Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
Tener más cuento que Calleja
English translation:
Take everything she/he says or does with a pinch of salt
Added to glossary by
Karina Garcia Pedroche
Sep 25, 2014 19:06
9 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term
Argentina
Your Global Business Language Solution
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Latin American) 
, English (Variants: UK, US) 
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, Spanish
Tener más cuento que Calleja
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
expresión
No he encontrado un equivalente en inglés para esta expresión de España. Agradeceré ayuda.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
37 mins
Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
poetically precise prose with... panache
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
315
Selected
Take everything she/he says or does with a pinch of salt
I.e., don't take everything they say literally or for gospel; at best, it will be exaggerated or far-fetched
I found this for the source term:
"¡Tienes más cuento que Calleja!" Fue ésta una frase popular y extendida por toda España hasta hace muy poco y que incluso hoy se sigue usando. Suele significar que ciertas razones, explicaciones o disculpas que nos dan, o ciertos comportamientos, suenan a falsos, o cuando menos a fantasiosos. De ahí el comparativo de: "... más que Calleja."
I found this for the source term:
"¡Tienes más cuento que Calleja!" Fue ésta una frase popular y extendida por toda España hasta hace muy poco y que incluso hoy se sigue usando. Suele significar que ciertas razones, explicaciones o disculpas que nos dan, o ciertos comportamientos, suenan a falsos, o cuando menos a fantasiosos. De ahí el comparativo de: "... más que Calleja."
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
42 mins
Karen Dinicola
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
"I meant what I said ..." -- Horton
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: Spanish to English
To like to stretch the truth
Another option.
47 mins
Candace Holt Ryan
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Semantic precision, syntactic accuracy
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish
He/She has an excuse for everything.
One option, for the person who constantly blames someone or some thing for all problems, difficulties, etc.
1 hr
Tim Friese
United States
United States
Native in English
Works in field
United States
Ar, Es, Pt, Fr, He > En
Native in: English
Works in: Arabic to English, Portuguese to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
It's always something with you/him/her
For me, this can either mean that there's always a problem with you or that you always have an excuse.
See here for one use:
http://instagram.com/p/sfFsvLOjxo/
See here for one use:
http://instagram.com/p/sfFsvLOjxo/
2 hrs
Helena Chavarria
Spain
Spain
Native in English
Spain
Striving for excellence
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Spanish to English, Catalan to English
Related KudoZ points
:
16
You have more excuses than Carter has liver pills
I had never heard of this saying, which only seems to be used in the US. I don't know if you'll find it much help.
To actually answer your question: This is an old Southern (Southern US) saying that came about because of the high number of pills that were sold by this company. They sold thousands, hence the meaning "you have more excuses that Carter has little (liver) pillls (thousands)".
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_the_saying_You_have_more_...
New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell confounded many viewers during his 2013 appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show when he stated that in the 1996 election his opponent “had more money than Carter had liver pills.” The more senior audience members realized that Mr. Pascrell was referring not to President Jimmy Carter, but rather to a patent medicine originally formulated by one Samuel Carter in 1868. Thanks to saturation advertising campaigns that promoted the tablets as a cure for everything from “overindulging” in liquor consumption to headaches to indigestion to a sallow complexion, Carter’s Little Liver Pills were once as common as aspirin in American medicine cabinets. Carter-Wallace stopped hawking their little pills (in which the active ingredient was a laxative) in 1961 after the FTC forced them to remove the word “liver” from the product name, but that didn’t stop folks from rolling their eyes during an argument and exclaiming “You’ve got more excuses than Carter’s has liver pills!”
http://mentalfloss.com/article/55750/origins-8-nearly-obsole...
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Note added at 2 hrs (2014-09-25 21:15:40 GMT)
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Carter's Little Liver Pills predated the other available forms of bisacodyl and was a very popular and heavily advertised patent medicine up until the 1960s, spawning a common saying (with variants) in the first half of the 20th Century: "He/She has more _________ than Carter has Little Liver Pills". In 1951 the Federal Trade Commission demanded that company change the name to Carter's Little Pills, since "liver" in the name was deceptive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter's_Little_Liver_Pill...
To actually answer your question: This is an old Southern (Southern US) saying that came about because of the high number of pills that were sold by this company. They sold thousands, hence the meaning "you have more excuses that Carter has little (liver) pillls (thousands)".
