# Buena onda



## VEROCley

I've seen many threads about "onda" but I never saw any which could answer to my following question; how could I say the samething:

Te lo estoy diciendo en buena onda... - Meaning that what I telling this person is in "good terms" in other words, that it is not to make it feel sab or bad... 

I am telling you this in "good terms"? 


I hope you all can help me as you always have...


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## Mate

Aquí decimos "de buena onda" pero significa lo mismo. Pienso que "in good terms" suena más formal que la versión en castellano coloquial.


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## Grekh

in a cool way....yo lo diría así


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## Txiri

I am telling you this with good intentions ...


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## mariente

Yo tengo entendido que se dice "good vibes"


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## RoRo_en_el_foro

"good intentions" no es "en buena onda". "en buena onda" se refiere a que se lo está diciendo con tono amable y está tratando de que no se enoje, no necesariamente implica intencionalidad.


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## Junk

"In good faith" I think is the closest expression in english. "Good vibes" is very rare to hear and you would probably get laughed at.


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## Junk

RoRo_en_el_foro said:
			
		

> "good intentions" no es "en buena onda". "en buena onda" se refiere a que se lo está diciendo con tono amable y está tratando de que no se enoje, no necesariamente implica intencionalidad.


That sounds like "good intentions" to me.


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## Mate

Y bueh..., en una de esas no hay un equivalente exacto para de/en buena onda en inglés.


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## Junk

Explicamelo, pues. Cual es la diferencia entre "in good faith" y "en buena onda"?


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## Mate

Junk said:
			
		

> Explicamelo, pues. Cual es la diferencia entre "in good faith" y "en buena onda"?


In good faith es de buena fé y suena formal. En buena onda es algo más coloquial, lo usan los de 30 para abajo y algunos viejitos como yo, que lo oimos decir a nuestros hijos y lo adoptamos.


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## Fernita

As Grekc said, 
' I'm telling you this *in a cool way*.'
Why is it that natives didn't say anything about this option?
I find it pretty close to our 'buena onda'.


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## Txiri

RoRo_en_el_foro said:
			
		

> "good intentions" no es "en buena onda". "en buena onda" se refiere a que se lo está diciendo con tono amable y está tratando de que no se enoje, no necesariamente implica intencionalidad.


 
Si alguien dice algo que quizás pueda suscitar el enojo en su interlocutor, y desea evitar esa posibilidad, la frase que sugerí es bastante común y natural en inglés.  No tiene mucho que ver con "intencionalidad"


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## Junk

Fernita said:
			
		

> As Grekc said,
> ' I'm telling you this *in a cool way*.'
> Why is it that natives didn't say anything about this option?
> I find it pretty close to our 'buena onda'.


I've never heard this said before, and it sounds a little strange, but it would probably be understood.


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## Fernita

Txiri, lo que pasa es que 'buena onda' es sumamente informal y casi diría un invento que usan los jóvenes.
Por eso tu traducción, creo, no da esa impresión de total informalidad.
Por otro lado, tu traducción es impecable, como siempre.
Anyway, creo que algo con 'cool' sería apropiado para este caso.


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## Grekh

Fernita said:
			
		

> As Grekc said,
> ' I'm telling you this *in a cool way*.'
> Why is it that natives didn't say anything about this option?
> I find it pretty close to our 'buena onda'.


 
¡Nadie me toma en cuenta mas que tú! jaja

La mayoría está proponiendo expresiones que suenan demasiado formales cuando "en buena onda" es una expresión super alivianada, nada formal.


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## salvador_1_99

Fernita said:
			
		

> As Grekc said,
> ' I'm telling you this *in a cool way*.'
> Why is it that natives didn't say anything about this option?
> I find it pretty close to our 'buena onda'.


