contarlo solo por contarlo

English translation: ...I couldn't just come out with.

09:12 Mar 15, 2022

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Spanish term or phrase: contarlo solo por contarlo

Not sure about this one sentence from a letter I'm translating:

'He tenido que vivir con esto por mucho tiempo y es algo que me avergüenza y no podía contarlo solo por contarlo.'

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

John McCarthy KudoZ activity Questions: 25 (4 open) (1 without valid answers) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 11 United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04

English translation:...I couldn't just come out with.

Explanation:
Another possibility.

Selected response from:

matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 09:04

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

talk about just for the sake of it

Andrew Bramhall

4 +2

...I couldn't just come out with.

matt robinson

bing it out just for the sake of it

Giulia Rubin

4 +1

find it easy to talk about

philgoddard

bring myself to talk about it.

Simone Taylor

(I couldn't) just talk about it casually

Ana Vozone

and I wasn't just able to get it out

Barbara Cochran, MFA

just blurt it out

Alexandra Stirling

I couldn't just bring it up in the conversation

ormiston

make small talk about it

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro

Answers

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

talk about just for the sake of it

Explanation:
"I've had to live with this for a long time and it's something I'm ashamed of and I couldn't talk about just for the sake of it"

Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:04
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12

27 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

...I couldn't just come out with.

Explanation:
Another possibility.

matt robinson
Spain
Local time: 09:04
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

48 mins confidence:

bing it out just for the sake of it

Explanation:
I'm under the impression that the first CONTARLO refers to the first time this person mentions their experience, that's why I chose the phrasal verb BRING OUT. On the other hand, if it is a more formal context, maybe MENTION would be a more appropriate choice.

Giulia Rubin
Italy
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Italian

1 hr confidence:

(I couldn't) just talk about it casually

Explanation:
https://www.google.com/search?q="just talk about it casually...

Ana Vozone
Local time: 08:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 20

7 mins confidence:

bring myself to talk about it.

Explanation:
https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/cannot-could-not-brin...

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/can-t...

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bring myself to

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2022-03-15 12:33:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My suggestion is that they claim to be ashamed of talking about it, so I thought there was some hesitation involved which matches with the expression of not being able to bring the subject up.

Simone Taylor
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

3 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

find it easy to talk about

Explanation:
This is an unusual construction in Spanish - it gets only one hit - and I feel that instead of struggling to render the idea in English, you should substitute something that we might actually say.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 123

4 hrs confidence:

and I wasn't just able to get it out

Explanation:
So the person could unburden themself. of the shame. It was hard to speak about it.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/get it out

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 03:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 52

12 hrs confidence:

just blurt it out

Explanation:
"I've had to live with this for a long time and it's something I'm ashamed of and I couldn't just blurt it out"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2022-03-15 21:27:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I suppose the person needed to think before speaking about this, so it wasn't something he or she could just "blurt out" without a second thought

Alexandra Stirling
Spain
Local time: 09:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

13 hrs confidence:

make small talk about it

Explanation:
I don't know if this is something you would say in English, but something along these lines would fit the source text.

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Spain
Local time: 09:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 21

21 hrs confidence:

I couldn't just bring it up in the conversation

Explanation:
My contribution!
I.e. deliberately introducing the topic

ormiston
Local time: 09:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

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English translation: ...I couldn't just come out with.

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contarlo solo por contarlo

English translation: ...I couldn't just come out with.

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