# Pretty ugly?



## Mei

Hi all,

Hmm... Can I say that something is "pretty ugly"? It will be so odd to me... 

Thanks 

Mei


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## Daniel_RA

yo diría que si.


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## Sofia29

jaja, medio raro, pero válido.


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## Bilma

Yes, if you want to say...bastante feo  o muy feo


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## Mei

Bilma said:
			
		

> Yes, if you want to say...bastante feo  o muy feo


Si, lo digo en ese sentido. De hecho... en español decimos: acabo de empezar. También es curiosa, jeje

Gracias a todos. 

Mei


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## petereid

Hola
"Pretty" Is used as a modifier to an Adjective it means "Almost", or  not "totally"


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## Residente Calle 13

Sí.

Es útil para los que les gustan los chistes bobos :

_*She's pretty....pretty ugly!*_

Pero en Santo Domingo decimos que nos fue *bien mal*. Será por eso que no me suena raro.


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## Mei

petereid said:
			
		

> Hola
> "Pretty" Is used as a modifier to an Adjective it means "Almost", or  not "totally"


I don't understand this... "almost" means "casi" and "pretty" in this context means "bastante"... or is so ugly or not... right? 

Mei


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## Gizmo77

Siguiendo con los chistes tontos:

¿Por qué "todo junto" se escribe separado... y "separado" todo junto?


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## Residente Calle 13

*
She's pretty ugly* means *she's very ugly*. But *pretty *can also mean *a little bit*. 

Catalan is pretty difficult. = Catalan is a little bit difficult. 

But 

*Barcelona is pretty near France.* = *Barcelona is almost near France.*

(In other words, not that close to France).


Sometimes we say the opposite of what we mean like when you say in Spanish "Is un poco demasiado complicado." What you mean it that it's *bien complicado!!!!


*


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## Txiri

Sí hay cosas curiosas de los idiomas ... "acabar de" se aprende como modismo, al igual que su traducción me imagino, "to have just".  Es algo que se usa en inglés con bastante frecuencia, y la palabra "just" da jaqueca hasta las orejas.  Pero creo que existe un modismo parecido en el francés también, y no es "venir de"?  Je vient de aller ...

Pretty es este uso es adverbio con el significado, como se han dicho, de "bastante"

You did it pretty well.
We pretty much knew it would turn out that way.


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## Mei

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> *
> She's pretty ugly* means *she's very ugly*. But *pretty *can also mean *a little bit*.


Oh ok... but this wasn't what I ask, right? it's another meaning... oh, it's good to know by the way, thanks

Mei


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## petereid

Mei said:
			
		

> I don't understand this... "almost" means "casi" and "pretty" in this context means "bastante"... or is so ugly or not... right?
> 
> Mei


"pretty ugly" means  "Ugly but not very ugly"
"pretty tall" means "Tall but not very tall"

Sometimes I am "pretty stupid" and forget where I left my car

pete


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## petereid

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> *
> She's pretty ugly* means *she's very ugly*. But *pretty *can also mean *a little bit*.
> 
> Catalan is pretty difficult. = Catalan is a little bit difficult.
> 
> But
> 
> *Barcelona is pretty near France.* = *Barcelona is almost near France.*
> 
> (In other words, not that close to France).
> 
> 
> Sometimes we say the opposite of what we mean like when you say in Spanish "Is un poco demasiado complicado." What you mean it that it's *bien complicado!!!!
> 
> 
> *


pretty near perfect


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## NickT

When two words such as these contradict each other, they are known as an oxymoron in English. Another example is cruel kindness.
Nick


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## Residente Calle 13

NickT said:
			
		

> When two words such as these contradict each other, they are known as an oxymoron in English. Another example is cruel kindness.
> Nick


Or efficient government.


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## Lagartija

NickT said:
			
		

> When two words such as these contradict each other, they are known as an oxymoron in English. Another example is cruel kindness.
> Nick



Or jumbo shrimp!


I don't agree that "pretty ugly" means "not very ugly" as petereid as stated.   I have always used the phrase to mean VERY ugly.

It is also used to describe a situation.....  "When the politician arrived at the meeting after being accused of molesting a young girl, the crowd got pretty ugly."

In this sense, "pretty ugly" means that the crowd was probably very angry and ready to beat the guy up.  Again, the sense is "very ugly".


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## Tylerbrain

Venga, más chistes tontos:
*- Usted no nada nada?*
*- No, es que no traje traje*


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## Mei

Lagartija said:
			
		

> Or jumbo shrimp!
> 
> 
> I don't agree that "pretty ugly" means "not very ugly" as petereid as stated.   I have always used the phrase to mean VERY ugly.
> 
> It is also used to describe a situation.....  "When the politician arrived at the meeting after being accused of molesting a young girl, the crowd got pretty ugly."
> 
> In this sense, "pretty ugly" means that the crowd was probably very angry and ready to beat the guy up.  Again, the sense is "very ugly".



Así es como lo entiendo pero lo que dicen los demás me hace dudar...


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## Txiri

Or:

military intelligence

You all made me laugh tonight, thank you very much!


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## Smac

I agree with petereid. "Pretty" is a modifier that sets an upper limit to the strength of the adjective. "Pretty ugly" means, "not the ugliest I can imagine".

