sillón

English translation: armchair

17:25 Aug 3, 2018
Spanish to English translations [Non-PRO]
Furniture / Household Appliances / Nicaraguans, please verify this for me
Spanish term or phrase: sillón
Sentence is spoken by a Nicaraguan woman. It says: "Estábamos viendo una película con Edgar en el sillón..."

It is important for this project that I know whether the speaker meant "armchair" or "couch/sofa."

I have researched Nicaraguan online furniture stores, and am mostly sure that she meant "armchair," but I really hope that some Nicaraguans here can verify for me.

The speaker is in her early 30s, FYI.

Thanks in advance!
Marie Winnick
United States
Local time: 10:57
English translation:armchair
Explanation:
My gestor is from Nicaragua and he says it's an armchair... which is the usual definition. However, if they (plural) were sitting in it, the speaker probably means a sofa/settee/couch, or whatever you guys call them.
Unless of course, "they" were sitting elsewhere, while Edgar was the only one sitting in the armchair…
Selected response from:

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:57
Grading comment
Hey, Neil! I meant to give you points for this much earlier. Thanks again.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4sofa / couch
Charles Davis
5 +1Armchair
Terence Jeal
4 +1armchair
neilmac


Discussion entries: 9





  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
armchair


Explanation:
My gestor is from Nicaragua and he says it's an armchair... which is the usual definition. However, if they (plural) were sitting in it, the speaker probably means a sofa/settee/couch, or whatever you guys call them.
Unless of course, "they" were sitting elsewhere, while Edgar was the only one sitting in the armchair…



    https://www.linguee.es/espanol-ingles/traduccion/sill%C3%B3n.html
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 16:57
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Hey, Neil! I meant to give you points for this much earlier. Thanks again.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Neil. I've always known sillón as an armchair, too. Your logic is good, though in this context it's confusing because the lady has a "cozy" sort of relationship with Edgar, and also there were kids jumping around nearby. But I'm going to go with armchair. Thaniks so much for asking your manager!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helena Chavarria: As I understand it, Edgar was sitting in the armchair (doing something else?) while the others were watching a film.
32 mins
  -> You never know...
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Armchair


Explanation:
Hi. I lived in South America for 25 years. It's definitely "armchair" (a big chair).
Sofa would be "sofá"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 26 mins (2018-08-03 17:52:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Yes, you are right about "sillones americanos" but that's not a colloquial term, which she would be using given the context.
My only doubt is when she says "Estábamos viendo una película con Edgar en el sillón..." Is Edgar a child or a husband/boyfriend with whom she might share a single armchair? It does sound as if they were both occupying the same piece of furniture.

Terence Jeal
Spain
Local time: 16:57
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Terence. And you're sure that in Nicaragua specifically that a 30-year old woman would mean this, too? I saw that some Nicaraguan furniture stores online were referring to sofas as "sillones americanos."

Asker: Hey Terence, thanks so much for your reply to my reply to your answer. It is very helpful and I wish I could reward points to more than one person! Just as an FYI to everyone, Edgar and the lady and the kids had the sort of relationship where it would make sense for them to all be piled onto one armchair, and according to the rest of the story, they were definitely all occupying the same piece of furniture.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helena Chavarria: Though I think that if they were both sitting in the armchair, she would have said 'Edgar y yo estábamos viendo una película en el sillón'. // I realise that but if they were sitting together, then wouldn't 'estábamos' include Edgar?
44 mins
  -> Thanks, Helena. The problem with natural dialogue, especially in South America, is that it's often intuitively structured, like "no está muy bien el sabor" rather than "el sabor no está muy bien", which makes translating and teaching English challenging.
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
sofa / couch


Explanation:
Although you've already said you're going to go with armchair, I'm going to suggest the alternative because I think it's more likely to be right here.

Sillón as sofa in Nicaragua

"Sillón en Excelente Estado en Curridabat C$ 60.00"
https://venta.todobusco.com/nicaragua/sillon-en-excelente-es...

