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  3. Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

vas de listo?

English translation: Are you trying to be smart?

18:43 Apr 5, 2017
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Dialogue between police officer and suspect stopped in street
Spanish term or phrase: vas de listo?
Place: Barcelona.
Document: police affadavit, complaint
This was a question, asked by police officer of 'suspect' stopped in street - possibly ironic/rhetorical. The 'suspect' asks why he has been stopped, the police officer then says, “Sí, te identificamos porque eres negro y punto, ¿vas de listo?"
The man stopped objects that this is an abuse of police authority, whereupon the police officer arrests him, saying "quedas detenido por listo".
I am not sure how to translate this.
Karen Vincent-Jones (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:30
English translation:Are you trying to be smart?
Explanation:
Or words to that effect. "Think you're a big man?"....

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Note added at 9 mins (2017-04-05 18:53:24 GMT)
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Followed by "Right, that's it, you're under arrest for being a smartass"...

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Note added at 12 mins (2017-04-05 18:56:16 GMT)
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The "ir de" construction means trying to be/acting like.

http://www.diariodemallorca.es/mallorca/2017/01/18/seremos-t...

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Note added at 14 mins (2017-04-05 18:58:09 GMT)
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https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/ir-de-listo.2878862/

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Note added at 21 hrs (2017-04-06 16:16:57 GMT)
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The night before my final university exam, I was walking through the town late at night with a friend and we saw some police officers examining a car a few hundred yards away on some wasteground. About ten minutes later they pulled up beside us in a van and dragged us into it, took us away and charged us with attempting to break into the car, which we hadn't done. When we arrived, the desk sergeant said "I thought they were skinheads" (I had longish dyed blonde here and my friend had very long hair), but the arresting officers paid no attention. I subsequently spent the night in jail and had to apply for a special dispensation to sit my final exam in September. So, I think I can say I have some actual experience of the type of scenario described.
Selected response from:

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:30
Grading comment
Thank you all for your suggestions. In the end I followed Neilmac's suggestion and used 'are you trying to be smart?', and the second time, 'you're arrested for being a smartass'.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +11Are you trying to be smart?
neilmac
5 +3Are you being a smart ass/wiseass?
Phoenix III
3Are you ready to go?
Barbara Cochran, MFA
3 -1are you readY
AllegroTrans
Summary of reference entries provided
Ir de listo
Helena Chavarria

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
are you readY


Explanation:
meaning (?) "are you ready to come with us to the station?" I assume

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:30
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  neilmac: This is the dictionary definition, not the street usage I perceive in the query....
7 mins
  -> OK it seems this is street language
disagree  Jyri Savolainen: This is not correct. Vas de listo? Means in spoken language that someone is trying to be smart. It is a little bit of an insult.
10 hrs
  -> OK it seems this is street language
neutral  12316323 (X): It's not street language, just colloquial. The meaning is used universally, though more in some countries than others.
23 hrs
  -> point taken, I was unfamiliar with the term
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14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Are you ready to go?


Explanation:
Off to jail.

I think the "listo" that shows up at the end of the passage means that the guy is "in a real fix".

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Note added at 25 mins (2017-04-05 19:09:20 GMT)
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Or maybe just "Ready to go?"

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 12:30
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  neilmac: No, they're actually harrassing the man. "Ready to go" is too polite.
2 mins
  -> Maybe "ready to go" would be better?
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Are you being a smart ass/wiseass?


Explanation:
I was going to say smart aleck but Kathryn beat me to the punch. If the scene is the street and it involves a policeman and a suspect, then there is little doubt that the lingo would be Shakespearean. Most likely, it will be street talk.

Phoenix III
United States
Local time: 12:30
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  patinba: Works best, especially with the last use of "listo" in the context : "I'm arresting you for being a smartass"
19 hrs
  -> Many thanks!
agree  12316323 (X): Also good (smartass- haven't heard wiseass), maybe even more natural.
22 hrs
  -> Thanks so much!
agree  Diego Zaragoza: Smartass would be the correct translation, also with the rudeness/superiority connotation.
18 days
  -> Thank you!
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +11
Are you trying to be smart?


