Fall off the wagon

Spanish translation: tienen / sufren una recaída

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:Fall off the wagon
Spanish translation:tienen / sufren una recaída
Entered by: yolanda Speece

03:55 May 30, 2012
English to Spanish translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / idiom
English term or phrase: Fall off the wagon
To "fall off the wagon" means to go back to what you were doing before you decided to stop drinking, smoking, taking drugs, eating unhealthy food or with anorexics simply eating.

It just means you have taken up self destructive behavior.


What would be an equivalent in Spanish?

¿Se cayó del caballo?

Help please!
yolanda Speece
Local time: 11:37
tienen / sufren una recaída
Explanation:
Idiomatic expressions are so difficult to translate. In this context, this is a good option.

Good luck!
Selected response from:

Francesca Samuel
United States
Local time: 09:37
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6tienen / sufren una recaída
Francesca Samuel
5salir del camino / abandonar la abstinencia
Seth Phillips
5Volver a las andadas
Cassandra Alvarez
4retomar su mal hábito / sus malos hábitos
Rafael Molina Pulgar
4volver a (la bebida, las drogas...)/volver a (beber, tomas drogas...)
Marta Moreno Lobera
Summary of reference entries provided
There is no equivalent expression in Spanish, it depends on the context. See examples below.
Jarrah Strunin

Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
tienen / sufren una recaída


Explanation:
Idiomatic expressions are so difficult to translate. In this context, this is a good option.

Good luck!

Francesca Samuel
United States
Local time: 09:37
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 11

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jarrah Strunin
1 min
  -> Thanks so much, Jarrah!

agree  Marcelo González
28 mins
  -> Thanks, Marcelo!

agree  Dana Avramov
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Dana!

agree  Claudia Luque Bedregal
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Claudia!

agree  teresa quimper
10 hrs
  -> Thanks, Teresa!

agree  José Julián
16 hrs
  -> ¡Gracias, José Alberto!
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
fall off the wagon
salir del camino / abandonar la abstinencia


Explanation:
Those are other options for universal Spanish, but I'm sure there are local phrases even in this context in every Spanish-speaking country lol.

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-05-30 05:29:44 GMT)
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Obviously, the first one is more idiomatic than the latter.

Seth Phillips
United States
Local time: 12:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
fall off the wagon
retomar su mal hábito / sus malos hábitos


Explanation:
Famosos que se alejan de la nicotina
salud.univision.com/.../24-famosos-que-lograron-deja... - Estados Unidos
16 Nov 2011 – Al finalizar la cinta, retomó su mal hábito que inició a los 12 años. Sus hijos Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh y los gemelos Knox y Vivienne, ...

Rafael Molina Pulgar
Mexico
Local time: 10:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 355
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
fall off the wagon
volver a (la bebida, las drogas...)/volver a (beber, tomas drogas...)


Explanation:
En mi opinión, se debería intentar mantener el tono informal del original "fall off the wagon".

Normalmente, de forma coloquial, hablamos de que alguien "ha vuelto a las drogas, ha vuelto a tomar drogas, ha vuelto a beber..."

Saludos.

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Note added at 11 hrs (2012-05-30 15:40:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Perdón, obviamente es "volver a (beber/TOMAR drogas...)...

Marta Moreno Lobera
Spain
Local time: 18:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 112
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
fall off the wagon
Volver a las andadas


Explanation:
Coincido con Merecdes Marta Moreno en que no debemos cambiar el registro de la frase. Si en el idioma de origen es una frase coloquial, se debe buscar que en el idioma meta también lo sea.
Esta frase que te pongo es muy común en México para referirnos a alguien que regresa a los malos hábitos. Ojalá te sirva

Cassandra Alvarez
Mexico
Local time: 10:37
Native speaker of: Spanish
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Reference comments


10 mins peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: There is no equivalent expression in Spanish, it depends on the context. See examples below.

Reference information:
[...] of people I know start off great and then fall off the wagon within a few months," she said. womenshealth.gov
Un gran porcentaje de las personas que conozco tienen un buen comienzo y luego lo dejan tras unos cuantos meses", apuntó. womenshealth.gov

There is further discussion on the WordReference forum (link below). Hope this helps!

[...] might say or think if I happened to fall off the wagon kept me going till Easter. [email protected]
El temor de lo que dirían si no cumplía mi abstención me mantenía fiel a mi promesa hasta la Pascua. [email protected]

Fatigue is one of the risk factors for falling off the wagon, as well as hunger, anger and the feeling of loneliness, [...] 4d-comfort.co.uk
La fatigua es uno de los riesgos para una recaída de exalcohólicos, al igual que la hambre, la soledad y la rabia. 4d-comfort.co.uk

If you fall off the wagon, don't get down on yourself. ndep.webdevdc.com
Si se sale del camino, no se reproche ni se desanime. ndep.webdevdc.com


    Reference: http://www.linguee.es/ingles-espanol/traduccion/fall+off+the...
    Reference: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=778607
Jarrah Strunin
Australia
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Letredenoblesse
3 hrs
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