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- Topic: Spanish >
- "Cada loco con su tema."
311 Comments
I would think that is really close to a translation of the literal meaning, but maybe not the idiomatic usage. Of course, that could vary between regions, I should think.
Really, though, "Each fool to his own folly," is quite nearly identical in meaning to, "To each his own." Both expressions are a reference to everyone having their own preferences. One is just a bit less kind about it.
In thinking more about it, I think you've hit on a perfect translation, BarbaraMorris!
I do not think that 'to each their own' is the correct meaning for this spanish idiom. I think that a much better explanation would be something like 'everyone loves the sound of their own voice', or ' the ramblings of a madman from up on his soapbox' I found the following very helpful :
Cada loco con su tema Each madman on his high horse. Each person has his own inclinations and passions which may at times be regarded by other, not-like-minded people, as “insanity”. This very famous Spanish saying is commonly used in situations in which two or more people are, although formally conversing, not in fact interchanging thoughts. Rather, each of them is soliloquizing and listening only to himself.
In the Lithuanian language, we have a proverb that is lexically very different from this one, but I think the meaning is similar to what you suggest. The proverb goes like this ¨Vienas apie batus, kitas apie ratus¨(literal translation: one (talks) about the shoes, the other one (talks) about the wheels). It´s used when two people seem to have a conversation, but they are really talking about totally different things, only listening to themselves rather than to the other person.
As a native English speaker, I can say with authority that "To each his own" has nothing to do with making judgments that others are "mad" and mania driven. Rather, this English idiom merely recognizes that different people have different outlooks and different way of doing things that may OR MAY NOT be better or worse than the way that you do things.
The way I have always understood this phrase, used it and heard it used by others is in the context of one person doing or liking something that the speaker considers weird, possibly unnatural (but not necessarily wrong), or just doesn't like. I mean, I wouldn't want to go to Disneyland, I'd prefer to walk or canoe through the Amazon, but 'each to his own'. Some people 'get off' on dressing up as babies - 'each to his own'! In other words 'I'm not into it, but if you like it - where's the harm?'!
In Hungarian we have "Ízlések és pofonok [különbözőek]" which means "tastes and slaps (differ)" as in everyone has different tastes, and it implies that you don't really understand the other person but you accept it.
We also have "Kinek a pap, kinek a papné" which means for someone [it is] the pastor, for others [it's] his wife
in Filipino we say, "kanya kanyang diskarte" for "to each their own style"
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I crunched some latter comments and this idiom will better translate to "proti gustu žiaden dišputát" what means "no dispute against the taste"
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In Serbian, it's: "Ja o klin, ti o ploču" and has the same meaning as what Ginterekim has stated above (used when each of the two people having a conversation sticks to their own arguments, not even listening to what the other person has to say.
Actually that reminded me of the following idioms:
Each marching to the beat of a different drummer. And : We are dancing to music no one else hears.
These might work really well because in each, someone is going to think it's crazy because they're not privy to the same beat/thought process.
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” - Henry David Thoreau
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." - Friedrich Nietzsche
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That is close to the Dutch proverb "iedereen heeft zijn stokpaardje" everyone has his hobby horse
it actually means to each their own. it has nothing to do with insanity or being on a high horse or whatever. it's actually similar to saying "if it makes you happy" or "you do you". and sorry, but "cada loco con su tema" is not used in that situation you mentioned. that is called "dialogo de sordos" (deaf people dialogue) and has nothing to do with this.
'To each their own' probably has a few different uses in everyday speech. One is that it's our polite way of saying 'ok, well I think you're crazy / talking out of your a*se but okay then' and the diplomatic thing to say is 'well, to each their own' i.e. everyone has their own viewpoint on things. I don't know where you're getting 'high horse' from out of the Spanish idiom - 'high horse' and 'soapbox' are not the same things.
I never did guess at how the expression is most commonly used. The 'high horse' thing was a quote from the website whose link I included underneath :) I was just looking to understand not the literal translation but how its actually used most among spanish speakers. I totally agree with what you said about the expression 'to each his own' but does not seem to be equivalent to how my source says it is used. Of course, I am not sure how accurate the source is ;)
From googling around through various forums, I get the impression that "cada loco con su tema" is used in the same circumstances that we use "to each his own", or "different strokes" etc.
