# Esa foto no es muy bonita que digamos.



## Poison0666

¡Hola!

Me ha surgido una duda intentando hablar por el chat en inglés. Quería decir una frase tipo esto: Esa foto no es muy bonita *que digamos.*

¿Tiene traducción ese "que digamos" en inglés? Si la tiene, ¿cuál es? ¡Gracias!


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## franmadrid

One option:
... so to speak (por así decir)
Wait for others...


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## CervantinaCcs

Alternativas: We cannot say that picture is pretty. That picture is not quite pretty. 
Pero no hay como oír a un nativo, así que esperemos...


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## fenixpollo

It's not a _pretty_ photo, shall we say.
The photo is not _pretty_, shall we say.

It's not a _pretty_ photo, so to speak.
The photo is not _pretty_, so to speak.


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## gengo

I don't agree with my esteemed colleague, fenixpollo, on this one.  I would say it this way:

Let's just say that that isn't a very good photo.
You wouldn't exactly call that a good photo.


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## Spug

Hola,

I believe that "shall we say" is an excellent translation of "que digamos" in this context.

Saludos...


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## gengo

Spug said:


> I believe that "shall we say" is an excellent translation of "que digamos" in this context.



It sounds very stilted to my ear.  Does "It is not a pretty photo, shall we say?" honestly sound natural to you?  Would you ever say that?

Sorry, but I don't buy it.


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## fenixpollo

I agree with both gengo and Spug: "shall we say" sounds stilted and unnatural, I would not use it unless I was being ironic, and it is an excellent translation of "que digamos". (If I do say so myself).


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## Spug

gengo said:


> It sounds very stilted to my ear.  Does "It is not a pretty photo, shall we say?" honestly sound natural to you?  Would you ever say that?
> 
> Sorry, but I don't buy it.



Yes, I've used this expression many times in the past. I don't find it stilted at all.

Sorry, we'll just have to disagree here.


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## gengo

I have analyzed this, and here is what I came up with.

We use "shall we say" at the end of a sentence when the preceding clause is an implied interrogative, or a suggestion.

- How much for your car?
- $5000, shall we say?

- What can I do to make it up to you?
- Washing the dishes for a week, shall we say?

In constructions such as this, "shall we say" sounds perfectly natural.  However, in the context at hand, "It's not a pretty photo" is not a suggestion or any kind of implied question, so it doesn't work.  Of course, we could think up a contorted scenario in which it IS a suggestion.

- What shall I tell him about the photo?
- "It's not a pretty photo," shall we say?

But other than that, it just doesn't fit.


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## la_machy

El asunto es que, decir 'que digamos', es una expresión que siempre va al final de la oración precisamente para señalar con un poco de ironía algo que el hablante da por hecho, pero que no quiere asegurar completamente.

Ej.: 
''Ese no es tu mejor vestido, *que digamos''. *(Estoy segura que es uno de los vestidos más feos que tiene).

''Esa foto no es muy bonita *que digamos'' *(de hecho pienso que es horrible o una de las más feas).

No sé cuál expresión en inglés la traduciría. Pero debe cumplir con esas caracteristicas. 


Saludos


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## Spug

la_machy said:


> El asunto es que, decir 'que digamos', es una expresión que siempre va al final de la oración precisamente para señalar con un poco de ironía algo que el hablante da por hecho, pero que no quiere asegurar completamente.
> 
> Ej.:
> ''Ese no es tu mejor vestido, *que digamos''. *(Estoy segura que es uno de los vestidos más feos que tiene).
> 
> ''Esa foto no es muy bonita *que digamos'' *(de hecho pienso que es horrible o una de las más feas).
> 
> No sé cuál expresión en inglés la traduciría. Pero debe cumplir con esas caracteristicas.



Hola machy,

Creo que lo has captado perfectamente.

Como notas, en inglés “shall we say” normalmente va al final de una oración y expresa algo como una combinación de ironía y cortesía... y tus ejemplos son muy adecuados.

