Vê tu lá

English translation: You tell me!

19:10 Dec 5, 2013

Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

Portuguese term or phrase: Vê tu lá

This sentence is uttered by a character in a story, as part of a long passage of dialogue. I unfortunately can't provide much context, because the character says nothing else but this sentence. It is in answer to a question "How much?" Given that the more literal translation does not make sense as an answer to that question, I wonder if this phrase has another idiomatic or colloquial meaning?

AJSComm KudoZ activity Questions: 38 (none open) Answers: 0
Local time: 02:00

English translation:You tell me!

Explanation:
outra opcao

pode ser alguem a perguntar 'How much', e outro responde, diz-me tu, ve la tu, quanto achas....you tell me!

Selected response from:

rir
United States
Local time: 02:00

Grading comment

This option works well in the story, too! Thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

Up to you / Figure it out

Katarina Peters

4 +2

You tell me!

rir

see for yourself

Monica Merrill

3 +1

Go figure!

Silvia Reis

Answers

3 mins confidence:

see for yourself

Explanation:
Suggestion

Monica Merrill
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:00
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

English

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

Up to you / Figure it out

Explanation:
slang

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 02:00
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Hungarian,

English
PRO pts in category: 76

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Go figure!

Explanation:
You use this when you don't understand someone's actions. Since this is a literary translation, I'd go with this.

Reference: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=go%20figure

Silvia Reis
Portugal
Local time: 07:00
Native speaker of: Portuguese

27 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

You tell me!

Explanation:
outra opcao

pode ser alguem a perguntar 'How much', e outro responde, diz-me tu, ve la tu, quanto achas....you tell me!

rir
United States
Local time: 02:00
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

This option works well in the story, too! Thanks!

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations