Feb 21, 2010 22:17
14 yrs ago
Spanish term

1/2 naranja

Spanish to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Colombian > Eng (Canada)

MSN Amor: busca tu 1/2 naranja

"your other half"?

Discussion

Lisa McCarthy Feb 23, 2010:
I agree with trixiemck and Gloria on this one. "The love of your life' is 'el amor de tu vida'. It depends on whether you want to stay true to the original text or not. I personally think your own 'other half' is the correct translation for '1/2 naranja' and you can see by my refs that it is the commonly used term in dating sites. Just my tuppenceworth :-)
Gloria Rivera Feb 23, 2010:
Trixiemck I could not have said it better :)
Monica Colangelo Feb 22, 2010:
about "the love of your life" While it may be quite appropriate, very romantic and appealing in this case, it does not exactly reflect the Spanish "media naranja". The "love of your life" is only one but before you find them, you may have called two dozen people "mi media naranja".
Gloria Rivera Feb 21, 2010:
I agree with Noni and Chriswa And I agree with you too, Isamar. The concept of soulmate is more spiritual.
I´ve heard other half in the weirdest conversations and situations where the spiritual side of things was the last thing they were thinking of. ;)
Isamar Feb 21, 2010:
I mean "soul" in the spiritual sense, not the religious one. Two halves make a whole and a soulmate makes the essence of us as human beings complete when we meet the right person.
Christine Walsh Feb 21, 2010:
Other/better half is a little more tongue-in-cheek more humdrum than the other, whereas 'soul mate' is more romantic, though I agree with Noni, it does not always refer to your sexual partner.
Gloria Rivera Feb 21, 2010:
I agree Lately, we have to be more "politically correct" than ever.
Therefore, I think that using something an expression like "other half" or "better half" we are not using soul, a term that some people may not agree or believe in. Also, we keep the essence of "media naranja" that does not have any religious connotations. :)
Noni Gilbert Riley Feb 21, 2010:
Difference between soul mate and other half And I think it's an important one! One hopes that your other half will be a soul mate, but not all soul mates will be your other half (and you can have more than one soul mate, and simultaneously with an other half). The difference lies, I think, in the fact that you most probably have a sexual relationship with your other half.... ;-)
Noni Gilbert Riley Feb 21, 2010:
Does this need to be as brief as possible as in the lonely hearts tradition, which originally called for as few letters as possible? (I ask since the use of "1/2" might indicate they are looking for brevity. In which case, how about "OH". I saw it for the first time a couple of hours ago on a Proz Forum, immediately understood and chuckled to myself.
Liliana Galiano Feb 21, 2010:
Media naranja is a colloquial expression.

Proposed translations

11 hrs
Selected

the love of your life

I think this is what the dating sites actually use in English

Resultados 1 - 10 de aproximadamente 1.300.000 de dating find "the love of your life"
http://www.google.es/#hl=es&source=hp&q=dating find "the lov...
Peer comment(s):

agree Christine Walsh : Another good option. Probably the best, actually. We all got hooked up on the other two.
3 hrs
thanks Chris. I've never seen a question with so many agrees. I love it when everyone contributes. Big hug. Deb
disagree Liliana Galiano : It does not sound like 'media naranja' though.
23 hrs
there are lots of terms of endearment in Spanish e.g. "cielo" that don't have a direct equivalent in English
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "All fantastic answers. No wrong ones really. Hard to choose but for some reason or other I like "the love of your life" option. Thanks everybody. Thanks Deb!"
+5
2 mins

soul mate

Peer comment(s):

agree Jeanie Eldon : Isamar got there before you but you spellt it correctly!
12 mins
Isamar got there before? Doesn't look like it...
agree Maria Mastruzzo
18 mins
agree Tarik Boussetta
23 mins
agree Christine Walsh : Best in the context, I think.
33 mins
agree Claudia Luque Bedregal
1 hr
agree Nexus Translate
1 hr
disagree Monica Colangelo : soul mate significa, en primera instancia, alguien con quien se tiene gran afinidad espiritual, intelectual; "media naranja" simplemente alude a una de las dos personas de una pareja. // What part of it?
1 hr
you got it all wrong, plain and simple
disagree Giovanni Rengifo : As pointed out by others, "soul mate" has a spiritual connotation which the Spanish source text doesn't have. "alma gemela" is the translation I've often seen for "soul mate"
6 hrs
you got it all wrong, plain and simple
agree Evans (X) : No spiritual connotations, see The Guardian newspaper's column and website.
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
5 mins

typically used for wife

Nowadays can be used for the consort...
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+7
5 mins

better half

Just another option.
Gloria
Peer comment(s):