Por ejemplo... si me permites traducir tu primer ejemplo al inglés para ilustrar:

''Ese no es tu mejor vestido, que digamos''. (Estoy segura que es uno de los vestidos más feos que tiene).”

Voy a inventar un poco de contexto... imagínate que tu amiga se ha puesto un vestido feísima, y llega y te pregunta “How does this dress look on me? Y tú, no queriendo ofender a tu amiga, responde, “Well, it’s not your nicest dress, _shall we say_.” Pero al mismo tiempe estás pensando exactamente lo que escribiste: “I’m sure that’s one of the ugliest dresses you have.”

En ejemplos como los que pusiste, creo que “que digamos” y “shall we say” expresan ideas completamente iguales.

Espero que me explique... saludos.


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## Nopertenezco

¿Por qué tenemos que traducir que digamos al fin de la oración? Must say this is not a very pretty picture.  


Salu2


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## robby2

I would say that "Let's just say..." is more common than "Shall we say..." however, they can be used completely interchangeably. 

"Let's just say this isn't the prettiest picture" or "Shall we say, this isn't the prettiest picture."  The first being the more common.


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## Poison0666

> I have analyzed this, and here is what I came up with.
> 
> We use "shall we say" at the end of a sentence when the preceding clause is an implied interrogative, or a suggestion.
> 
> - How much for your car?
> - $5000, shall we say?
> 
> - What can I do to make it up to you?
> - Washing the dishes for a week, shall we say?
> 
> In constructions such as this, "shall we say" sounds perfectly natural. However, in the context at hand, "It's not a pretty photo" is not a suggestion or any kind of implied question, so it doesn't work. Of course, we could think up a contorted scenario in which it IS a suggestion.
> 
> - What shall I tell him about the photo?
> - "It's not a pretty photo," shall we say?
> 
> But other than that, it just doesn't fit.




En este caso shall we say se traduciría por:
¿Cuánto quieres por tu coche?
¿5000$ por ejemplo?/ ¿5000$ está bien/te vale?


Pero para mi caso me gustan shall we say y let's say, ambos.


Muchas gracias a todos


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## gengo

Poison0666 said:


> En este caso shall we say se traduciría por:
> ¿Cuánto quieres por tu coche?
> ¿5000$ por ejemplo?/ ¿5000$ está bien/te vale?



¿16 meses en contestar?  ¡Un nuevo récord!  

Sí, creo que esas son buenas traducciones, pero también lo es "que digamos."



> Pero para mi caso me gustan shall we say y let's say, ambos.



Y a mí, no.  Sigo sin creer que un nativo diga "The photo is not pretty, shall we say" en una conversación real.  Suena fatal.


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## sandpiperlily

Interesting thread!  I'm with gengo on this one -- "shall we say" is a good direct translation of "que digamos," but in the context provided it sounds much more natural to translate the whole intent of the sentence. His suggestions sound the best to me:



> Let's just say that that isn't a very good photo.
> You wouldn't exactly call that a good photo.


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## DavidWC55

I have to agree that "shall we say" doesn't mean "que digamos" (at least not for me).  And it doesn't really mean what the verified English translation should mean (to me).  We should probably accept or be more open-minded to the fact that regional variation in language exists, but from my dialect of English, (southern United States), I have to admit that "that's not a good picture, shall we say" doesn't make much sense to me.

I agree with translations along the lines of "That's not exactly a good/pretty picture" etc... I usually think of using "exactly" in this ironic-like sense to translate "que digamos" ... "ese vestido no es el más bonito que tienes que digamos" = "that's not exactly the prettiest dress you have."

In fact, to use "shall we say" in a sentence like this... if I really push myself to find a way to accept it, would prefer it to be something like "that's not really... shall we say... the prettiest dress you have" (and I'm not even sure I like this)... but at the end of the sentence, it definitely sounds foreign to my dialect.