Explanation:
Or words to that effect. "Think you're a big man?"....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 mins (2017-04-05 18:53:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Followed by "Right, that's it, you're under arrest for being a smartass"...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2017-04-05 18:56:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The "ir de" construction means trying to be/acting like.

http://www.diariodemallorca.es/mallorca/2017/01/18/seremos-t...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 mins (2017-04-05 18:58:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/ir-de-listo.2878862/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2017-04-06 16:16:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The night before my final university exam, I was walking through the town late at night with a friend and we saw some police officers examining a car a few hundred yards away on some wasteground. About ten minutes later they pulled up beside us in a van and dragged us into it, took us away and charged us with attempting to break into the car, which we hadn't done. When we arrived, the desk sergeant said "I thought they were skinheads" (I had longish dyed blonde here and my friend had very long hair), but the arresting officers paid no attention. I subsequently spent the night in jail and had to apply for a special dispensation to sit my final exam in September. So, I think I can say I have some actual experience of the type of scenario described.

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:30
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 82
Grading comment
Thank you all for your suggestions. In the end I followed Neilmac's suggestion and used 'are you trying to be smart?', and the second time, 'you're arrested for being a smartass'.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helena Chavarria: Yes, that's what I think, too.
6 mins
  -> At last! I was about to add "ask a Spanish speaker"... :-)
neutral  Barbara Cochran, MFA: I don't think the police officer thinks of the guy as having any intellectual abilities. "Smart", in this case, should not stand alone.
20 mins
  -> OK, think of Rod Steiger in Heat of the Night: "Don't you smart mouth me, boy"...
agree  Anne Smith Campbell: Yes, that's the meaning behind the Spanish expression.
32 mins
agree  12316323 (X): Yeah, there's no two ways about it with this one.
33 mins
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
39 mins
agree  Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
41 mins
agree  Marie Wilson: Very common expression in Spain. I was thinking of smart-alec.
1 hr
agree  Carol Gullidge
1 hr
agree  Robert Carter: Or "clever", if it's for the UK.
1 hr
agree  Charles Davis
1 hr
agree  Toni Castano: I also like Marie´s "smart alec(k)".
3 hrs
agree  David Hollywood: a lot of ways to do this but yours is fine and suitably idiomatic
3 hrs
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Reference comments


22 mins
Reference: Ir de listo

Reference information:
¿Nos falta ser un poco más chovinistas?

Es tan ridícula una cuestión como la otra. Son extremos. Creerte, como los franceses, que lo tuyo es siempre lo mejor, es ridículo. Pero también lo es lo contrario. Y hay muchos que se las dan de listos. Aunque está claro que ir de listo es de tontos.

http://elpais.com/diario/2008/04/27/eps/1209277614_850215.ht...

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Note added at 31 mins (2017-04-05 19:15:13 GMT)
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El Karma encuentra a este conductor impaciente que va de listo

En condiciones de tráfico muy intenso o incluso con grandes retenciones es posible que más de un automovilista haya pensado cuánto avanzaría si pudiera salir de su carril para circular por el arcén. Seguramente, dicha idea habrá sido recurrente en aquellos conductores que durante estas Navidades han sufrido los colapsos de las carreteras por la salida masiva de vehículos.

Por supuesto, esta acción está prohibida, aunque siempre hay algún “listo” que decide ignorar las normas de circulación creyendo que puede hacer lo que le plazca. Este fue el caso del conductor de un Nissan Juke de color rojo en Inglaterra.

http://www.lavanguardia.com/motor/videos/20161228/4127783739...

Mi sobrino de 20 años es un niñato que va de listo...hace unos meses compró un vehiculo de segunda mano a una prima lejana de 24 años.

No hizo el cambio de nombre y le llegó una multa a la chica de 250 euros en radar...ella los pago, porque el niñato no tiene un duro.

https://porticolegal.expansion.com/foro/un-ninato-que-va-de-...

Helena Chavarria
Spain
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thank you for the useful examples you give, Helena.

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