Lisa McCarthy (asker) Mar 10, 2020:

Hi all, Very sorry for very late reply. I actually never got to the bottom of this, so it's still a mystery. I queried it with the agency who said they'd query it with the client. I had no response so had to deliver the text with this query marked up. Heard nothing back about:-( I suspect it must have been some mistake in the transcription I was sent. Thank you all for racking your brains along with me!

anademahomar Mar 30, 2019:

So I believe Charles is on the right track

anademahomar Mar 30, 2019:

Hi, all. Long time no "write". Just thinking outside the box. Could it be that the guy who is supposed to deliver the product is making excuses? That he is unable to fill the order because demand is so high (and the product is hard to find)? Solo mis dos centavos...:). In my neck of the woods we do not use "relajes" in this sense. We use "armar relajo" though, to make a fuss, so could it be "Don't make such a fuss/get off my back, there's a lot of demand for...."

Charles Davis Mar 28, 2019:

I have to say, though, that it seems much more likely to me that the speaker has been wrongly identified in the transcript, and that this was said (as Marie assumed) by the person waiting to be supplied with the goods rather than the supplier. In which case "no te me relajes" would mean what it means throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

Adrian MM. Mar 28, 2019:

'Te' as a reflexive emphasizer I think that the 'te' is a reflexive strengthener in colloquial speech e.g. 'Don't *you* dare '.....

Charles Davis Mar 28, 2019:

By the way, off topic but a historical curiosity, "relaxar" was the verb the Inquisition used for burning people at the stake. Heretics were said to be "relaxados en persona" or "en efigie" (if they had already died).

Charles Davis Mar 28, 2019:

PS Barbara's "let up on me" (or "stop hassling me") is the same idea.

Charles Davis Mar 28, 2019:

Thanks, Lisa So this is said by the guy who's not delivering the goods and is being hassled by the other guy who needs them urgently. Given the context, Adrian's suggestion makes sense to me. It would be one of these meanings:

"relajar(se).
[...]
IV. 1. tr. Ur. Insultar a alguien. pop + cult → espon.
2. Ur. Criticar o reprender duramente a alguien. pop + cult → espon."
http://lema.rae.es/damer/?key=relajarse

Sort of "don't give me a hard time". "Hay mucha busca" would be an excuse for not yet having supplied the product. But it's marked as Uruguayan.

However, I wonder if it's more widespread than that. The writer of the following, in a Spanish football forum (about Basques not liking people calling Athletic de Bilbao "el Bilbao") is presumably Spanish:

"Podría relajarme a ti y escribir 5 lineas de insultos que seguramente te vengas cómo un guante pero no es plan."
https://m.forocoches.com/foro/showthread.php?t=3318445&page=...

By the way, as this shows, the pronominal form (i.e., the "te") would fit in here.

It's surely not likely that the person being hassled for not producing the goods would be telling the other not to relax. He would be saying the opposite (as Robert has noted).

Lisa McCarthy (asker) Mar 28, 2019:

Phil Not sure. It's the 'te' that's throwing me off. Unless the phone conversation hasn't been transcribed properly.

Lisa McCarthy (asker) Mar 28, 2019:

Charles Tried to find some background on the two people in the conversation but the names could be either Spanish or Latin American, impossible to tell.

Charles Davis Mar 28, 2019:

Where is the speaker from? Is it possible to tell?

philgoddard Mar 27, 2019:

Could it mean "don't kid yourself/me"? Definition 4a here:
http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/relajarse
It would fit the context.