I only wanted to include my thoughts as a constructive contribution to this topic.  I hope they're taken as such. =)


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## SydLexia

My vote is for (BrE)

"It's/That's not, let's say, a _beautiful_ picture". (spoken version)
"................................, the most beautiful picture I have ever seen" (more formal/poss. more ironic)

"shall we say" is also possible, but only in the position DavidWC mentions.

syd


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## Moritzchen

How about "as it were"?


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## david314

gengo said:


> I don't agree with my esteemed colleague, fenixpollo, on this one. I would say it this way:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Let's just say that* that isn't a very good photo. That is to say, in a nice way, "it's a bad picture."
> 
> 
> 
> You wouldn't exactly call that a good photo.
Click to expand...

 ¡Ja, ja, ja! 

This is a very common way to express something _euphemistically or diplomatically_.


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## Jim986

Interesting. I'm with gengo _in this context, _basically because "que digamos" is not a question requiring or inviting an answer but a kind of intensifier signifying that an understatement has been made with ironic intent.

As for what I'd possibly say under the circumstances, maybe:
- I must say that´s not the best photo I've ever seen!

Or using the tag question, which is more a confirmation than an interrogation and "hace las veces de" _que digamos_:

- Not exactly your best photo, is it?
- Not the best photo you've ever taken, is it?

Nada de "shall we say" which actually signals some kind of question inviting if not requiring an answer.


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## ennzio

gengo said:


> I don't agree with my esteemed colleague, fenixpollo, on this one.  I would say it this way:
> 
> Let's just say that that isn't a very good photo.
> You wouldn't exactly call that a good photo.



I M sure you the most correct


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## ennzio

gengo said:


> I don't agree with my esteemed colleague, fenixpollo, on this one.  I would say it this way:
> 
> Let's just say that that isn't a very good photo.
> You wouldn't exactly call that a good photo.



correction : I M sure you´re not the most correct


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## gengo

ennzio said:


> correction : I M sure you´re not the most correct



Correction:  I am sure...

Do you care to explain why I am not correct (the most or otherwise)?


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## rikycorazón

”Certainly" al final de la frase es pienso yo una de las mejores palabras. In my opinion


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## rikycorazón

isn't a very good photo "certainly"


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## QueOnda1984

Poison0666 said:


> ¡Hola!
> 
> Me ha surgido una duda intentando hablar por el chat en inglés. Quería decir una frase tipo esto: Esa foto no es muy bonita *que digamos.*
> 
> ¿Tiene traducción ese "que digamos" en inglés? Si la tiene, ¿cuál es? ¡Gracias!


Llegué tarde a la fiesta pero aquí va mi intento después de buscar información en otros sitios web: 

•That’s not exactly a pretty photo
•That’s not what I’d call a pretty photo
•Let’s just say that photo is not very pretty


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## sound shift

rikycorazón said:


> isn't a very good photo "certainly"


To me this sounds unidiomatic.


QueOnda1984 said:


> Llegué tarde a la fiesta pero aquí va mi intento después de buscar información en otros sitios web:
> 
> •That’s not exactly a pretty photo
> •That’s not what I’d call a pretty photo
> •Let’s just say that photo is not very pretty


Me gustan las tres.


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## franzjekill

Tal vez se caiga de maduro, pero señalo que el "que digamos" en español solo es posible si la oración es negativa y si el adjetivo que aparece es ponderativo (en el sentido de elogiar, alabar). Un "digamos tan solo" no tiene las mismas restricciones (ejemplo: "Digamos tan solo que la foto es bastante fea" / "Digamos tan solo que la foto no es muy linda"). Es equivalente a decir "La foto es bastante fea, por no decir otra cosa".


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## JillN

gengo said:


> I don't agree with my esteemed colleague, fenixpollo, on this one.  I would say it this way:
> 
> Let's just say that that isn't a very good photo.
> You wouldn't exactly call that a good photo.


I agree that "exactly" is what fits best here. 

It isn't exactly a nice/pretty photo.


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## Masood

_It's not a pretty photo, (let's) put it that way._


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