# ¡Uff!  ¡Me estoy congelando!



## Karkas

Buenas tardes a todos,


La traducción que me parece más "cercana", entre las que he encontrado, es "Whew", pero quisiera saber si alguno conoce otra  que pueda resultar más fiel.


Saludos, y gracias de antemano.


_Nota de moderadora
El título debe ser la frase exacta a traducir sin palabras adicionales. Gracias.
Bevj_


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## gengo

We use "whew" when we narrowly escape something bad, or when we are doing hard work, among other situations.  Therefore, it works well as a translation of "uff" in many cases, but not always.

If you give us some examples, we can tell you what would sound natural in English.  I think it will always depend on the context.


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## Karkas

Hi, gengo.

Actually this is related to another thread I started but, since I didn't include it originally, didn't want to create a new question mid-thread. The person is saying "¡Uff!" in reference to the harsh cold in London.


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## WhoaNellie

Having an example in context, with several surrounding sentences, would help.  For instance, you could use any of these in American English (as well as the "Whew" previously mentioned), but it's hard to tell which would fit best without some more sentences:

Man!  It's cold out!
Wow, is it ever cold today!
Whoa, it's freezing outside today!
Jeeze, it's so cold out there I saw a lawyer on the corner with his hands in his own pockets!
Huh!  You could freeze solid in about 5 minutes outside today!
...and British English (since you mention London) might use other expressions with which I am unfamiliar.


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## Karkas

WhoaNellie said:


> Having an example in context, with several surrounding sentences, would help.  For instance, you could use any of these in American English (as well as the "Whew" previously mentioned), but it's hard to tell which would fit best without some more sentences:
> 
> Man!  It's cold out!
> Wow, is it ever cold today!
> Whoa, it's freezing outside today!
> Jeeze, it's so cold out there I saw a lawyer on the corner with his hands in his own pockets!
> Huh!  You could freeze solid in about 5 minutes outside today!
> ...and British English (since you mention London) might use other expressions with which I am unfamiliar.



Hi, WhoaNellie,


Thank you very much for your reply. Actually, the person only said "¡Uff!" several times because of the cold. Let's say he says "¡Uff! ¡Me estoy congelando!" or "¡Uff, este frío está horrible!"


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## WhoaNellie

If he says "¡Uff! ¡Me estoy congelando!" or "¡Uff, este frío está horrible!"  -- then I would say that in English he could use any of those previously mentioned and there are probably many more interjections that just don't occur to me now, to represent a sound of emphasis or disgust or surprise in general.

And I left out a very common one for the cold, "Brrrr!" a sound representing shivering.


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## Karkas

WhoaNellie said:


> If he says "¡Uff! ¡Me estoy congelando!" or "¡Uff, este frío está horrible!"  -- then I would say that in English he could use any of those previously mentioned and there are probably many more interjections that just don't occur to me now, to represent a sound of emphasis or disgust or surprise in general.



Yeah, your examples are great. I think probably the one that fits best here is "Huh!"

I really appreciate your help.


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## gengo

Karkas said:


> I think probably the one that fits best here is "Huh!"



I like WhoaNellie's suggestions (not surprising, given that his user name contains one of them!), but I don't think "huh" fits at all in your context.  We usually use "huh" to indicate surprise.  For example, if I got off a plane in Honolulu and it was very cold, I might say "Huh, I didn't expect it to be this cold."


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## Karkas

gengo said:


> I like WhoaNellie's suggestions (not surprising, given that his user name contains one of them!), but I don't think "huh" fits at all in your context.  We usually use "huh" to indicate surprise.  For example, if I got off a plane in Honolulu and it was very cold, I might say "Huh, I didn't expect it to be this cold."



Oh, I see. What would you use? It's probably good to point out that "¡Uff!" is said when you're kind of suffering the cold, like when it almost hurts.


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## gengo

Karkas said:


> Oh, I see. What would you use?



All of WhoaNellie's other suggestions sound find to me.

Also:
Arrgh!  (indicates suffering)


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## Karkas

Great. Thank you all for your suggestions and help.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

- Oh!
(Oh, my God! - OMG!)
- Tut! / Phew!
- My! / Oh, my...!
- My goodness! / My dear!
- Blimey! / Gosh!
- Man! -> Mate! / Bro!
- Yikes!

The classic British interjection is 'Oh!', used for almost any situation - and indeed, also to express displeasure.

More emphatic than 'Oh!' is 'Oh, my God!' - in today's parlance - and particularly in internet contexts -, abbreviated to 'OMG'.

'Oh!' can actually be used with any other interjections, kind of like a 'coletilla' ('language filler'), to introduce or emphasize them.

And there is also an alternative for 'man!' (mentioned above by Whoa Nelly), which is 'mate!' - with a slang equivalent in AE; 'bro!'.


