# es muy cursi



## Rukshana

!Hola!
     A menudo, oigo la frase......"es muy cursi"
            ?Que significa?
               Gracias de antemano.


----------



## rafajuntoalmar

Hola:

Bienvenida al foro. Ya te advertirán los moderadores de que este es un foro para consultas de traducción entre castellano e inglés, pero mientras tanto...

Cursi es un adjetivo que se utiliza para calificar a las personas u objetos que pretenden representar elegancia o refinamiento y no lo consiguen, con lo cual el efecto es algo ridículo o triste, según el caso. En muchos círculos sociales, por ejemplo, levantar el dedo meñique al beber de un vaso puede considerarse algo cursi. (En esos mismos círculos sociales, ese mismo gesto era considerado refinado hace doscientos años).

He aquí lo que dice al respecto el Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.

Un saludo,


----------



## Masood

It might be _cheesy _in English. I suppose it depends on the context.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=277092&highlight=cheesy


----------



## merxeo

Yo tengo una pregunta para Rukshana: ¿quieres una traducción o una definición?

A mi la definición del diccionario de la RAE no me convence, seguramente sea válida pero solo en ciertos contextos. Según yo entiendo lo cursi cada vez que decimos "pero qué cursi eres" "qué cursi" no es que estén intentando ser finos, es más bien ñoño, sentimentaloide y sí, en muchos casos pasado de moda al mismo tiempo, como algo que ya no se lleva. La verdad es que es dificil dar una definición del uso que hacemos de "cursi".


----------



## Mate

Hola: 

Quiere una traducción. El título original del hilo era 'general(spanish-english)' y lo cambié porque no guardaba relación con la pregunta, pero dejaba claro que lo que deseaba era una traducción al inglés.

Saludos.


----------



## piraña utria

Masood said:


> It might be _cheesy _in English. I suppose it depends on the context.
> http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=277092&highlight=cheesy


 
Hi Masood. 
 
Speaking about this topic, what about “corny”? Is “cheesy” a BE equivalent or are there differences between them, I mean “cheesy” and “corny”?
 
Thanks in advance for your explanation.


----------



## Masood

piraña utria said:


> Hi Masood.
> 
> Speaking about this topic, what about “corny”? Is “cheesy” a BE equivalent or are there differences between them, I mean “cheesy” and “corny”?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your explanation.


I think they can mean the same thing. I think they use 'corny' in AmE too, but I might be wrong.


----------



## merxeo

Yo pensé primero en Corny. Hace poco vi una pelicula doblada del inglés y habían traducido "cursi" por "corny". Lo que el personaje decía era realmente cursi, así que me da por pensar que la diferencia entre "cheesy" y "corny", si es que la hay, pueda ser el contexto.


----------



## Rukshana

Ohh.....muchisimas gracias a todos para la respuesta!!!!


----------



## draelife

We use both "cheesy" and "corny" in the States  I'd say that "corny" is more common, but both are very well known words.


----------



## aztlaniano

Cursi can also be _pretentious_ or _affected_.


----------



## Arrius

Sometimes,* that's a cliché/ that's quite banal.*


----------



## katzuhiko minohara corona

la palabra "Cursi" la uso para describir un acto amoroso demasiado meloso,
que es ridiculamente empalagoso y apena a los demás.

de acuerdo a un diccionario en japonés (mi lengua materna es el japonés)
"Cursi" en inglés se dice "Mushy" ...a mushy kind of love...
pero yo no soy nativo del inglés, yo tambien estoy buscando 
la traducción exacta para "cursi", pero hasta ahora "mushy" es
la que más se acerca pra describir a una persona o acto "cursi".

Espero que te sirva de algo.
Saludos.


----------



## Arrius

There is also the American *schmaltzy* derived from the Yiddish _schmaltz_ (German Schmalz) = Spanish _manteca_.
*schmalz* *▸ noun:*  (Yiddish) excessive sentimentality in art or music; *schmaltzy* *▸ adjective:*  effusively or insincerely emotional (_"A schmaltzy song"_). (One Look Dictionary).
Every American would understand this but possibly not every Englishman.


----------



## hellohola123

Corny, cheesy, mushy.


----------



## aztlaniano

Arrius said:


> There is also the American *schmaltzy*


Yep. Very similar to _kitschy_, but I think even more English-speakers would be left blank by that, and _kitsch_ is used in Spanish, anyway.
Me suena que Francisco Umbral escribió alguna vez sobre la distinción entre cursi y kitsch, o al menos la distinción que él los veía.
Edit- 
Ya propuse "kitsch" en un hilo anterior sobre "cursi", veo ahora. Junto con "smarmy" y algo más:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1320777

También hay este otro:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1539
Which already has kitsch _and _schmaltzy!