Also, here's a Spanish definition of the idiom: http://tinyurl.com/cvc-cervantes-cada-loco. Here's my translation: "Everyone feels an attachment for a thing even though not always in a rational manner, which can become an obsession or a mania. It says that each person has their own preferences, their own manias, their way of "being crazy" to those who don't share their interests or aspirations."
So it doesn't seem to be someone looking on and commenting on how everyone is talking but nobody is paying attention to the other speakers, as is suggested by the "high horse" article. Strange, because that does seem to be written by a Spanish speaker (they say "we").
Edit: Fixed URL to use a tinyurl. I wish the duolingo forum would figure out how to handle URLs with question marks.
Idioms can be better explained when we go beyond words and hunt for the meaning of deploying the phrase. In each language, there is a similar meaning with different literal construction. For example, in Arabic we say, "Everyone sings for his Layla!" It refers to a one Layla that is perceived differently by each person. Hence, cada loco con su tema!
No your dwelling on literal meaning and NOT translation Cada means Each and Tema means topic/subject or theme... nowhere does it mention Caballo a Horse... I understand this is loco but your introducing a different quote... a similar or same meaning is not a direct translation.
You cannot often directly translate a quote that is a proverb using metaphor and analogies, as we use words to insinuate that are not literally there usual meaning!
So comparing another quote with the same or similar meaning is not helping learn vocabulary or conjugation, but understanding one particular quirk and exemption... it's much more important to realise you cannot translate quirky proverbs exactly to another language and assume they will make sense!
I mean adjectives are often placed in front of nouns in Spanish so we already must rearrange words when translating... comparing a different sentence is futile you can note the same or similar meaning, but you are not learning any of the usual rules of the language.
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This idiom is exactly the same in Dutch, "Elke gek heeft zijn gebrek." Interesting how it doesn't seem to translate literally to English or German.
'To each their own' is a completely different proverb if you ask me.
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On second thought, I think you may be right. I think I always interpreted 'to each their own' as slightly different from what it actually means.
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The French phrase I've been expecting to pop up in this discussion is "chacun à son goût".
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Ah, I've only known the term as something English speaking people say, like "cherchez la femme" or "à la carte" or that delightful phrase "l'esprit de l'escalier". There are so many of them - routinely mangled, I have no doubt. Well, c'est la vie.
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... non est disputandum would be perfectly correct, there's no such word as disputarum in Latin
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this Russian proverb means totally different (that's what was written in Russian) and I'd say I agree, at least in Russian it has a negative meaning, meaning each person has his/her own twists or mental issues (strangeness, weirdness) It's about the Spanish version of the proverb, while the one given as English translation obviously corresponds to sadly known "Jemandem seine" on the gates of Buchenwald concentration camp, which, in turn, goes to Greek principle of justice best known in Latin as "suum cuique tribuere" ( to give to each his/her/their/its own, i.e. by their merits, what they deserve, what belongs to them). So I would like to stress, that Spanish and English proverbs have totally different meaning, at least in Russian? and in any case they have nothing to do with tastes
The Spanish and the English mean roughly the same thing. The Spanish is literally "Each crazy with his topic" and suggests that everyone has their own unique interests. English "To each his own" also refers to everyone having their own personal tastes and preferences, that part of it being unspoken.
Example:
"He said prefers broccoli to chocolate? Ah well, to each his own."
Spanish dictionary translated this as "Everyone has their own axe to grind." This is a very different meaning than "To each their own"!!! It's also much more in line with the other comments about people talking past each other, though the "axe to grind" suggests that each person has a particular opinion that they wish to express and convince others of, usually to the speaker's benefit.
Thanks for that. I've been trying to think of an English idiom that actually means what the Spanish one does. Does Duolingo accept it?
That goes along with what @darrhiggs said in this discussion, "It's generally used in the case of two people talking past each other".
What @behtii says about French is useful here. The French "chacun son point de vue" is close to "cada loco..." and "chacun a son gout" is close to "to each his own".
