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- Topic: Spanish >
- "El éxito"
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Could you provide a source? I'd love to read about old Spanish and how it's changed over the years/centuries.
I can't find a source, what I know about old Spanish is just things I read whilst looking for other stuff. The word éxito comes from the Latin exĭtus which means exit, long ago (it's uncertain exactly when) some writers started using it as a way to refer to a successful way out of a situation, hence today you can find things like this:
En castellano se entiende por "éxito", por ejemplo, la salida de un negocio, examen, etc. pero con buenos resultados, tener éxito es sinónimo de triunfar. Lo contrario es fracasar. http://etimologias.dechile.net/?e.xito
It reads: "In Spanish what is understood by "éxito" is, for example, the way out of a deal, test, etc. but with good results, to have "éxito" is synonymous with to triumph. The contrary is to fail."
Huh...I wonder if that's the etymology of the colloquialism "fracas", as in "partner, that was a nasty little fracas we got into at the roadhouse last night. "
I was wondering this as well. I couldn't find Spanish history of the word, but I came across the Latin word that éxito and exit both came from. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exitus
Nope, they actually are two different terms in linguistics. A false cognate would be two modern words in different languages that are similar and might have similar meanings, but have different roots to them.
An example is the Portuguese "obrigado" and Japanese "arigato" - both mean "thank you" and they sound similar (so they are considered "true friends"), but they are linguistically unrelated (so they are "false cognates").
The converse would be the English "embarrassed" and the Spanish "embarazada" (pregnant). Because the meanings are totally different they are "false friends", but they both eventually trace back to the Italian "imbarazzo" meaning an obstacle or an obstruction, so they are "true cognates".
In this case the English "exit" and Spanish exito both come from the Latin "exit", so they are true cognates, but because their meanings are different, they're false friends.
Duolingo pronounced this word with with the hard x 'é-ksi-to'. My Peruvian Spanish teacher always used the hard exhalant 'e-hi-to' when she said this word. Is the exhalant 'x' just a Latin American thing? Like the 'x' in 'Mexicó' ?
My Mexican family and I pronounce x like in English. I've noticed the only time we don't is with some proper nouns like Mexico, Oaxaca, Texas, or Xavier. I don't acutely know why.
I forgot and wrote "the exit". Duo responds it wanted "the hit". The clue shows "the success". Any help on how "the hit" is correct from our native Spanish speakers? Thanks
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I've seen record (and CD) albums labeled "12 exitos" and assumed it meant 12 tracks. But "12 hits" makes more sense (if you believe every track was a hit).
- 1190
I got the same. I answered incorrectly and got 'the hit' as the correct answer. I commented that this sounds more like a contract killing in English, so perhaps they should revise this translation! Although, as jkk8043 suggests, I suppose it could be used to describe a hit show or recording.
lol. The show was a big success and as they say in show business, it was a smash hit which sounds like vehicular homicide or a traffic accident.
It corrected me to include the "the", but I think most of the time it would be extraneous in English.
You are right, but i think it is so that we remember that the article is used in Spanish. Spanish and English follow different article rules. In Spanish when you are referring to an abstract noun, talking about it in a general sense or it starts off a sentence then you need the article. In English it is used more to specify things.
In a discussion about "Los nombres son..." (Names are... without the article in English) someone else wrote: "If a general noun representing 'all members of its class' (in this case, all names) is the subject and is followed by 'ser' it will have the article. "Life is hard" = "La vida es dura."".
Hope that someone else finds this useful (and easy to remember) as I did, although I suspect "La vida" is more of an abstract than simply a common (class) noun.
Agreed!!! And it's inconsistent, too; Duo accepts it for some nouns but not others.
Would it not make sense to simply translate this as "success" in English? Without the definite article? I thought that Spanish often adds the definite article when speaking about a conceptual noun or an idea, which isn't necessary in English.
- 775
I would love to know why "success" is marked wrong, as opposed to "the success." There are rules in English about using the definite article that make "the success" sound incorrect, or at least awkward.
- 163
Why is "the outcome" wrong? My Collins has this as a translation & I remember the phrase 'buen exito' as a 'good outcome' i.e. success.
Since I'm Italian and Spanish is so similar I expected it to be "the outcome"
It would be nice to have a list of false cognates between Spanish and English words. Mistranslations to be avoided
- 1927
The "hit" as is a best selling book, song or movie? as in baseball? as in smoking dope? What is it?
As in a hit show or song, etc. For example: The book was a hit (a success).
- 1477
Success, as a non-countable noun, is preferred without the definite article in English. Unless there is a context.
Had problem with this too. Reading others comment and from different countries...As an ex Frenchman I realise "exit" was more used for "Exciting" as 'great' (could also mean "taunting") So, yes it pertains to some degree of achievement. No idea about old or new, I'm sure if we are involved with local conversations we'll soon know if it should be used or not. I also realise the spelling is different, but it still could be somehow connected.
