pauldavidmena
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Lend me your ears!
Today's Spanish word of the day from Transparent Language is prestado, which was translated "borrowed." Fair enough, but the same word in WordReference.com is translated as both "borrowed" and "lent." Is one usage more common than the other? Does it depend upon
context? Is it confusing to anyone else?
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AKgringo
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You don't want my ears, the tinnitus would drive you nuts! Not Spanish, but I once worked with a Cajun from Louisiana that would use borrow instead
of loan, as in "borrow me your wrench".
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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pauldavidmena
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Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  | | You don't want my ears, the tinnitus would drive you nuts! Not Spanish, but I once worked with a Cajun from Louisiana that would use borrow instead
of loan, as in "borrow me your wrench". |
Listening to too much good and mostly bad music in the 70s and 80s have left me with a persistent whine that rivals that of most adolescents.
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lencho
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Not to me; it just is what it is. 
A lent item is by nature a borrowed item; as in many cases with language, context will clarify who did what to whom.
Edit: But the associated verb use is probably clearer: prestar vs pedir prestado.
Saludos--
[Edited on 8-26-2023 by lencho]
"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is, by how stupid he thinks I
am."
"...they were careful of their demeanor that they not be thought to have opinions on what they heard for like most men skilled at their work they
were scornful of any least suggestion of knowing anything not learned at first hand."
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
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surabi
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As far as I'm aware, the same word is used for borrow and lend in Spanish. If you were translating, instead of an English speaker saying "Can I borrow
your pen?", in Spanish, they would be saying "Can you lend me your pen?" I remember trying to explain to my Spanish neighbor (she is actually from
Spain, not Mexico) that there are two different words in English, one that means you are accepting something of someone else's that that they "lent"
you, and that you "borrowed" it. One is the action of offering the use of, one the action of accepting the use of, but in Spanish they don't make that
distinction.
Feel free to correct me if I have that wrong.
[Edited on 8-27-2023 by surabi]
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