I just looked at the spanishdict.com translations for "to each his own" again, and the third one has "Cada perico a su estaca, cada changa a su mecate" which seems like a direct match. (Each parrot on its perch, each monkey on its rope.)
For me, this settles it. "Cada loco con su tema" and "To each his/their own" are not equivalent idioms.
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"Cada loco con su tema" = "Everyone has his/their own axe to grind"
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"To each his/their own" = "Cada perico a su estaca, cada changa a su mecate", and maybe there are other Spanish versions of this.
In french we have "chacun son point de vue " litteraly " every body has it's own sight point " it means that every body see things differently (because we interpret what we see according to our experiences and knowledge). We also have "chacun ses gouts" -->"every body has his preference in matters of taste" or "les gouts et les couleurs ne se discute pas" --> "you can't debate on what tastes and colours are the best" . Those 2 mean that you have your own preference (you can use in matters of who you are attracted to, what decoration, cothes, games, food, .... you like)
The greatest value from learning the idioms, I think, is learning the actual literal meaning of the sentences in the original language, because then knowing the suggested idiomatic translation gives insight into how the new language works. In this case, the literal translation of, "Cado loco con su tema," suggests other English idioms that might actually be closer in spirit to the Spanish than what is proposed by Duolingo--although it would probably take someone actually natively fluent in both languages to tell (a Nabokov kind of hyper-multilingualism). But to my ear, and after reading the Duolingo, Google Translate, and other translations and reading all of these interesting posts, it seems like the English idioms that are closest to this are, "Everyone is entitled to his (or their, depending on where you are on that issue) own opinion." Or even (if the "craziness" reference in the Spanish version carries this nuance), something like, "Every dog has its day, or, "Different strokes for different folks."
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Or in Portugal:
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"cada maluco com a sua tara"
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"cada marado com a sua taradice"
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"cada pateta com a sua patetice" (goof with his goofiness)
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"cada esperto com a sua palermice" (smart guy with his foolishness)
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"cada caramelo com a sua marmelada" (caramel with his marmalade/story)...
Most of these nouns can be interchanged with each other. The point is, there's no end to how many combinations people may create with this line of thought.
"To each their own" may be a negative or positive thing to say, though it may be excessively generic. Likewise, the context where "loco" is used can be a friendly or positive one (jokingly).
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How can Cada loco con su tema, mean to each their own, When you translate each word individually and it comes out as, Each crazy with his topic ???
Idioms have meanings that go beyond the individual words, and each language usually has their own way of expressing the idiom's real meaning.
Consider an English idiom "To let the cat out of the bag". It doesn't have anything to do with cats or bags. It means "to reveal secrets". The literal Spanish translation, something like "Dejar el gato del bolsa" doesn't have the extra meaning that the English phrase has, so the actual Spanish translation of the idiom is "Revelar secretos".
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Thank you Barbara, It would of helped if I'd taken more notice when I went to school as a kid I might have known what an idiom was, Not only am I learning Spanish. I'm also relearning what I should of when I was at school.
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Loco can refer to a crazy person. Loco would be a crazy male person and loca would be a female crazy person. So it's not just the adjective crazy by itself here.
Reading all the comments here, it seems there are two different ideas being represented here. 'To each their own', I believe, refers to individual preferences, while 'Cada loco con su tema' means something like 'every person has their own priorities'. In Marathi, there are two such phrases; 'व्यक्ती तितक्या प्रकृती' (Vyakti titakya prakriti) which means 'there are as many natures as there are people' and 'कोणाला कशाचे, बोडकीला केसाचे' (Konala kashache, bodakila kesache) which broadly translates to 'some may worry about some things, but the bald woman is always worried about hair'
Word-for-word:
"Cada loco con su tema."
cada = each [one]
loco = crazy
con = with
su = his
tema = topic
Now we put that together and consider what "Each crazy with his topic" means. Everyone gets excited about different things. Or the common way to say it in English: "To each his own", which can be read as "To each [person] his own [tastes]". And that's the heart of it: It means that everyone has their own tastes and preferences.