 
Estoy totalmente deacuerdo. Saludos


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## Txiri

I haven´t heard it either, but I understand what Grekh is saying.  It doesn´t sound natural though, it sounds "translated"

Slangily, you might hear,  "I´m telling you this, now be cool man"


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## Junk

It is common to hear "I'm telling you this as your friend"


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## Fernita

Junk said:
			
		

> I've never heard this said before, and it sounds a little strange, but it would probably be understood.


 
Right! But the problem is that 'buena onda' is almost a made up expression, very informal, by the way.

I guess teenagers have a similar expression in English but...maybe not.


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## Grekh

Maybe it's my turn to create a new expresion in english, jajajaja, that's great! I'm young, I have the right to make up my own expresions! jaja


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## Junk

Well I'll start saying it and hopefully it catches on!


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## Fernita

I think Txiri's is the closest.
"I´m telling you this, now be cool man".
Can you make it shorter and still be understood and common in use?
I'm telling you this. Cool man!


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## Mate

Go ahead kids. I can't wait!


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## Txiri

Fernita said:
			
		

> I think Txiri's is the closest.
> "I´m telling you this, now be cool man".
> Can you make it shorter and still be understood and common in use?
> I'm telling you this. Cool man!


 
It´s rather "stylized" and not something everyone can pull off.  I wouldn´t use it, but I´m not a teenager, and can´t suggest what they *would* use.


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## Junk

Fernita said:
			
		

> I think Txiri's is the closest.
> "I´m telling you this, now be cool man".
> Can you make it shorter and still be understood and common in use?
> I'm telling you this. Cool man!


Que te parece algo como "You know we're cool, right? But..."


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## Fernita

Now my made up expression:

*'I'm telling you this in cool terms'*


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## Fernita

Junk said:
			
		

> Que te parece algo como "You know we're cool, right? But..."


 
It sounds right to me.
And what about my made up expression?


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## Grekh

Fernita and I are creating new expresions! Please, natives, use them and make them more usual!


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## Fernita

Grekh said:
			
		

> Fernita and I are creating new expresions! Please, natives, use them and make them more usual!


 
Although I'm 50, I believe *'in cool terms'* would be the best option.
Maybe nobody's heard it before. Or maybe, I've gone crazy.
Well, what do natives think about it?


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## njbrit

I would suggest a good equivalent slang expression in English is "good vibes", especially since "onda" literally means waves and vibes is derived from vibrations.  I see "buena onda" a lot as an attribute in dating profiles.


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## Edwin

Fernita said:


> Although I'm 50, I believe *'in cool terms'* would be the best option.
> Maybe nobody's heard it before. Or maybe, I've gone crazy.
> Well, what do natives think about it?



Fernita: 
Solamente mi opinión, pero "I'm telling you this in cool terms" me suena muy raro.  

Para hacer una buena traducción creo que necesitamos más contexto.


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## Shoquim

¿Que tal "*in a nice way*" o "*nicely*"?


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## LorrySanchez

_Hola VEROCley_

' I'm telling you this in a cool way.' - _I have never heard this ; it sounds really strange_

"I'm telling you this as your friend" -  _is much more common
_
_But in a more formal situation,you might say_ "I'm telling you this in good faith"

_Hope this helps !_


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## zumac

"I'm telling this to you in good faith"
sounds good to me, although perhaps a bit formal.

Something more of the common vernacular would be:

"I'm telling this to you straight."

or

"I'm giving it to you straight."

Saludos.


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## Edwin

Shoquim said:


> ¿Que tal "*in a nice way*" o "*nicely*"?



*I will tell you this in a nice way--*
*I will tell you this nicely--*

Ambas frases me suenan bien, sino tienen un matiz sarcático. 

Pero como dije anteriormente depende de que siga.


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## Perdido

Interesting thread.  I've never heard "...en buena onda" here in Spain, but I'm finding new expressions that I've missed every day.

Anyway, if it's an invention of the young 'uns that doesn't really mean much but just lightens the sentence, isn't it sort of like, "I'm just sayin'..."  ?

"I'm just sayin', I don't think she's that hot."
"I'm just sayin', I really don't feel like hanging out with them tonight."