"Silloón verde con nuquero"
http://solucionesintegrales.com.ni/lk-520-re/

"Vendo Sillones marca BOAL (Managua)"
http://ni.clasificados.com/vendo-sillones-marca-boal-8710.ht... (scroll down)

"Sillón muy lindo, nuevo comprado en la Artística, me urge vender por falta de espacio, escucho ofertas. Esta en Jacó, pero se puede negociar el traerlo a San José. "
https://venta.todobusco.com/costa-rica/sillon-104210

"Foto de Franklin Chang junto a Barack Obama moviendo un sillón"
(They are moving a sofa)
https://www.nacion.com/ciencia/foto-de-franklin-chang-junto-...

"Esta hermosa sala, marca Muebles Lizz cuenta con un sillón individual de 95 An x 90 A cm, un loveseat de 145 An x 90 Alt cm y un sillón para tres personas que mide 228 An x 90 A cm."
http://www.siman.com/nicaragua/juego-de-sala-47.html

"Como centro observamos un sillón para dos."
https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2006/02/28/suplemento/nosotras/1...

"Consta de un sillón para tres personas, dos sillas pequeñas y una mesita. (Mueblería Amador, de Masaya)"
https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2004/06/15/suplemento/nosotras/1...

To put this in perspective, a sofa is usually called "sofá" in Nicaragua and "sillón" usually means an armchair, but I have just listed eight examples of "sillón" (not "sillón americano") definitely referring to a sofa. This, to me, raises a reasonable doubt. And I think "sofa" fits the context very much better: the sentence is perfectly natural if the speaker is referring to a sofa, on which she, another person and Edgar were all sitting, but oddly expressed if she means "we were watching a film with Edgar, who was sitting on an armchair". I think that on balance sofa is more likely to be what she means, like the "sillón" Barack Obama is moving in the photo I've cited.
______________________________


A sofa is sometimes called a sillón in other countries too:

Here's one in Guatemala:
https://venta.todobusco.com/guatemala/sillon--183792

I have occasionally heard people in Spain refer to a sofa as a "sillón".

"Un sofá para uno no es un sofá, es un sillón. Apréndete bien la diferencia porque es bastante común hablar de 'los sillones' para referirse a un conjunto de sofás, o aplicar propiedades de un sillón a un sofá."
http://www.aquaclean.com/AR_es/post/aprende-el-vocabulario-p...

Argentina: lots of sofas called "sillones" here:
https://desillas.com/subcat-15-105-sillones-y-sofas.html

Not sure which country the following is from:

"El Sillón Rústico (Ranch Couch en inglés, Western-Kommode en alemán) es el sofá1 perteneciente a la Colección Rústica.
↑ Es un sillón, pero generalmente se le puede llamar sofá porque realiza sus mismas funciones y el diseño es muy parecido al resto de sofás"
http://es.animalcrossing.wikia.com/wiki/Sillón_Rústico

And finally this answer is worth noting:

"Como se dice Casa, sillón, cama, ropero, mesa, regadera en Uruguay, Colombia y Nicaragua?"
"En Nicaragua,a casa,mesa , cama y regadera ,se la nombra tal cual.
A sillón,se lo menciona como sofá."
https://brainly.lat/tarea/2208806


Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:57
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
Notes to answerer
Asker: Very interesting, thanks so much for all the research, Charles!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andy Watkinson: Could do better.
1 hr
  -> Ah well, it's a process. Cheers, Andy :-)

agree  lorenab23: I was raised in Lima Peru, of Spaniard parents who spent time in Argentina and Chile and in my house we said sillón for sofa. A sillón wasn't an armchair until I came to the US.
2 hrs
  -> That's great! Thanks so much for , Lorena :-)

agree  JohnMcDove: Indeed. And this is a PRO- question, no doubt! :-)
2 hrs
  -> Many thanks, John :-) "Sofá" parece ser un préstamo del francés, y a lo mejor es reciente, y antes cualquier asiento con brazos se llamaría "sillón"; he visto más casos de "sillón individual", como si hubiera que especificar.

agree  Robert Carter: Sounds the same as in Mexico to me. A "sillón" here can be a sofa and an armchair (obviously not at the same time!).
2 days 1 hr
  -> Ah! Many thanks. More grist to the mill!
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