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"Iustitia suum cuique distribuit" was a Latin legal maxim popularised by Cicero in 45 BC. "Justice renders to everyone his due", usually shortened to "suum cuique". The legal principle was: Mind your own business, and let others mind theirs, as long as they do not harm you. Hence the traditional English proverb: "To each his own", rendered in these more inclusive times as "To each their own".
Agreed. That would tell us more about the attitude behind these idioms, which is more important. In fact, I don't know why I need to know the equivalent English idioms; it's not like I am gonna talk Spanish when English will suffice or vice versa. It's okay to know the English equivalents, but literal translations are more important.
I agree that the literal translations are interesting, but I think it's important to know the matching idiom. We need to know which English idiom matches which Spanish idiom so when we're speaking Spanish, we know to say "cada loco con su tema" when we -would- say "to each their own" if we were speaking English.
Makes sense for new speakers who have to think of what to say in English before translating it to Spanish and then, speak it. But am not sure that's how it will work. Because new speakers tend to get out what they want to say without trying to get into idioms much. And by the time they start using idioms, they are more well-versed to use Spanish idioms on their own. I mean, by that time one gets to 'thinking' in Spanish, instead of first in English.
What do you mean by gender-neutral cop out? Not only is it great that we are taking steps to correct wrongs that were committed a long time ago but it's better for the sake of avoiding confusion. If I read 'he', I have to check where I missed that the author was talking about a man.
I can't tell you how many times I received emails at work asking for help with an IT problem starting with 'Dear Sir'. Women are allowed to work now thank you! I don't want to be ignored as a gender in texts because 'that's how it's always been done'. That excuse does not wash anymore.
If it 'really' bothers you that 'they, their and them' are used as both plural and gender-neutral pronouns, why not change your outlook? For example, you could assume that those words are still plural because until the gender is clarified, we are talking about both a man and a woman. Just if it helps you.
Sometimes it can, but "cada" means it's about only one loco.
Edit: Also, "their" can be used as a gender-neutral singular instead of "his or her", so if you're doing a literal translation it could be "Each crazy person with their own theme", which DL accepts (see reinaelizondo's comment in this discussion).
That doesn't transport the meaning really into German, if I understand the comments of others here correctly. dict.leo.org suggests Jedem Tierchen sein Pläsierchen.
or Jedem Narren gefällt seine Kappe.
which are both more in agreement with the explanations of others in this thread.
BTW: "Jedem das Seine" can be heavily negatively connotated in German, as it has been used in the political concentration camp Buchenwald. Thoughtless use is to be avoided in combination with the Holocaust.
From the Latin: You can't argue about taste.
Suum cuique
Also from the Latin, which preceded the Spanish: To each its own
using "its" as third person possessive (non-gender specific) because that is what is in the Latin. If you are talking about a male then you mentally ascribe " his" or a female " her." I don't know how LGBTQ's were handled by the Roman's but I can't imagine that it would have been very good.
From what I have read elsewhere in this thread, the English idiom "To each his own" carries neither positive nor negative connotations, and the Spanish idiom "Cada loca a su tema" carries the negative connotation that the other person (cada loca) is loco in some sense because he/she doesn't share your opinions.
I got it wrong because I typed 'Cara'.
I'm having a hard time hearing the difference between spanish D and R in words. Cada sounds like it could be spelled Cara since I keep hearing the R get rolled a little bit in almost all other words. Not like a double R (perro) but just a little bit rolled makes it sound like a D to me.
Anyone else? Am I missing something?
The "little bit rolled" sound you're describing is called an alveolar tap/flap. Its IPA symbol is ɾ
. A fully-rolled R is called an alveolar trill. Its IPA symbol is r
. The English R is an alveolar approximant, and its IPA symbol is ɹ
. You can use this chart to listen to all the different sounds and hear the differences between them. http://www.ipachart.com/
No, that doesn't mean the same thing at all.
"To each their own" means everyone has their own tastes and preferences. If I like brussels sprouts, but you hate them, you would shrug at my weird eating habits and say "To each their own, I guess."
"Talking past each other" means there's a breakdown in communication. You're talking about one thing, but I think you mean something else, and vice-versa. After a while when the conversation starts to get confusing, we'd explain what we meant and realize that we'd been talking past each other.
Because that does not mean the same thing at all.