I don't know.  Maybe there is no good equivalent.

To me, the problem with "...in a cool way" is that it sounds translated.  If you have to explain to someone that something is cool it's...well, uncool.


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## shoam

BUENA ONDA
Aca comentan que es de gente joven. Yo les agradezco muchisimo... pero, eso se decia en mis epocas en Buenos Aires y yo ya tengo 42. De ninguna manera alguien de 17 años me dejaria entrar en la categoria de joven. Tal vez se dice ahora, pero se decia muchisimo en 1985 tambien.


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## abeltio

Si es bien informal... he escuchado: Honest, I shit you not!


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## kahlo

wow very interesting is this thread , anyways i'm from El Salvador , being here in US for long time now ; "buena onda " is being use alot still in Mexico so is in America Central ; th way i will interpreter will be : good terms ; good faith ; or we cool . there isnt a way to interpreter that phrase as it is . is nothing like that ; in this language...


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## jayp

Hola Chicos, 

Cuando se usa *buena onda *en castellano, es coloquial. Su equivalente en ingles es *in a bad way.

*por ejemplo:

Te lo estoy diciendo de buena onda...

I don't mean it/this *in a bad way*, but...

Or

I don't want you to take it/this the wrong way, but...

Just thought I would post it for the sake of the thread. All the other examples do not sound like anything I would hear from a native. And I have been to many English-speaking countries.

Jay-p


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## jayp

Hola Chicos, 

Cuando se usa *buena onda *en castellano, es coloquial. Su equivalente en ingles es *in a bad way.

*por ejemplo:

Te lo estoy diciendo de buena onda...

I don't mean it/this *in a bad way*, but...

Or

I don't want you to take it/this the wrong way, but...

Just thought I would post it for the sake of the thread. All the other examples do not sound like anything I would hear from a native. And I have been to many English-speaking countries.


Jayp


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## Viniaki

Hola a todos:
I would agree with jayp, it sounds a lot more normal to use in a good way, or not in a bad way, and it would depend a lot on what's being said, in that case it's all open to so many colloquial and youthfoul expressions, like, we cool? I'm cool with it, it's all good, sweeeet!


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## mariente

No entiendo como es posible que decir de buena onda tenga un equivalente en ginlés en donde el adjetivo sea todo lo contrario. In a bad way quiere decir de mala manera"


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## callmeboeve

Qué interesante! He leido todas las respuestas y creo que en inglés no existe una frase completamente similar. 

"In good faith" está bien pero muy formal. Y tiene una conotación de un secreto . . . por ejemplo . . . I'm telling you this in good faith . . . hoping that you'll keep my secret. 


No he escuchado "good vibes." Es algo de los años 70 que me recuerda a la canción "Good Vibrations." Tampoco, no he escuchado mucho "in a good way" pero existe. "You drive me crazy in a good way" por ejemplo. 

Creo que "I'm just sayin'" es algo, como dice perdido, that lightens up a sentence. 

If you want to say something to a friend without hurting their feelings, I would say exactly that. "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but . . . " 

We also have the phrase "take this with a grain of salt."  Which means don't take this too harshly. Maybe this is close? Again kind of formal.

And if we're making up new phrases . . . I suggest bringing back something about the vibes . . . or a combination of everything like "faith in a good way not in a bad way with salty vibrations." Jajajaja


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## RoRo_en_el_foro

Quizás ayude saber que en la traducción inversa (del inglés al español) se traduce _cool_ como "buena onda".


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## zumac

RoRo_en_el_foro said:


> Quizás ayude saber que en la traducción inversa (del inglés al español) se traduce _cool_ como "buena onda".


Muy buena observación, RoRo.

Saludos.


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## melonsandia

in a nice way?


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## RoRo_en_el_foro

Es que en inglés no se usa esa sintaxis, en inglés dirían "this is cool", "he is cool", "I'm trying to be cool...", esa frase la dirían más bien como "Listen to me, and I'm trying to be cool here", o algo por el estilo, ¿puede ser?