Depending on how it is *spoken*, this may mean, "close to the ugliest I can imagine" or, "ugly, but much less ugly than I can imagine". There is no agreed way to indicate that difference by punctuation - though "pretty ugly!" would usually have the first sense. I think the same would apply to "pretty" used with most other adjectives.

Anyone can choose to use just one of these senses, of course!


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## danielfranco

Se aprende algo nuevo todos los días: Yo siempre había entendido el modificador "pretty" como "más bien" o "más que nada". "Más bien feo", "más que nada feo".
Siempre cabe la posibilidad que esta manera de entenderlo sea un regionalismo Tex-Mex.


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## Smac

Yes, I should have been more cautious about the possibility of regional differences in usage - the language they speak in the USA is only superficially similar to that in the UK!

Also, it is possible that even in British usage, "pretty" limits the adjective from the lower as well as the upper end - not too little, not too much but somewhere in the middle...


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## keolou

I think in this case, as Petereid said, 'pretty' is a quantifier. The meaning of the quantifier changes, depending on the adjective it goes with.

If the adjective is a scale adjective (in the middle)  e.g. pretty bad = quite bad.

If the adjective is a limit (extreme) adjective e.g. pretty awful = very bad, or really awful.

Because the adjective is more extreme, the quantifier is more extreme. 
pretty ugly = quite ugly
pretty hideous = very hideous


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## Tylerbrain

Ayer me hizo mucha gracia encontrarme el famoso "pretty ugly" leyendo el libro "Digital fortress" de Dan Brown:

*Becket set his box on the floor and walked over to the corpse. He leaned down and squinted at the man's left hand.*
*The officer followed BecKer's gaze.*
*"Pretty ugly, huh?"*

También he preguntado por ahí y al parecer esta expresión se usa en EEUU.


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## natasha2000

Sería una de las diferencias entre BE y AE, considerando que SMAC y PETEREID vienen de Gran Bretaña, y Lagartija y Residente de EEUU.

Personalmente, lo he usado desde siempre en el sentido "bastante"....

Es bastante fea...

Es como la palabra MAD....
para los ingleses, eso  significa ENFADADO
para los americanos, eso significa LOCO

Saludos.


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## danielfranco

Pero también significa enojado acá. Are you mad at me?


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## natasha2000

danielfranco said:
			
		

> Pero también significa enojado acá. Are you mad at me?


 
Daniel, creo que enfadado y enojado son más o menos sinónimos...


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## danielfranco

Correctamundo, Natasha! It's just my texicanism for "mad". By the way, "bastante" sounds pretty good for "pretty ugly". I think you pretty much got it all.


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## natasha2000

danielfranco said:
			
		

> Correctamundo, Natasha! It's just my texicanism for "mad". By the way, "bastante" sounds pretty good for "pretty ugly". I think you pretty much got it all.


 
Hacemos lo que podemos.....


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## Carlosfv

Lagartija said:
			
		

> I don't agree that "pretty ugly" means "not very ugly" as petereid as stated.   I have always used the phrase to mean VERY ugly.



Agree
I usually translate pretty here as "bastante" or "muy"

pretty cheap = bastante barato (at lest enough cheap for me to be interested in a buy out)


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## over

danielfranco said:
			
		

> By the way, "bastante" sounds pretty good for "pretty ugly".


Estoy de acuerdo... creo que han estado rizando el rizo un poco... "pretty ugly" = "bastante feo".

Por cierto, "mad" también puede significar "crazy" para los ingleses.


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## natasha2000

over said:
			
		

> Estoy de acuerdo... creo que han estado rizando el rizo un poco... "pretty ugly" = "bastante feo".
> 
> Por cierto, "mad" también puede significar "crazy" para los ingleses.


 
OVER, I have just said the same... Read my post...


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## over

Natasha, ya lo había leído... estaba de acuerdo con el comentario de Daniel que estaba de acuerdo con tu comentario....


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## natasha2000

over said:
			
		

> Natasha, ya lo había leído... estaba de acuerdo con el comentario de Daniel que estaba de acuerdo con tu comentario....


 
jejjejeje.... me parece que hoy estoy un poco espesa...


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## over

No pasa nada. 
Saludos.


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## MartinUK

Yes you can. In english you can use the word 'pretty' informally to say something is 'quite' or 'a small amount'... (though it is used more in the USA than in England)

por ejemplo

It's 'pretty' warm today, it's 'pretty' close to here, that's 'pretty' clever...


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## Mei

Caray, creía que era una simple pregunta... gracias por las respuestas.

Creo que lo traduciré como "bastante".

Saludetes!

Mei


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## petereid

Lagartija said:
			
		

> Or jumbo shrimp!
> 
> 
> I don't agree that "pretty ugly" means "not very ugly" as petereid as stated. I have always used the phrase to mean VERY ugly.
> 
> It is also used to describe a situation..... "When the politician arrived at the meeting after being accused of molesting a young girl, the crowd got pretty ugly."
> 
> In this sense, "pretty ugly" means that the crowd was probably very angry and ready to beat the guy up. Again, the sense is "very ugly".


 


It's only Pretty Ugly until they pull out their guns.


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