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Un/a máquina

Este Tumblr es lo máximo!! Deberían leerlo todos los que quieren aprender español!!:) sigue así maquina!:D

¡Muchas gracias! Esto lo hago por vosotros, me alegra ver que os gusta 🙂

I’m going to use your compliments to explain the two idioms you have employed: ser lo máximo and ser un máquina.

Ser lo máximo (lit “to be the maximum”), means what it looks like: being the best, being very cool. Not necessarily the absolute best, just pretty great.

El nuevo bar de la esquina es lo máximo, tienen sofás y cócteles a buen precio.
That new bar on the corner is awesome, they have couches and cocktails at good prices.

Cuando estás en la playa y sopla la brisa es lo máximo, me encanta.
I just love it when there’s a breeze flowing on the beach.

Now, about ser un máquina, you made me reflect on usage, and I think it subtly depends on whether you talk about a man or woman. Let’s see if I can explain myself.

When talking about a man, you can use ser un máquina to mean somebody that excels at an action:

Pelé era un máquina, nadie metía más goles.
Pelé was unreal, nobody scored more goals.

—Cuanto el resto aún íbamos por el primer código, Juan ya había resuelto los diez
—Qué tío, es un máquina
—While we were struggling with the first code, Juan had already solved the ten of them
—Amazing, he is so good

As you can see in the examples, especially in the latter, it has a subtext of a person so good that manages to do something difficult or that not many people are able to.

Now, if you use the similar but slightly different expression ser una máquina, the parallels with a machine are emphasized; it tends to be used for fast repetitive work done efficiently. Compare:

Pelé era una máquina de hacer goles.
Pelé was a goal-scoring machine.

—Cuanto el resto aún íbamos por el primer código, Juan ya había resuelto los diez
—Qué tío, es una máquina
—While we were struggling with the first code, Juan had already solved the ten of them
—Amazing, he’s like a bloody machine

The action the man is performing is usually explicited with the preposition de, but it can be dropped when obvious, like in the second case.

So what happens when we talk about a woman? Well, since the expressions both become ser una máquina, both uses are sort of merged, inheriting both subtexts:

Mireia Belmonte es una máquina, cuatro oros ha ganado esta vez.
Mireia Belmonte is a medal-winning machine, she got four golds this time.

—Cuanto el resto aún íbamos por el primer código, Susi ya había resuelto los diez
—Qué tía, es una máquina
—While we were struggling with the first code, Susi had already solved the ten of them
—Amazing, she’s so good

It’s definitely a feel thing, so maybe I’m overthinking it, or maybe it’s just me. But I thought it was cool to share my thoughts, and you got many examples on the way, so who cares 🙂


Originally published in Talk like a Spaniard.