----------



## Arrius

*Smarmy *es distinto y se referiere a una persona untuosa o grasienta (*smarmy:* *adjective:* unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
_One Look Dictionary_). La idea basica de _smarmy_ es de _aceite_.


----------



## aurilla

katzuhiko minohara corona said:


> la palabra "Cursi" la uso para describir un acto amoroso demasiado meloso,
> que es ridiculamente empalagoso y apena a los demás.
> 
> de acuerdo a un diccionario en japonés (mi lengua materna es el japonés)
> "Cursi" en inglés se dice "Mushy" ...a mushy kind of love...
> pero yo no soy nativo del inglés, yo tambien estoy buscando
> la traducción exacta para "cursi", pero hasta ahora "mushy" es
> la que más se acerca pra describir a una persona o acto "cursi".
> 
> Espero que te sirva de algo.
> Saludos.


 
Sounds to me like "an incurable romantic" 
"mushy" is all right, too.


----------



## aztlaniano

Arrius said:


> *Smarmy *es distinto y se referiere a una persona unctuosa o grasienta (*smarmy:* *adjective:* unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
> _One Look Dictionary_). La idea basica de _smarmy_ es de _aceite_.


 
Sí, más exactamente, "smarmy" sería "*untuoso*".
Pero "cursi" da mucho de sí  y todo depende del contexto.
*untuoso**, sa**.*
(Del lat. _unctum_, unto).

*1. *adj. Graso y pegajoso.
*2. *adj. despect. De una dulzura y amabilidad excesivas en el modo de hablar y comportarse, hasta el punto de resultar falso y empalagoso. _Sus modales untuosos no despertaban simpatías._




_Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados_


----------



## katzuhiko minohara corona

I read all the options appeared from the above posts, and verified their meaning one by one in the dictionary.

After doing that, from my point of veiw, the only two words which matched to the meaning of "cursi", 
at least with the meaning used in a conversation of a Mexican Spanish, 
which is an act or a person who is sickly sweet and emotional that produces embarassing situations, 
are

mushy
schmaltzy

I would like to know if there are more options?
and if these words are understandable at Australia and England, or only in the United States, 

no seas cursi would it be as follows? 
don't be mushy
don't be schmaltzy


----------



## SaritaSarang

Rukshana said:


> !Hola!
> A menudo, oigo la frase......"es muy cursi"
> ?Que significa?
> Gracias de antemano.



Hola, cursi se dice "* corny*" en ingles. 

*He/she/it is very corny.*


----------



## SaritaSarang

katzuhiko minohara corona said:


> I read all the options appeared from the above posts, and verified their meaning one by one in the dictionary.
> 
> After doing that, from my point of veiw, the only two words which matched to the meaning of "cursi",
> at least with the meaning used in a conversation of a Mexican Spanish,
> which is an act or a person who is sickly sweet and emotional that produces embarassing situations,
> are
> 
> mushy
> schmaltzy
> 
> I would like to know if there are more options?
> and if these words are understandable at Australia and England, or only in the United States,
> 
> no seas cursi would it be as follows?
> don't be mushy
> don't be schmaltzy



I have never in my entire life heard of the word " *schmaltzy*", but I use the word *mushy* (lovey-dovey)  all the time.

But remember corny ( cheesy) is not the same thing as mushy. Mushy is like when you see two people being overly-affectionate or a movie that is just over the top about love and romance.
This movie is so mushy (mushy gushy) it's definitely a chick flick. 
Corny is like silly. Like a corny movie, Super Mario Brothers the movie ( though i love that movie, it is corny.)


----------



## katzuhiko minohara corona

Thank you for your explanation. It help me to understand it better. 

"Cursi" with the meaning in the category of

1.- overly affectionated are:
Mushy
Gushy
Lovey dovey 

2.- as silly
Corny
Cheesy

How would you translate "lovey dovey" in Spanish?
Do you know more related words to gushy, mushy?

With regards to "schmaltzy"
It is interesting to know that you never heard it before, because
it was posted by a native speaker and confimred by an American, 
probably its use is very local, or a English of Los Angeles or New York? 
anyway, I will disregard this word as you say it is not used in actual life.