"Cada loco con su tema" is literally "Each mad with his theme". It is functionally equivalent to our "To each their own" or perhaps "There's no accounting for taste". It is a comment that everyone has their own tastes and preferences.
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't" is a quote from Shakespeare that is meant pretty literally. Polonius was observing that even though Hamlet seemed mad, his actions were controlled and goal-oriented.
Premise: I'm an Italian native speaker, using English as a way to learn other languages -spanish, in this case- with Duolingo.
The main reason I spent 30 lingots was to see how the idiom was built in the original language. Then how (and 'if' it was possible to get a satisfying sentence) in English.
I've read a lot of interesting comments, which were commented and appreciated by Spanish speaking natives, by English ones, by other people from all over the world.
Once I (hope that I) have grabbed the meaning which has more votes/consensus, and having highly appreciated the contributions of so many people from Norway, Sweden, China, Turkey, ... I feel that I have spent my 30 lingots in a very useful way, and that it was worth doing it.
In Italian, for what I know, I'd say that an exact idiom does not exist.
However, the idiom "Tante teste, tante idee" (meaning "Many heads, many ideas" when you consider the last word as 'points of view', or 'sentences') is rather close ...
It also seems to me that it comes from the Latin "Tot capita, quot sententiae" with few or no changes at all.
Well, if your friend was going to eat something nasty like peanut butter ice cream you could say, "Well, I personally don't like peanut butter ice cream, but to each their own." Or if your friend was going to do someting really hard like Battle Frog and you said, "I don't know why anyone would want to do that, but to each their own."
I tried to translate it on my own but got lost when I saw "loco". I translated it to somethink like "Each person has their own crazy theme"? With "tema" translating to theme, subject.
How does it go from there to "To each their own"? Where does the "loco" disappear to? It doesnt sound like a complete translation.
There is no transformation. The Spanish expression is not based on the English expression and vice-versa. Both languages are expressing similar ideas in their own ways.
The best thing to do is stop thinking of Spanish (or any other language) in terms of English and take it on its own terms. Understand what is being said conceptually and learn how each language puts it in its own way.
"To each his own" cannot be in the passive voice because it is a verbless phrase. It can be used somewhat dismissively ("diminutive" doesn't apply here either; we're not commenting on how small something is) although I'm not sure that's entirely the right word either.
"My favorite sandwich is tuna and ketchup on rye."
"Well, to each is own, I guess."
I don't think my question was clear. I meant to communicate that "To each his own," is passive in attitude, not in grammatical structure. (Diminutive I think was a typing error on my phone, as I'm not sure what word I meant to use there... maybe "disparaging", but I honestly don't know how autocorrect got to "diminutive".)
I'm not so much interested in the grammar of these phrases as their application in conversation.
When somebody says, "Cada loco con su tema," is this a little bit aggressive or rude or disparaging? In English, when somebody says, "To each his own," it tends to be a passive expression that communicates the matter is of no concern to the speaker, comparable to the now-common expression, "You do you." I'm wondering if this Spanish idiom is a little bit insulting, suggesting to the person you say it to that you somehow find them "crazy" for their perspective. Would love some clarification.
Yes. "You do you" is a newer expression and means the same thing. It comes from "to do one's own thing" -- it's the opposite of "go with the flow", which means to go along with what everyone else is doing.
Person One: "I'm going to go to the festival, eat all of the snacks, then ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl until I throw up!"
Person Two: "To each their own..."
or
Person Two: "You do you, boo." ("Boo" is a term of endearment/an affectionate nickname and is included here because it rhymes.)
In other words, that does not sound like my idea of fun, but if that makes you happy, go for it. More generally, everyone likes different things. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences.
I don't know if the translation is sub par -- maybe some Spanish native speakers can say -- but I like what the individual words mean together. Cada- Each/every loco=crazy (or craziness?)/insane/worried sick con= with su=their/his/her tema= theme/topic/issue. Which makes me want to believe this is close to "Each crazy person (or craziness) comes with his/her (its) own theme (or the way of craziness). Sort of like saying, " He is crazy, she is crazy and they both have unique flavor of craziness." But the translation seems to water this down to something no so interesting. Can someone comment? Thanks!