# nick (steal) - someone nicked the hubcaps



## Masood

How would you say 'nicked' in Spain?

*Someone nicked the hubcaps off my car.*

_Alguien robó los tapacubos de mi coche._

Thanks


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## gengo

I'm no native, but I would say "Me robaron los..." rather than literally translating "someone."  Mine is using the impersonal plural.  You could also make it less direct and say "Se me robaron los...," which just refers to the theft and not to the thief.


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## maidinbedlam

Si quieres algo más coloquial (para España): me mangaron los tapacubos.


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## Masood

Cheers, folks. I'll try the 'me mangaron' thingy...see if the Spaniard understands!


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## Andoush

En versión argentina: "¡Me chorearon los cubre llantas!"


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## gengo

Andoush said:


> En versión argentina: "¡Me chorearon las llantas!"



Llantas means hubcaps where you live?


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## KirkandRafer

_Me birlaron los tapacubos_ podría ser otra opción, aunque _mangar _es más común.


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## Masood

Andoush said:


> En versión argentina: "¡Me chorearon las llantas!"


That's interesting. In Punjabi, the word we have for_ thief/to steal_ is _chor_. Pero, dudo que las dos palabras estén relacionadas.


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## Andoush

gengo said:


> Llantas means hubcaps where you live?


I've just been told off by the men at home. Apparently that is not what they are called but neither of them can come up with the right term...
I'll do some research and get back to you, chaps!
Sorry about that!


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## KirkandRafer

I thought you called them _tapas_.


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## Andoush

KirkandRafer said:


> I thought you called them _tapas_.


So, apparently they are given different names: "tapa llantas", "tazas", "cubre llantas", "taza para llantas", "las tapas de las llantas", etc.
Thank goodness you spotted my mistake, Gengo!
So, here I go again: "¡Me chorearon los cubre llantas!" for instance.


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## Masood

maidinbedlam said:


> Si quieres algo más coloquial (para España): *me mangaron los tapacubos*.


So is this the complete translation of my sentence? 
There's no need to say 'Alguien'? i.e. "Alguien me mangaron los tapacubos"


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## gengo

Masood said:


> So is this the complete translation of my sentence?
> There's no need to say 'Alguien'? i.e. "Alguien me mangaron los tapacubos"



You can't say that because there is no agreement between subject and verb conjugation.  The -aron is an impersonal plural, even though the thief may have acted alone.  "They" swiped them.


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## KirkandRafer

Masood said:


> So is this the complete translation of my sentence?
> There's no need to say 'Alguien'? i.e. "Alguien me mangaron los tapacubos"


_Alguien me mangó los tapacubos_, for the reasons provided by gengo, or _me mangaron los tapacubos_, which is the usual way to word it when the subject is unknown.


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## Masood

Understood - thanks for the explanation. It does sound a bit odd, because without the 'alguien' it would be like 'They stole my hubcaps', but that's just me thinking in English and not Spanish.
What about 'Alguien me mangó los tapacubos'?


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## gengo

Masood said:


> It does sound a bit odd, because without the 'alguien' it would be like 'They stole my hubcaps', but that's just me thinking in English and not Spanish.
> What about 'Alguien me mangó los tapacubos'?



In American English we often use "they" in this same way.  And while your translation here is correct, it sounds more natural to use the impersonal plural.


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## KirkandRafer

It sounds good to me both ways, to be honest. 

Como to think of it, if you said "alguien me robó los tapacubos" you would imply that you have no clue about who did it, so the person would be definitely unknown, whereas if you said "me robaron los tapacubos", with no further context, your interlocutor may ask you "¿Quién?", thinking that you simply omitted the subject for any reason.


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## Masood

KirkandRafer said:


> It sounds good to me both ways, to be honest.
> 
> Como to think of it, if you said "alguien me robó los tapacubos" you would imply that you have no clue about who did it, so the person would be definitely unknown, whereas if you said "me robaron los tapacubos", with no further context, your interlocutor may ask you "¿Quién?", thinking that you simply omitted the subject for any reason.


Thanks for this, KandR.


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## loudspeaker

chorar.
(De chori).
1. tr. vulg. Hurtar, robar.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

The verb Andoush conjugates is 'chorear' (in Spanish of Argentina). Apparently, it's 'chorar' in Spain Spanish.

Me choraron los tapacubos 




Masood said:


> That's interesting. In Punjabi, the word we have for_ thief/to steal_ is _chor_. Pero, dudo que las dos palabras estén relacionadas.