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## LorrySanchez

Saludos a todos

This thread has been going on for a long time but I think jayp has come up with the most commonly used equivalent in English ( in my experience) : 
"Don't take this the wrong way but........." 

Many of the earlier phrases sounded a bit stilted to me. 

However, maybe young people might express the sentiment in a different ("cooler") way.

Incidentally, I don't think " I'm telling you this in good faith" implies secrecy. If you wanted someone to keep a secret you would say "I'm telling you this in confidence".

Finally, my understanding of "take with a grain of salt" implies that one is not 100% sure of the truth of the statement.


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## LolitaLo

I think it means "your mom"


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## 2001nita0

Cuando mi hija (que tiene 15 años) quiera decir algo en -buena onda- o ''good faith'', normalmente dice ''no offence'''. Por ejemplo, ''No offence , but I don't think you should wear those shoes with that dress'', o,''no offence mummy, but you are obsessed with spanish!''.Es posible que la usa esa expresión de misma manera como los jovenes que dicen- en buena onda'-¿no?.
Si hago errores, por favordecirmelo.¡Espero que les ayude!


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## laJardinera

jayp said:


> Cuando se usa *buena onda *en castellano, es coloquial. Su equivalente en ingles es *in a bad way.
> 
> *por ejemplo:
> 
> Te lo estoy diciendo de buena onda...
> 
> I don't mean it/this *in a bad way*, but...
> 
> Or
> 
> I don't want you to take it/this the wrong way, but...



Cuidado - el equivalente en ingles es *not in a bad way* - o el negativo se puede expresar por el verbo, como en tu ejemplo.

te lo digo en buena onda - I *don't* mean this/that *in a bad way*, *Don't* take this *the wrong way*...

Espero que ayude con las dudas de mariente!

Tambien es muy tipico oir depues de un comentario, "... and I mean that in a good way/ in the best of ways." La traduccion de 2001nita0 es muy buena tambien, "no offense, but..." suena muy natural (aunque muchas veces suena muy maliciosa, porque se usa tambien cuando ofender es exactamente lo que quiere conseguir la persona!)

(Perdonenme la falta de acentos, no se manejar esta vieja basura de computadora que me han dado para usar durante las vacaciones! )


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## mcorazao

Junk said:


> It is common to hear "I'm telling you this as your friend"



I ran across this very old thread. Here are some other common idioms used in the U.S. to express a similar idea:


"Don't get me wrong but ..." (poquito negativo; ten cuidado)
"Please don't misunderstand, but ..."
"If you'll forgive me for saying so, ..."
"I'm just saying ..." (corriente entre los jovenes pero un poquito descortes)

The phrase "in a cool way" is not used in English. I'm not sure why that was suggested as a translation.


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## frecklejuice7

mcorazao said:


> I ran across this very old thread. Here are some other common idioms used in the U.S. to express a similar idea:
> 
> 
> "Don't get me wrong but ..." (poquito negativo; ten cuidado)
> "Please don't misunderstand, but ..."
> "If you'll forgive me for saying so, ..."
> "I'm just saying ..." (corriente entre los jovenes pero un poquito descortes)
> 
> The phrase "in a cool way" is not used in English. I'm not sure why that was suggested as a translation.





I think these are all natural expressions and sound good, however (as a teenager) I can say with certainty that a much more common expression among the young is "No offense..." or in Britain "No offence...".
This expression is used to precede both statements that could actually be really hurtful or trite and unimportant statements. For example:
"No offense, but you should really change your clothes." -- this situation could be between friends and one wants to help the other without hurting their feelings.
OR
"No offense, but I'm really busy and can't hang out." -- as you can see, 'no offense' is similar to 'sorry' or 'don't be upset/angry'.
This phrase is extremely popular and is as much of a filler word as 'like' so it definitely will make you sound like a native, especially if you say it with good intonation. I hope this helps!


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