Thus, your sentence would be;

- Oh, it's really cold, isn't it...!
- Tut! / Phew! That's cold!
- My! It's freezing!
- My goodness / dear! Isn't it cold?
- Blimey! / Gosh! It's completely freezing, today!
- Yikes! It's proper freezing, out there!


The 'Cambridge Dictionary' has a good list, included in this link;

*(*) Cambridge Dictionary
- Tut!*
exclamation UK
Used in writing to represent the sound made to show you disapprove of something, or a word said twice in a humorous way to suggest disapproval:

'Tut, it's raining - I'm going to get soaked.'

TUT | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary


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## Karkas

Cerros de Úbeda said:


> - Oh!
> (Oh, my God! - OMG!)
> - Tut! / Phew!
> - My! / Oh, my...!
> - My goodness! / My dear!
> - Blimey! / Gosh!
> - Man! -> Mate! / Bro!
> - Yikes!
> 
> The classic British interjection is 'Oh!', used for almost any situation - and indeed, also to express displeasure.
> 
> More emphatic than 'Oh!' is 'Oh, my God!' - in today's parlance - and particularly in internet contexts -, abbreviated to 'OMG'.
> 
> 'Oh!' can actually be used with any other interjections, kind of like a 'coletilla' ('language filler'), to introduce or emphasize them.
> 
> And there is also an alternative for 'man!' (mentioned above by Whoa Nelly), which is 'mate!' - with a slang equivalent in AE; 'bro!'.
> 
> 
> Thus, your sentence would be;
> 
> - Oh, it's really cold, isn't it...!
> - Tut! / Phew! That's cold!
> - My! It's freezing!
> - My goodness / dear! Isn't it cold?
> - Blimey! / Gosh! It's completely freezing, today!
> - Yikes! It's proper freezing, out there!
> 
> 
> The 'Cambridge Dictionary' has a good list, included in this link;
> 
> *(*) Cambridge Dictionary
> - Tut!*
> exclamation UK
> Used in writing to represent the sound made to show you disapprove of something, or a word said twice in a humorous way to suggest disapproval:
> 
> 'Tut, it's raining - I'm going to get soaked.'
> 
> TUT | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary



Hi, Cerros. Now, that's one complete reply. I really appreciate it, especially for the British interjections. I haven't had the need to translate to British English, but I know this will be very helpful soon.


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## sound shift

I would probably say "Oooh! It's cold!" (not "Oh!", which is pronounced differently) or make the 'shivering' sound "Brrrr".


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## pollohispanizado

Digo "brrrr" miles de veces a la semana en esta temporada. Ésa para mí es la más natural para expresar el frío (quizá porque nos es más difícil control la quijada aquí por las temperaturas gélidas ). Si no "brrr" entonces "damn!", "holy sh**!" u otro vulgarismo, en función de cuanto frío haga (y también suelto muchos "¡uffff!" pero es porque el español influye mucho en mi vida lol)


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## Masood

Does the Spanish expression mean that the person is feeling the cold, or just that it's a cold day?
I reckon it's the former.


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## pollohispanizado

Masood said:


> Does the Spanish expression mean that the person is feeling the cold, or just that it's a cold day?
> I reckon it's the former.


Si te refieres a "¡ufff!" es simplemente una expresión de asombro.

En Ecuador hay una interjección que sí expresa que se tiene frío, ésa siendo "¡achachay!"


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## Masood

pollohispanizado said:


> Si te refieres a "¡ufff!" es simplemente una expresión de asombro.
> 
> En Ecuador hay una interjección que sí expresa que se tiene frío, ésa siendo "¡achachay!"


A lo mejor me entendiste mal.
Me refiero a la frase original *"*_¡Me estoy congelando!"_


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## pollohispanizado

Sí, efectivamente te entendí mal. Es una expresión de estar con frío, que alguien se siente frío, aunque congelarse es muy extremo, así que me imagino que se entendería que hace mucho frío. Puede también que alguien mantenga su casa muy fría y por eso se congela. A ver qué dirán los demás.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

sound shift said:


> I would probably say "Oooh! It's cold!" (not "Oh!", which is pronounced differently) or make the 'shivering' sound "Brrrr".



I agree.  



pollohispanizado said:


> Si te refieres a "¡ufff!" es simplemente una expresión de asombro.



Estoy de acuerdo...

'¡Uuuuf!' es una expresión de uso general.

Más que de asombro, es de alivio - por librarse de algo incómodo, difícil, peligroso, etc. Significa más o menos '¡Qué alivio!' - de hecho, suelen usarse juntas, en la frase '¡Uf, qué alivio!' (Por ejemplo; '¡Uf, qué alivio! ¡Menos mal que ya se ha ido el jefe...!').

Por eso se usa también con el frío (o el calor); dando a entender que siente alivio al entrar en un sitio más caliente.

También existe la expresión más concreta para el frío, de '¡briirrrr!' - aunque esa puede que sea calco de la inglesa, porque se ve en cómics y dibujos animados, que tienen mucha influencia de las onomatopeyas inglesas ('¡Clash! ¡Bang!, ¡Boom...!').


