# té cops amagats el Vicentet



## Elisatas

Hi

Could somebody help me understand the meaning of this phrase?

_"Vicente, Vicente, té cops amagats el Vicentet."_

Thanks a lot


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## Namarne

Hello, 

For me it means Vicentet has unspected witty remarks.


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## Traduita

Just by the look of it... Maybe that "children may outwit the parents"/ "children are cleverer than parents think"? 
Is there a Vicente and/ or a Vicentet in the text or does it look like an idiom? "Tenir cops amagats" means something like the ability to be surprise, or  to have abilities/ qualities/sides that are not evident to others.


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## Elisatas

There is a guy named Vincent in the text who has done something the narrator didn' t like very much. This catalan phrase is a kind of mumbling from the part of the narrator.


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## Elessar

That might mean that we cannot trust Vicentet very much. The thing is that he is *concealing some information*, maybe because he has bad intentions that he will show in the future. Or maybe not. It always depends on the context.

I think _Ace up one's sleeve_ can be a good equivalent in English


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## avellanainphilly

Elessar said:


> That might mean that we cannot trust Vicentet very much. The thing is that he is *concealing some information*, maybe because he has bad intentions that he will show in the future. Or maybe not. It always depends on the context.



I don't quite share this intuition. For me 'tenir cops amagats' is to have some unexpected ability, as Traduita said, which can be good or bad.


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## Elessar

avellanainphilly said:


> I don't quite share this intuition. For me 'tenir cops amagats' is to have some unexpected ability, as Traduita said, which can be good or bad.



Potser no m'he expressat bé. Volia dir que el significat bàsic de l'expressió és que Vicentet no ofereix, no conta, en definitiva, amaga alguna informació. Altra cosa és el perquè d'amagar la informació. La causa pot tenir un origen negatiu o positiu. Potser és només perquè simplement vol sorprendre algú, està esperant el moment adequat per parlar, o bé perquè té intencions malicioses. Per això deia que depèn del context. _To have some unexpected ability_, doncs, podria ser un significat vàlid

En aquest sentit, el diccionari ens ofereix dos significats per a "tenir cops amagats":
*
1) Actuar de forma inesperada.
2) Actuar amb traïdoria*


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## mixina

Elessar said:


> That might mean that we cannot trust Vicentet very much. The thing is that he is *concealing some information*, maybe because he has bad intentions that he will show in the future. Or maybe not. It always depends on the context.
> 
> I think _Ace up one's sleeve_ can be a good equivalent in English


 
I don't share this oppinion neither. "Tenir cops amagats" it means that you wouldn't expect the good results that "Vicentet" is getting in anything is going (always in positive). For example, you thing that "Vicentet" is useless for bussines, but "oh! surprise" in a short time he is getting a very good results. you can se "X" te cops amagats ... mmmmmmm!  I would never told from him!
I hope this can help you.


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## Namarne

I've always heard that as something positive regarding the person you're talking about.


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## Elisatas

Thank you all for the suggestions. I think I have made it clear.

Salut!


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