# echarse atrás



## Dennis Ciocca Solis

Hola, quisiera saber como se dice "echarse atrás" en Inglés.

un ejemplo:

Yo acepté el dinero para hacerlo y ahora no puedo echarme atrás

Moderator's note: several threads have been merged to create this one.


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## teofilo

'go back' por ejemplo - I cannot *go back* on my promise.


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## princesasofia

to regret sth (arrepentirese de algo)
to regret -ing (arrepentirse de  + inf)
to change one's mind

saludos


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## Jifty

si, y tambien es posible decir, 'I can't back out now.'


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## bowarco

Còmo se traduciría la expresiòn echarse atrás en las siguientes expresiones:

Al principio él aceptò venir de vacaciones con nosotros pero después se echò atrás.
My try:    At first he accepted to go on holidays with us but then he gave back words.

Is it right? If so, is it possible to use step back here or any other expression?

Thanks


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## Chispa123

At first he agreed to come with us on vacation, but then he took back his word.   or went back on his word.


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## gongorac

"... at the beginning the wanted to come on vacation with us, but later/after he gave up"

vacation = used normally in American English
holiday = used normally in UK English


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## autremoi

At first he agreed to come with us on vacation, but then he flaked out.


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## guitaric60

Hola:

Mi sugerencia: At first he agreed to go on vacation with us, but later he changed his mind.

Enrique


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## SydLexia

Chispa123 said:


> At first he agreed to come with us on vacation, but then he took back his word.   or went back on his word.


This is too strong as he was not "breaking his promise".


gongorac said:


> "... at the beginning the wanted to come on vacation with us, but later/after he gave up"
> 
> vacation = used normally in American English
> holiday = used normally in UK English


"he gave up the idea" would work.


autremoi said:


> At first he agreed to come with us on vacation, but then he flaked out.


 This doesn't work in BrE.


guitaric60 said:


> Hola:
> 
> Mi sugerencia: At first he agreed to go on vacation with us, but later he changed his mind.
> 
> Enrique


Also: "....but he backed out later on."

syd


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## autremoi

Oh I didn't know _flaky_ and _flake out_ were found exclusively in N.A. English. Thanks!


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## bowarco

Thanks everyone.


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## gotitadeleche

SydLexia said:


> This is too strong as he was not "breaking his promise".
> "he gave up the idea" would work.
> 
> This doesn't work in BrE.
> Also: "....but he backed out later on."
> 
> syd



I agree with everything syd said.

 Another way to word syd's suggestion is "At first he agreed to go on vacation with us, but then he backed out."


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## bowarco

Hi everyone, I have always had trouble using this expression in English because I don't know when using back out, back down, back off, get cold feet, I know I may use change my mind but I want to use another expression.

     Al principio, ella estaba de acuerdo en unirse a nuestra organización pero de repente se echó atràs.

    At first, she agreed to join our organization but suddenly she back down/ back out/ back off...

   I guess Get cold feet means Rajarse,se acobardó y therefore it cannot be used in this context.
                         Thanks in advance.


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## chileno

I would use backed off.


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## bowarco

Thanks chileno. it's  funny but out of the three options I would leave that out. Doesn't  BACK OFF mean Desistir which wouldn't fit in this sentence. but I am probably wrong. 
     Any native could clear this up for me, please.

     Thanks.


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## JennyTW

Yo no diría "back off" aquí y tampoco "back down". Veo mejor  "back out" or " get cold feet".


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## chileno

I would use desistir, exactly!


But then again, that's me.


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## BrooklynBoy

Verdad, no usaría ninguna expression con “back” en este caso porque todos tienen un matiz de acobardarse. Mejor, “she decided against it” o algo así.


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## chileno

BrooklynBoy said:


> Verdad, no usaría ninguna expression con “back” en este caso porque todos tienen un matiz de acobardarse. Mejor, “she decided against it” o algo así.



Which translates to a more laconic "She desisted"


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## JennyTW

Yes, you could use "she decided against it" or "she changed her mind" but not " she desisted", which means "she stopped doing an action" and doesn't really fit with ""she agreed to join.."


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## mijoch

She thought again.


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## PichaPuerto

Yes I agree with JennyTW and BrookylnBoy. Something like decided against it or had second thoughts etc.
"back out" for me, is more to do with agreements or deals. 
"Back off" is more to about taking a step back, (with the possibility of coming back.)


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## bowarco

Thank you very much guys. This three phrasal verbs are driving me mad.

  Let me see if I get it right this time.

  Back down means Recular, retractarse. You have said or done something and it turned out you were wrong, so I just back down ( retracto). I admit my mistake.

  Back out : ( retirarse, desvincularse). You agreed to do something but then you don´t want to do it anymore or You were involved in an activity or organization and then decided to stop doing it or belonging to it. ( desvincularse)

   I don´t know if I make myself clear.

                    Sorry for being so stubborn and keep asking about the same thing.


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## PichaPuerto

"Back down" yes, good summary.
"Back out" =make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity, withdraw from a commitment.

Yes, I agree with your definition. You could use it if the person was absolutely committed to joining the organisation.
It is used a lot more with deals.
Eg Madrid have backed out of signing player X. (they have changed their minds).
It seems to be more used with companies or organisations.

Also "to pull out" just to confuse the subject even more 

I would probably use the examples in this thread to translate "echarse para atrás" such as "changed mind, had second thoughts, decided against it" "she got cold feet" too, although it is perhaps more colloquial.


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## sound shift

"She changed her mind"
"She had second thoughts"


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## mijoch

Think again---reconsider one's options. 

My particular dialect. I offer lessons.


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## canario25

Al principio, ella estaba de acuerdo en unirse a nuestra organización pero de repente se echó atràs.

And what about.... Back out of it.

At first, she agreed to join our organization but she then backed out of it all of a sudden.


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## bowarco

Good morning. Echarse atrás is a very common expression in Spanish however in English it seems to have different ways of saying it and this is confusing me.

_Ayer fui a hacer puenting pero en el último momento me eché atrás._

*Yesterday I went bungee jumping but in the last minute I got cold feet, chickened out.* 

I guess " get cold feet" and chicken out" imply to be too scared to do it. It is something like " rajarse, acobardarse" in Spanish.

_ El gobierno se echó atrás en este asunto porque la gente empezó a protestar. 
_
* The goverment backed  down ( got cold feet) on this issue because people started to protest. 
*
   I think here you use "back down " because it implies that if they went ahead with their plans that could bring about consequences.

_ Él iba a venir de vacaciones con nosotros pero al final se echó atrás.
_
*  He was coming on holidays with us but in the end he " backed out" ( got cold feet.).*

  In this case " back out"  because there was a compromise and he changed his mind. Is it possible to use "get cold feet" in the three expressions?

       Thank you very much.


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## frida-nc

No, you can't use "got cold feet" as a perfect equivalent for each of the three.  It's a good equivalent for the first example.  It's possible but a little odd in the second.  It doesn't fit the third, unless "we" frighten "him".
Good luck.


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## bowarco

Thank you Frida-nc. I got it now.But back down and back out are right in this sentences?


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## frida-nc

Yes; I think you opened another thread where you got good descriptions from Masood:
Back down...this is what you do when you admit that you are wrong about something.
Back out...this means 'to decide not to do something that you said you would do.'


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