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_the_saying_You_have_more_...
New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell confounded many viewers during his 2013 appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show when he stated that in the 1996 election his opponent “had more money than Carter had liver pills.” The more senior audience members realized that Mr. Pascrell was referring not to President Jimmy Carter, but rather to a patent medicine originally formulated by one Samuel Carter in 1868. Thanks to saturation advertising campaigns that promoted the tablets as a cure for everything from “overindulging” in liquor consumption to headaches to indigestion to a sallow complexion, Carter’s Little Liver Pills were once as common as aspirin in American medicine cabinets. Carter-Wallace stopped hawking their little pills (in which the active ingredient was a laxative) in 1961 after the FTC forced them to remove the word “liver” from the product name, but that didn’t stop folks from rolling their eyes during an argument and exclaiming “You’ve got more excuses than Carter’s has liver pills!”
http://mentalfloss.com/article/55750/origins-8-nearly-obsole...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2014-09-25 21:15:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Carter's Little Liver Pills predated the other available forms of bisacodyl and was a very popular and heavily advertised patent medicine up until the 1960s, spawning a common saying (with variants) in the first half of the 20th Century: "He/She has more _________ than Carter has Little Liver Pills". In 1951 the Federal Trade Commission demanded that company change the name to Carter's Little Pills, since "liver" in the name was deceptive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter's_Little_Liver_Pill...
2 hrs
filled with episodes of fairy tails
cheers
Reference comments
42 mins
Helena Chavarria
Spain
Spain
Native in English
Spain
Striving for excellence
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Spanish to English, Catalan to English
Related KudoZ points
:
16
Reference:
In case anyone doesn't know what it means
Seguro que conocéis a alguien que siempre llega tarde. Y probablemente además, esa persona tenga una excusa diferente cada día para justificar su retraso. Un día será porque se ha quedado encerrada en el ascensor, otro porque han cortado su calle y no ha podido salir, otro porque una manada de pájaros la han atacado al salir de casa, otro porque se ha encontrado con una persona que hacía mucho tiempo que no veía, otro porque el conductor del autobús que coge cada mañana se ha parado en medio de la carretera ha sacado una guitarra y se ha puesto a cantar… vamos, cada día una historia. Pues bien, a esta persona se le puede decir que tiene más cuento que Calleja. Porque hay que ver la imaginación que tiene, vamos, más que Calleja.
Otro caso en el que también se puede usar la frase de hoy es para esa persona que nunca puede quedar porque siempre tiene otra cosa que hacer. Por ejemplo, hay que quedar para hacer un trabajo en grupo y esa persona dice: “uy, hoy no puedo porque tengo una heridita en el dedo índice que no me permite escribir”. “¿Y mañana por la mañana?”. “Uf, que va, mañana tengo que ir a ponerle la vacuna al canario (un canario es un pájaro que se suele tener de mascota)”. “¿Y qué tal mañana por la tarde?” “Uy, que va, mañana por la tarde imposible. Vienen mis tíos de América y tengo que ir a verles.” “¿Y pasado mañana?” “Qué va, los viernes no puedo salir de casa”. En fin… siempre tiene una historia diferente para escaquearse y no quedar. A éste también se le puede decir que tiene más cuento que Calleja.
http://expresionesyrefranes.com/2011/08/11/tener-mas-cuento-...
Otro caso en el que también se puede usar la frase de hoy es para esa persona que nunca puede quedar porque siempre tiene otra cosa que hacer. Por ejemplo, hay que quedar para hacer un trabajo en grupo y esa persona dice: “uy, hoy no puedo porque tengo una heridita en el dedo índice que no me permite escribir”. “¿Y mañana por la mañana?”. “Uf, que va, mañana tengo que ir a ponerle la vacuna al canario (un canario es un pájaro que se suele tener de mascota)”. “¿Y qué tal mañana por la tarde?” “Uy, que va, mañana por la tarde imposible. Vienen mis tíos de América y tengo que ir a verles.” “¿Y pasado mañana?” “Qué va, los viernes no puedo salir de casa”. En fin… siempre tiene una historia diferente para escaquearse y no quedar. A éste también se le puede decir que tiene más cuento que Calleja.
http://expresionesyrefranes.com/2011/08/11/tener-mas-cuento-...
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