neutral Jeanie Eldon : how about "other half"?
13 mins
I don´t understand your question Jeanie :)
agree Tania13
1 hr
Gracias de nuevo Tania :)
agree Liliana Galiano
1 hr
Gracias Multitran :)
agree Aradai Pardo Martínez
2 hrs
Gracias Aradai :)
agree Natali Franc (X)
4 hrs
Gracias :)
agree Giovanni Rengifo : Absolutely!
6 hrs
Muchas gracias Giovanni! :)
agree Eva Obregón
11 hrs
Gracias :)
agree Veronica Terry
18 hrs
Gracias Verónica :)
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+5
3 mins

soulmate

Your other half is tu 1/2 naranja, but soulmate is deeper and more spiritual.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 33 mins (2010-02-21 22:51:05 GMT)
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I don't want to quibble but both spellings seem to be correct!
Peer comment(s):

agree Ximena Escudero : Hola que tal? I agree, saludos.
6 mins
agree Andrea Angue (X)
7 mins
agree Tarik Boussetta
22 mins
agree Jeanie Eldon : Indeed, you are right. My apologies, I have always seen it written as 2 words. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/soul mate
45 mins
No problem, English is crazy!
disagree Monica Colangelo : one of my daughters is my soul mate, but under no circumstances would I refer to her as my "media naranja".
2 hrs
agree Evans (X) : The Guardian newspaper in the UK (not known for its religious affiliations!) has its own dating site called "Soulmates".
11 hrs
agree Ruth Ramsey : Better half tends to refer to one's spouse. Obviously if they're looking for this person, they can't be a spouse yet. However, one does look for a soulmate.
15 hrs
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+2
2 hrs

significant other

Find your significant other (five and a half million hits on Google)

How to find your Significant Other - [ Traducir esta página ]Once you determine what things you really enjoy and determine hobbies that are better shared with that special someone, the possibilities are endless.
hubpages.com/hub/How-to-find-your-Significant-Other - hace 10 horas -
Speed Dating - Quickest Way To Find Your Significant Other - [ Traducir esta página ]Speed Dating - Quickest Way To Find Your Significant Other.
ezinearticles.com/?...To-Find-Your-Significant-Other... - En caché -
Finding Your Significant Other In Online Chat Rooms - 10 Tips For ... - [ Traducir esta página ]17 Feb 2009 ... You cannot find your significant other in a chat room that easily. You have to keep the following points in mind so that you can not only ...
www.articlesbase.com › Relationships › Dating - En caché -
If you come home and find your significant other sleeping, do you ... - [ Traducir esta página ]If you come home and find your significant other sleeping, do you....
www.democraticunderground.com/.../duboard.php?az

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Note added at 9 hrs (2010-02-22 07:52:50 GMT)
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(from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Soul mate Main Entry: soul mate
Function: noun
Date: 1822
1 : a person who is perfectly suited to another in temperament
2 : a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes or beliefs <ideological soul mates>

As a teenager, I used to refer to my boyfriend as "mi media naranja". He was never my soul mate, though.
Peer comment(s):

agree Jenny Westwell : Yes, "soul mate" implies a spiritual affininty. In this context it is clear that the placer of the advert is looking for a romantic/sexual partner.
8 hrs
Gracias, la acequiera
agree Natalia Pedrosa (X)
8 hrs
Gracias, Natalia.
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+3
9 hrs

other half

I think this is spot on, Tom - don´t know why nobody agrees with this. It's not your 'better half' anywya, which is used normally when referring to a spouse.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 horas (2010-02-22 08:15:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

**How to Find Your Other Half?**
3 Dec 2008 ... I do not believe that there is only one person in the world who is right for you. If that is true the chance to find your other half is not ...
www.articlesbase.com › Relationships - Cached - Similar

HookupDateLink.com - ***Find Your Other Half** | Visit hookupdatelink.com
Have you been looking for your other half and have had no luck? If so, you should consider visiting hookupdatelink.com, a web site which guarantees that you ...
www.killerstartups.com › Site Reviews - Cached

Orange you glad finding love is so easy? - The Globe and Mail
29 Jan 2010 ... Well the idea is that everything is happening throughout the day to take you closer to **your other half***. My belief is that it's our job as ...
www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...and...finding.../article144... - Canada

Andrew G Marshall » Have you **found your other half?***
The secret is to find the other half - the opposite that completes you. .... You might have been, for example, the 'spender' in your last relationship, ...
www.andrewgmarshall.com/.../have-you-found-your-other-half/ - Cached - Similar
Peer comment(s):

agree Jenny Westwell : Exactly! Saludos :)
56 mins
Thanks, Acequiera and saludos :-)
agree Noni Gilbert Riley : Yes, or OH - see my comments above!
4 hrs
Thanks, Noni - and your explanation is pretty clear in the 'discussion' notes. I think it's plain and simple here and commonly used on dating sites.
agree Dr. Andrew Frankland
5 hrs
Thank you, Andrew!
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