# arrugar



## Schenker

Hola. Quería saber si existe en inglés una palabra equivalente a "arrugar" en la acepción usada en Argentina y Chile que se refiere a cuando una persona o un equipo están en inmejorable posición y situación para lograr un objetivo o están muy cerca de lograrlo pero finalmente increiblemente no se logra el objetivo, entonces decimos "X arrugó" (le dio miedo o fue mucha la presión para él y ridículamente no consiguio aquello que la lógica indicaba que tendría que haber logrado).
Espero que se haya entendido.

Saludos.


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## volky

X gave up --> renunció, se rindió


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## carola_fariasm

Según el libro "How to survive in the Chilean jungle"
To bail, to flake out; to pull out or to back out of some agreement or plan at the last minute
to quit


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## Schenker

No es en ese sentido el "arrugar". No es que se rinda o renuncie la persona, es que la presion y el miedo lo superaron y por eso no logro el objetivo.


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## horusankh

Hola:

¡Qué interesante!, en México decimos "*se* arrugó" con ese significado.



volky said:


> X gave up --> renunció, se rindió


 
Me parece que "give up" no transmite el matiz de "arrugar(se)", porque alguien puede "give up" un proyecto porque estudió todas las posibilidades y concluyó que no era viable, en cambio una persona (se) arrugaría sólo por miedo, aún teniendo todas las variables a favor, pero no soy de mucha ayuda, porque no se me ocurre ninguna palabra en inglés.  

Saludos.


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## volky

Que tal: overwhelmed  (abrumado, agobiado).


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## Schenker

Exactamente horusankh, es otro el sentido como dije antes. 
Muchas gracias volky por los intentos, pero tampoco es overwhelmed. Quizá no existe una palabra equivalente (es lo más probable).

Saludos.


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## Jenesaisrien

En tenis se usa muchísimo la expresión _to choke _en el sentido que mencionás.
Urban dictionary:
1.    Choke. An act in which a team or a person collaspe when they are expected to win no matter what the other team does.

The New York Yankees CHOKED majorly against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series in 2004.


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## fobits

Sí, Jenesaisrien ha dado en el clavo.

_To choke_, eso es.


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## Schenker

Jenesaisrien said:


> En tenis se usa muchísimo la expresión _to choke _en el sentido que mencionás.
> Urban dictionary:
> 1. Choke. An act in which a team or a person collaspe when they are expected to win no matter what the other team does.
> 
> The New York Yankees CHOKED majorly against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series in 2004.


 
Que bueno saber que existe un término equivalente, gracias. 
¿Sabes si este término en ingles es coloquial como lo es "arrugar" en Chile y Argentina?


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## Jenesaisrien

Schenker said:


> Que bueno saber que existe un término equivalente, gracias.
> ¿Sabes si este término en ingles es coloquial como lo es "arrugar" en Chile y Argentina?



Schenker, hasta donde yo sé, por participar en forums/fora de tenis, es de uso totalmente coloquial, pero se usa mucho, y en todas sus variantes. Ej: a la persona se le dice "choker", y hay cualquier cantidad de apodos alusivos.

saludos


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## Schenker

Jenesaisrien said:


> Schenker, hasta donde yo sé, por participar en forums/fora de tenis, es de uso totalmente coloquial, pero se usa mucho, y en todas sus variantes. Ej: a la persona se le dice "choker", y hay cualquier cantidad de apodos alusivos.
> 
> saludos


 
Ok, muchas gracias por la respuesta.
Saludos.


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## stooge1970

“Choked” es perfecto, pero también se puede decir “blew it”. 

  They choked = They blew it.


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## Schenker

stooge1970 said:


> “Choked” es perfecto, pero también se puede decir “blew it”.
> 
> They choked = They blew it.


 
Me parece que blew es otra cosa. Significa "desperdiciar" (una oportunidad)


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## gotitadeleche

Choke may be well known in tennis circles, but I don't know how many others would understand---I didn't know the expression until I read this post. 
What about chickened out? "Everything was working out perfectly, but at the last minute he chickened out."

To call someone a chicken is to say that he is a coward.


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## Sidd

"they cracked under pressure" / "couldn't take the pressure" /


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## cirrus

I wouldn't have understood choked either.  I like Sidd's suggestions.  Often you will hear people talking about a team blowing it.


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## andyflog

Hi, I´m just doing a translation into Spanish and the word in English I´ve found in golf context is Meltdown.
Hope it can help.  I feel it´s the exact meaning of achicar in Argentina.


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## stooge1970

Gotitadeleche, I don't think "chicken out" works here because it implies not even attempting to achieve the goal due to fear. I'm pretty surprised that you (and cirrus) haven't heard of "choked" before, I think it's quite common. However, it could be just a north-eastern expression but I doubt it. 

I think that "cracked under pressure" works quite nicely (and of course "blew it"). 

I think "meltdown" is a little strong a term for this situation although I suppose you could say that the team "had/experienced a total meltdown" and it would certainly work. Just bear in mind that it implies that everything "went to sh*t" for the team.

I think "choked" works best because it conveys both the pressure of the situation and the failure to achieve a goal without any unwanted connotations.


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## aurilla

"he got cold feet" / "he buckled under the pressure" / "he couldn't take the heat" /  "he lost it" / "he let it slip through his fingers"


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## cirrus

I don't think I would use getting cold feet in this context.  For me this expression is about last minute doubts about doing something it really gets going.