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## macame

loudspeaker said:


> chorar.
> (De chori).
> 1. tr. vulg. Hurtar, robar.
> 
> Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados
> 
> The verb Andoush conjugates is 'chorear' (in Spanish of Argentina). Apparently, it's 'chorar' in Spain Spanish.
> 
> Me choraron los tapacubos



En el avance de la vigésima tercera edición incluyen este origen:


> (Del caló _chorar,_ y este del indio medio _čur_).


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## Linton

En España la diferencia principal es el tiempo verbal, utilizamos casi siempre el pretérito perfecto (*me han robado*), excepto en Canarias 

Saludos.


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## blasita

Linton said:


> En España la diferencia principal es el tiempo verbal, utilizamos casi siempre el pretérito perfecto (*me han robado*), excepto en Canarias



Hay un par de regiones en la Península en las que tampoco usan normalmente el compuesto, por ejemplo en Galicia.

Yo usaría el pretérito perfecto simple y el compuesto, dependiendo del contexto. En el original aparece el _past simple_, luego en principio usaría _me robaron/mangaron/birlaron_, etc.


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## macame

Otras posibilidades: me afanaron, me trincaron, me chorizaron, me limpiaron, me pulieron.


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## Linton

blasita said:


> ...En el original aparece el _past simple_, luego en principio usaría _me robaron/mangaron/birlaron_, etc.


Los tiempos verbales no se trasvasan literalmente del español al inglés, o viceversa. Para traducir del inglés al español (y viceversa) con fidelidad a menudo hay que modificar ese aspecto.
Un ejemplo muy mencionado es el modo pasivo tan habitual en inglés, por ejemplo "I was told", que se 'decodifica' en español -> "Me han dicho".

Saludos.


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## blasita

I use it as follows:_

Someone nicked X_. I can use both: _Me han robado X_ and _Me robaron X_, depending on e.g. when the robbery occurred.
_Someone has nicked X_. _Me han robado X_.

But, as I said, there are regional differences in the use of these tenses.


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## Masood

Lo de 'chorar' - wow, good find, _loudspeaker _and _macame_. Looks like they _are _related after all.

Muchas gracias a todos.


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## Andoush

I didn't even look up "chorar". How interesting! So, both "chorar" and "chorear" are possible...

*chorear**.*
*1.* tr. coloq._ Arg._,_ Chile_ y_ Perú._ *robar* (‖ tomar para sí lo ajeno).*2.* tr. coloq._ Chile_ Producir aburrimiento. U. t. c. prnl.
_Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados_


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## mijoch

I mostly hear, and have experienced---------"se llevó/se llevaron"


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## blasita

También, por ejemplo: _me quitaron X_. Hay bastantes posibilidades (los otros foreros han dado ya muchas); _mangar_ y _limpiar_ se usan bastante por mi zona.


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## Masood

Supposing your friend went to the bog at half-time at a football match and when he got back to his seat, someone was sitting there, how would you say (to your friend) "Look, someone's nicked your seat!".
How about: _Mira. ¡Te ha mangado la silla!_


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## Elixabete

Te han mangado/han chorado el sitio/el asiento.


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## Masood

Elixabete said:


> Te han mangado/han chorado el sitio/el asiento.


Why _han? _That doesn't make sense. It's only one person on the seat.


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## gengo

Masood said:


> Why _han? _That doesn't make sense. It's only one person on the seat.



It's an impersonal plural, and does not refer to a specific subject.  I'm really surprised to learn that you don't use this form in BrEn, as it's quite common in AmEn.  Naturally, if you were standing right in front of the person who took your seat, your friend would be unlikely to use "they," and would instead use "he" or "she," but if your friend were talking about this later or in a different place, "they" would be quite natural in AmEn.

By the way, in AmEn we probably wouldn't use "steal" (we never use "nick"), and would instead use "take."


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## Elixabete

I knew you where going to ask that question , you can use the singular " (ese tío) te ha mangado el asiento" blaming an specific individual probably pointing at him; however, if you were just informing your friend somebody had just nicked his seat (maybe at the bar, in a place where you cannot see the seat) it's common to use the plural referring to an unknown someone.For instance: "ya me han mandado el nuevo catalogo" . It's the same in English, you'd say "they've sent me the new catalogue" or you could have told your friend "they've nicked you seat mate!"


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## Elixabete

Gengo and I were writig at the same time!


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## Masood

Thank you.


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