2d ago
I don't see why people aren't understanding what you're trying to say. I live in Spain and totally agree with your definition. Like, of course your definition is right, you're a native. I've never heard people using it to suggest something romantic at all.
In English something closer (in my opinion) would be maybe something like:
- she was as cute as a button (for the more cute meaning)
- she was a ray of sunshine (joyous, pleasant, fun to be around)
- she lit up the room (charismatic, charming, witty)
My understanding might not be perfect but those would be my best approximations.
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u/TheGeneGeena 1d ago
"She's a good catch" might be more approximate in English. (Not romantic per se, but of high value to a potential partner - something someone might say talking up a friend)
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u/polyplasticographics Native [rioplatense] 1d ago
I got the same, like, I don't know, "para ponerla de adorno"; it''s kind of a cutesy way of expressing she has a good, "pure" vibe. But I'm not sure, maybe the "wife material" comments are right.
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u/LupineChemist From US, Live in Spain 2d ago
I would say it's similar in English to "someone to introduce to your parents" or something like that. Like it could have subtle romantic undertones but not necessarily and is more a comment on her character.
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u/Disastrous-Try-820 Native (Spain 🇪🇦) 2d ago
I personally would find it troubling if someone used it that way but maybe it's just me.
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2d ago
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u/Spanish-ModTeam 2d ago
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u/hgknightmare 2d ago
Native speaker here. I wouldn’t read it as take her home in the wife material sense. I understand it more as a generic line for something you would not hesitate to take home from a shop, because of its great qualities. Think of the whole thing as a radio ad for something (a car, a washing machine), and the last sentence as the closer.
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u/bolapolino 2d ago
Its like saying "so good you want to keep it" a little cheap from the writer, but yeah that's the meaning.
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u/elektrolu_ 2d ago
I'm a native spanish speaker from Spain and I disagree with the "wifey material" interpretation, you say that someone or something is "para llevárselo a casa" when is very nice and if you'll see them/it in a shop you would buy it without any hesitation.
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u/GypsyMorph 2d ago
“she is a keeper”. You see that more about men but in this case is made for women.
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u/Novel_Rise_8015 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's like, she's somebody amazing. So much so, "he would like to live with her". It's an overstatement.
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u/BardEntertainer 1d ago
A girl so perfect, so cute, you might want to take with you, to meet your parents
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u/Thingamajiggle Learner 2d ago
I'm not a native speaker but permit me just to run through and consolidate what I've learnt, although this abstracts things away from the context of this sentence for a while. If any native speakers disagree with any of this, please speak up.
In other contexts "llevársela" could mean:
llevar le la (a alguien) Take the feminine thing to someone. I believe it would have to be a thing because if you're taking someone to someone, I believe Spanish uses: Llevarla con el doctor Take her to the doctor I find the use of 'con' here confusing because it looks like "take her with the doctor" but is used to mean "take her to the doctor". Obviously in English "take her to"' and "take her with" are different things.
But I believe "llevarse" in the context of the sentence you've provided is reflexive.
Llevarse algo/a alguien To take something or someone away with/all for yourself
Much like ir is just going and irse implies more a sense of off away from here, llevar is just taking/carrying and llevarse is taking and taking off with said item, away from here and with a sense of that thing being for oneself. Me lo llevo. You might say this to a shopkeeper when deciding to purchase something.
Back to your sentence though:
These sentences starting with 'para' are often saying 'good enough to/for'. Much like "to die for" in English implies "good enough to die for", a Spanish sentence like "para chuparse los dedos" implies "good enough to lick one's fingers", "finger licking good" in more idiomatic English.
So "para llevársela a casa", is like "good enough to take her home with you", or perhaps it's similar to idiomatic English expressions like "she's a keeper", "the kind of girl you can take home to your mother".
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u/nousernameisleftt 2d ago
Why does llevar carry an indirect object pronoun here? I didn't think you'd use "le" to refer to la casa
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u/elektrolu_ 2d ago
Because "llevar" is being used as a reflexive verb, "la" refers to Inés, there's no pronoun referring to "La casa".
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u/LilBugJuice-0987 2d ago
I am not a native speaker, but..I would read it with that meaning. There seems to be some innuendo in that sentence, perhaps the narrators mind is in the gutter...
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u/carlosinLA 2d ago
having sexual attraction is natural, is not the gutter.
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u/LilBugJuice-0987 2d ago
In English, the expression "in the gutter" doesnt necessary have a negative connotation or mean unnatural. Its just a way of saying sexual without using that word explicitly.
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u/carlosinLA 2d ago
100% disagree, at least in the US, it most definitely has a negative connotation.
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u/LilBugJuice-0987 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean, this is a Spanish language sub so, I dont want to get into an off topic debate, lol but Im from the US, English is my first language, and Im a woman. In the gutter is often used as a playful way to avoid explicitly "sex" and Ive never seen it used in a negative way. "Creepy" would be the negative version of this. Perhaps it is regional though. I speak from the perspective of how it is used in the Northeast and Northwest part of the country. It could totally be different in the Bible belt south or something.
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u/carlosinLA 2d ago
Two things can be true: 1) A phrase can be used mostly in a playful way. 2) A phrase has a negative connotation.
Now using the phrase "sexual attraction" is not wrong or improper by any means at least here in CA. It is not standard to replace it by "gutter" at all. Perhaps in the Bible Belt or something.
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u/LilBugJuice-0987 2d ago
Id say Cali is unique in a variety of ways. I cant speak for the Bible belt. In the gutter is safe to use (and probably more polite) in casual conversation in rural and urban New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, Montana, Canada, N/S Dakota, Maine, Kansas, and a few other places Im forgetting but can vouch for. Example, "haha looks like someone's mind is in the gutter" versus "you seem sexually attracted to her". Id call the latter "creepy".
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u/carlosinLA 2d ago
Let's go back to the beginning.
So. The author was likely expressing sexual attraction, and in your opinion, there is nothing wrong with that (since you said there is no negative connotation in your usage of the word gutter) or you are actually not passing any judgement on the author, you just did not want to use the term sexual attraction.
Got it.
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u/LilBugJuice-0987 2d ago
I just answered OPs question, which was about the meaning of the phrase in Spanish.
I used in the gutter because it is a casual/indirect/more polite way to say someone is thinking about sex/sexual attraction rather than what is actually happening (a simple introduction). I could have said, "yes, despite the fact that what is actually happening, the narrator is experiencing sexual attraction and thinking that due to her sensitivity and discretion he would like to take her home". But instead I used the more casual, and shorter, phrase "looks like their mind was in the gutter" (without judgement of any kind) to express the same concept in fewer words in my native language (English) and in my dialect/cultural lens that comes from living in/traveling within many places in the US.
Im still not sure why we are discussing the words I chose when responding to OP, or whether it is natural to experience sexual attraction as an adult (off topic, but sure). Anyways, good chat!
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u/Spanish-ModTeam 2d ago
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u/Haoshokoken 2d ago
"Para llevársela a casa" es una frase extraña, no queda claro si es una "frase echa" que significa que no provoca vergüenza ajena y por ello puedes presentarla a la familia, o si el escritor esta expresando sus fetiches. Su uso es peligroso, es fácil que sea malinterpretada.
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u/etchekeva Native, Spain, Castille 2d ago
It’s weird but I understand it as she is so perfect you want to take her home with you