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## ERASMO_GALENO

aurilla said:


> "he got cold feet" / "he buckled under the pressure" / "he couldn't take the heat" / "he lost it" / "he let it slip through his fingers"


 
Hola,

Hasta ahora tus propuestas me parecen las mejores, sobretodo *he couldn't take the heat *y un poco menos *he got cold feet*. No sé si me equivoque, pero entiendo arrugar como *acobardarse*. Y eso ya es más fácil de traducir.

Atentamente,


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## stooge1970

ERASMO_GALENO said:


> No sé si me equivoque, pero entiendo arrugar como *acobardarse*.



 Según lo que ha dicho Schenker, no son iguales.


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## Maeskizzle

I like "choked" too.


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## gotitadeleche

stooge1970 said:


> Según lo que ha dicho Schenker, no son iguales.



stooge, why do you say that? To quote Schenker:_es que la presion y el *miedo *lo superaron y por eso no logro el objetivo._

Isn't that the same as acobardarse?


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## stooge1970

I say that because "arrugar" seems more specific than acobardarse. The WR dictionary defines acobardarse as:_
1. (sentir temor)_ to become frightened 
2.  _(retraerse)_ to lose one's nerve _o_ to shrink back

To me this connotes pure fear, which makes sense because cobarde means coward, which to me only signifies that a person is afraid. In his original post, Schenker stated “le dio miedo o *fue mucha la presión*”. To me this is more than simple fear, I think the pressure also causes nervousness and anxiety, which are not quite the same as fear, and can contribute to choking.  The way I see it, “arrugar” is not pure fear. 

Of course, I'm working under the assumption that the best translation for "arrugar" is "to choke" and the fact of the matter is that I have never heard the word outside of this thread.


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## gotitadeleche

OK, thank you stooge for that explanation. 



> Of course, I'm working under the assumption that the best translation for "arrugar" is "to choke" and the fact of the matter is that I have never heard the word outside of this thread.



I am familiar with arrugar, but not with that meaning. It is interesting that both words have traditional meanings (choke = when something blocks your windpipe; arrugar = to wrinkle), but are used in this context to express something totally unrelated.

I can't comment on whether choke is the best translation, because I am not familiar with either one of these words used in this context.


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## Maeskizzle

Similar to the definition Jenesaisrien found, this definition is in the word reference dictionary.  

*14 **choke*

_fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation; "The team should have won hands down but choked, disappointing the coach and the audience"_

I´m including it because I´m surprised that several english speakers in the forum haven´t heard "choked" used in this context.  Generally it seems to be used to describe sports failures, when the favored team or person loses, but it´s definitely applicable to other areas of life in relation to specific goals that aren´t accomplished when it seems the person should have been able to do it.


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## stretch

gotitadeleche said:


> stooge, why do you say that? To quote Schenker:_es que la presion y el *miedo *lo superaron y por eso no logro el objetivo._
> 
> Isn't that the same as acobardarse?


 
I'm also VERY surprised that so many English speakers aren't familiar with "choked" since it is such a common usage.  

Gotita...being a coward and giving up because of fear is not the same as the fear agitating you so much that you failed in your attempt even though you tried.  At least that's the difference I see in these two terms.

A bit late, but oh well!


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## cirrus

stretch said:


> I'm also VERY surprised that so many English speakers aren't familiar with "choked" since it is such a common usage.


This side of the pond choked as well as its literal meaning doesn't mean backing away from a challenge or anything like that. If you see something that moves you and you get a lump in the throat, tears start to form and you find it difficult to talk that's what we'd call choking.

Imagine you are talking about someone at their funeral, you are fine until you get right to the end and say something like "and I loved him". At that point your voice stops cooperating.


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## stretch

cirrus said:


> This side of the pond choked as well as its literal meaning doesn't mean backing away from a challenge or anything like that. *If you see something that moves you and you get a lump in the throat, tears start to form and you find it difficult to talk that's what we'd call choking.*
> 
> Imagine you are talking about someone at their funeral, you are fine until you get right to the end and say something like "and I loved him". At that point your voice stops cooperating.


 
How interesting!  We call this "getting choked up."


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## ORL

This side of the pond choked as well as its literal meaning doesn't mean backing away from a challenge or anything like that. *If you see something that moves you and you get a lump in the throat, tears start to form and you find it difficult to talk that's what we'd call choking.
*
Eso ya no es "arrugar", sinó "quebrarse".


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## cirrus

ORL said:


> * that's what we'd call choking.
> *
> Eso ya no es "arrugar", sinó "quebrarse".


Es que se trata de otra diferencia entre BE y AE.


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## JosecitO

se puede decir chicken out o choke porque " Arrugar " se usa cuando uno se acobarda o no tiene valor suficiente de hacer algJO, antes de que el evento pase.
Ejem: 
Mario y Manuel dijeron que se ivan a pelear a la salida del colegio,pero Mario arrugó al pedir permiso al profesor para salir más temprano.

Se puede decir que Mario no tenia confianza en si mismo como también que tenia miedo.


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## Sidd

JosecitO said:


> se puede decir chicken out o choke porque " Arrugar " se usa cuando uno se acobarda o no tiene valor suficiente de hacer algJO, antes de que el evento pase.
> Ejem:
> Mario y Manuel dijeron que se ivan *iban* a pelear a la salida del colegio,pero Mario arrugó al pedir permiso al profesor para salir más temprano.
> 
> Se puede decir que Mario no tenia confianza en si mismo como también que tenia miedo.


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## angelik18

Thank you all so so much. This is just what I needed... can't believe I didn't remember any of these terms!! I CHOKED! hahahaha Thanks again...


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## Socal3661

Quizás
He folded (gave in to the pressure, fear, etc)


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