Aunque en este contexto también podría ser "be quiet".

Good luck

Begoña

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Note added at 2003-08-17 00:38:26 (GMT)
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Verb \"to be\" = ser o estar

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Note added at 2003-08-17 00:41:23 (GMT)
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Verb to be = ser or estar

It's shorten from "estate quieto" I think.
Here it is in a lyric from a song:
Yo no sé, yo no sé, yo no sé, I don´t know,
Take it easy, ´tate quieto,
yo no puedo con tu amor.
Yo no sé, que yo no sé, yo no sé, I don´t know,
Take it easy, ´tate quieto,
yo no puedo con tu amor.

I guess it means "estate quieto" (keep quiet), but I advise to wait for some Mexican colleague to explain the term and suggest a translation.

My 2 cent's worth Chess:-)
Luck!
terry

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Note added at 2003-08-17 00:43:41 (GMT)
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Maybe also: \"whoa!!\"--\"hold your horses!!\"--\"settle down!!\"--\"Easy now!!\"--\"Take it easy!!\"----and there are probably still some more:-)


t

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Note added at 2003-08-17 00:46:05 (GMT)
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Forgot to say:
\"tate\" is an abbreviated form of \"estáte\" the imperative form of the verb \"to be\" [estar].


t

Tate quieto es estate quieto, tranquilo, pero en este contexto yo pondría algo como "shut him up"

Even though it is true that "tate quieto' is a familiar and coloquial abbreviation of the imperative sentence, "estate quieto, here we have to notice the use of it as a noun (preceded by the indefinite article "un" or English "a." It is used as the act of commanding somebody to be still or quiet. This is why that, in absence of an exact familiar coloquial expression in English, at least the meaning can be translated as a "restriction of command to get somebody quiet or still. There might be a more exact English equivalent but I do not recall one at this moment.

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Note added at 2003-08-17 03:01:02 (GMT)
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the difficulty here is that is a vague and even ambiguous term with different connotations, depending on what the speaker exactly means. What is certain to me is that, in general, it means \"a restriction command to be quiet.\" If we were to be searching for the most approximate English equivalent, it has to be a noun because this is the way it is used here in the context. Ii must be something such as \"a stop\" or any other \"snappy\" restriction order of sorts. In a more formal sense, it could be indicated by: \"a disciplinary action\"

Sorry, I agree with the meaning of clout, but I am against violence.There is always an alternative, isn't.it?...
(it's just a joke...)

esta expresión es también muy común en Colombia y significa amonestar/ponerle un alto a alguien por algo que está haciendo o diciendo para que deje de hacerlo.
no encuentro una expresión coloquial en inglés. tal vez serviría algo como "to order someone to halt"
suerte!

short for "estate quieto" o "quedate quieto"
For me "stay still" is more commonly used than "keep still" specially when we are refering to kids.

Another opction
Good Luck.

"tate quieto" is the same as "estate quieto" but short meanning be quiet or stay still.