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## ThereIsAWill

Puedes traducirla así: Phew! I'm freezing!


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## jilar

Masood said:


> Does the Spanish expression mean that the person is feeling the cold, or just that it's a cold day?
> I reckon it's the former.


Se refiere a que la persona siente frío, mucho. (Tanto como para decir que se congela).

Puede ser verano y hacer un calor tremendo fuera. Si trabajas en alguna industria de alimentación y estás en un ambiente refrigerado, puedes llegar a sentir ese frío y decir eso "me estoy congelando"


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## Masood

jilar said:


> Se refiere a que la persona siente frío, mucho. (Tanto como para decir que se congela).
> 
> Puede ser verano y hacer un calor tremendo fuera. Si trabajas en alguna industria de alimentación y estás en un ambiente refrigerado, puedes llegar a sentir ese frío y decir eso "me estoy congelando"


Thanks.
As this is a British context, I'd go for "_I'm freezing!_". It's such a common expression here.
.


ThereIsAWill said:


> Puedes traducirla así: Phew! I'm freezing!


_"Phew!" _se dice cuando la persona siente caliente.


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## Magazine

Masood said:


> _"Phew!" _se dice cuando la persona siente caliente.



...cuando la persona siente calor.

...sentirse caliente tiene otro significado de contenido sexual 

Really? I thought phew was more often used in the sense of difficult ...I can see I was mistaken.



> used when you are happy that something difficult or dangerous has finished or is not going to happen, or when you are tired or hot:


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## Masood

Magazine said:


> ...cuando la persona siente calor.


Ah, thanks for the correction.


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## sniffrat

Most people I know would use an expletive....

"F**king hell, I'm freezing!" 
"Jesus Christ, I'm freezing!"
etc.

Less vulgar.....

"Bloody hell, I'm freezing!"
"Flipping heck, I'm freezing!"

Bear in mind that these are mainly British expressions


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## gengo

Magazine said:


> Really? I thought phew was more often used in the sense of difficult ...I can see I was mistaken.



You aren't mistaken.  I'm not sure why Masood things "phew" is only used to refer to a feeling of being hot.  Maybe it's different in BrEn.

dictionary:
Used to express relief, fatigue, surprise, or disgust.

The etymology says that the word is "imitative of puffing" (that is, breathing hard).

Wiktionary:
An onomatopoeia:  the sound of rapid exhalation one makes when some trying situation is over.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

But, would you use it for the cold...?

This is interesting, because, as it's translated as 'ufff!', I had taken for granted it's used in the same situations as the Spanish expression.

If it's not used for the cold - as magazine's quoted dictionary entry seems to point to - then it would be kind of a confusing equivalence, not valid for all cases...




gengo said:


> I'm not sure why Masood *things* "phew"...



Just for the record, you've got a typo there...

This is a rare sighting, in gengo's posts, and perhaps worth keeping as a souvenir...


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## sound shift

gengo said:


> You aren't mistaken.  I'm not sure why Masood things "phew" is only used to refer to a feeling of being hot.  Maybe it's different in BrEn.


I think it probably is different in BrEn, as I could say "Phew! It's hot!", but not "Phew! It's cold!" I could use "Phew!" in various other situations, too.


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## Cerros de Úbeda

It seemed to me quite curious how most dictionaries refer to the fact that it indicates 'relief' at being free or getting rid of an uncomfortable or annoying situation, but then specify some very particular contexts, (as the wiktionary entry quoted by gengo, for example).

But, even more so, the one on Googlf Search, which points particularly to 'bad smells'... Would you say this expression is used with bad smells...?


*(*) Google Search
- Phew!*
_Exclamation • _INFORMAL
Expressing a strong reaction of relief, or of disgust at a smell.
- "Phew, what a year!"

Phew! meaning - Google Search


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## gengo

Cerros de Úbeda said:


> Just for the record, you've got a typo there...
> 
> This is a rare sighting, in gengo's posts, and perhaps worth keeping as a souvenir...



One of my fingers mounted a minor rebellion, but that has since been put down, and that finger is now back under the control of the command center.



sound shift said:


> I think it probably is different in BrEn, as I could say "Phew! It's hot!", but not "Phew! It's cold!" I could use "Phew!" in various other situations, too.



Maybe I misunderstood Masood, thinking that he meant it is used _only _for hot situations, and nothing else.  I agree that it would be less likely to be used when cold (since it most often conveys a sense of fatigue, which is caused more by heat than cold), but I don't think I'd blink at someone's using it on a cold day.


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## lauranazario

@Karkas 
Una frase muy coloquial en inglés estadounidense sería:

¡Uff! ¡Me estoy congelando! = Damn, I'm freezing!!!

Para mayor énfasis:
Damn, I'm freezing my ass off!!!

saludos,
LN


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