----------



## marmalade

katzuhiko minohara corona said:


> With regards to "schmaltzy"
> It is interesting to know that you never heard it before, because
> it was posted by a native speaker and confimred by an American,
> probably its use is very local, or a English of Los Angeles or New York?
> anyway, I will disregard this word as you say it is not used in actual life.



Schmaltzy is Yiddish in origin, not English.  It's used by English speakers in the US frequently in areas where there are larger Jewish populations.  I've lived a lot of places:  I never heard it even once growing up in Hawaii, then heard it occasionally in California, then almost never while living in in New Orleans, then all the time while living in New York.  Now back in California, I once again hear it only occasionally.


----------



## Arrius

For more information on schmaltz or schmalz, see the central paragraph in English on this link:
http://dict.leo.org/forum/viewWrongentry.php?idThread=384994&idForum=6&lp=ende&lang=de
In the UK the word is rendered literally by _dripping_, the delicious coagulated fat from the Sunday roast, with bits of brown jelly in it, that my mother used to give me spread on bread as a child, but it has no pejorative figurative use. Although _schmalt(zy)_ does not form part of everyday British vocabulary, it would be readily understood and I, though a _goy_, would not hesitate to use it to describe that kind of typically maudlin and embarrassing sentimentality one finds particularly in American songs and films, frequently backed up by an ethereal choir.


----------



## aztlaniano

marmalade said:


> Schmaltzy is Yiddish in origin, not English. It's used by English speakers in the US frequently in areas where there are larger Jewish populations.


Es cierto que "schmaltzy" viene del idioma de los judíos de Europa central y oriental (el idioma es derivado del alemán y esta palabra viene de "schmalzig" en alemán) y que se oye más de la boca de personas en Nueva York que en, por ejemplo, Norman, Oklahoma, pero a través del cine y la televisión llega a todas partes y me parece una traducción perfectamente válida para "cursi".


----------



## marmalade

aztlaniano said:


> ...pero a través del cine y la televisión llega a todas partes y me parece una traducción perfectamente válida para "cursi".



Estoy de acuerdo.


----------



## SaritaSarang

aztlaniano said:


> y que se oye más de la boca de personas en Nueva York que en, por ejemplo, Norman, Oklahoma, pero a través del cine y la televisión llega a todas partes y me parece una traducción perfectamente válida para "cursi".



Wow you even know the exact city where I live! You must really pay close attention to my posts. (kinda creepy) And no, here in Oklahoma it would not be a good translation.


----------



## Frantzisko

The word you are looking for is mawkish.  Corny and cheesy convey the meaning but they are too colloquial.   Now if you use "cursi" to mean more than sappy--like excessively sweet--, then try cloying.


----------



## aztlaniano

Frantzisko said:


> The word you are looking for is *mawkish*. Corny and cheesy convey the meaning but they are too colloquial. Now if you use "cursi" to mean more than sappy--like excessively sweet--, then try cloying.


This is a good response to katzuhiko's query below (post #21).
I would just point out that this is only one of the uses of "cursi", not a comprehensive definition.


katzuhiko minohara corona said:


> After doing that, from my point of veiw, the only two words which matched to the meaning of "cursi",
> at least with the meaning used in a conversation of a Mexican Spanish,
> which is an act or a person who is sickly sweet and emotional that produces embarassing situations,
> are
> mushy
> schmaltzy


----------



## MoonOwl

Arrius said:


> There is also the American *schmaltzy* derived from the Yiddish _schmaltz_ (German Schmalz) = Spanish _manteca_.
> *schmalz* *▸ noun:*  (Yiddish) excessive sentimentality in art or music; *schmaltzy* *▸ adjective:*  effusively or insincerely emotional (_"A schmaltzy song"_). (One Look Dictionary).
> Every American would understand this but possibly not every Englishman.


Let me just clarify that at least in the Midwest (US) we wouldn't have a clue as to what 'schmaltzy' is (or 'kitschy' for that matter). Heck, I had to explain to Midwesterners what 'ruckus' was. These terms might be used more on the East Coast.


----------



## steve_g

MoonOwl said:


> Let me just clarify that at least in the Midwest (US) we wouldn't have a clue as to what 'schmaltzy' is (or 'kitschy' for that matter). Heck, I had to explain to Midwesterners what 'ruckus' was. These terms might be used more on the East Coast.


Hm. That is not my experience in Chicago. It's common to hear schmaltz or kitsch. And the word 'ruckus' is not even a colloquialism, so someone who doesn't know it simply has a limited vocabulary.


----------

