Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
no decían ni fú ni fá
English translation:
they didn't say anything
Spanish term
United States
Laudable Lady Linguist
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 3 more.
no decían ni fú ni fá
La prueba, sin embargo, no daba señales de ser efectiva, pues pasaban los días y en las alturas no decían ni fú ni fá.
Gracias,
Barbara
| 4 +7 | they didn't say anything |
S. Kathryn Jiménez Boyd
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| 3 +5 | not a word from them |
Steven Huddleston
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| 4 +1 | did not utter a word |
Tigranuhi Khachatryan
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| 4 | said nothing one way or the other |
neilmac
|
Dec 26, 2020 11:02: Barbara Cochran, MFA Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
Spain
Your ideas, conveyed.
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK, Canadian, US South, British, Irish) 
Works in: Spanish to English, Catalan to English, English
they didn't say anything
- they didn't say anything either way
- they were suspiciously quiet
- there was radio silence (from them)
- we didn't hear anything from them
- they didn't make a decision either way
Etc. It doesn't necessarily mean one thing or the other, as I said with this verb it can become "nothing".
Hope this helps!
| Thanks. Your interpretation reflects how I interpreted it. Will come back and look at the other possibilities you suggested when I do the editing. |
Mexico
Dual-Native English & Spanish Translator
Native in: English (Variants: British, UK, US, Canadian) , Spanish (Variants: Colombian, Uruguayan, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Argentine, Chilean, Venezuelan, Costa Rican, Mexican, Standard-Spain, US, Ecuadorian , Dominican, Latin American, Peruvian)
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish
not a word from them
| agree |
Pablo Waldman
5 mins
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¡Gracias Pablo!
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| agree |
S. Kathryn Jiménez Boyd
: Hi Steven, yes, you're right. We must have been typing at the same time ;)
7 mins
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Thank you, Kathryn!
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| agree |
philgoddard
: The first eight Google hits give translations for this. You don't even have to click on the links.
8 mins
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Thank you, Philgoddard!
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| agree |
Moises Cortez
3 hrs
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Thank you, Moises!
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| agree |
Cláudia Pinheiro Pereira
11 hrs
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¡Gracias Cláudia!
|
Armenia
Precision and dedication!
Native in: Armenian , Spanish (Variants: Argentine, Standard-Spain, Latin American, Ecuadorian , Uruguayan) , Russian (Variant: Standard-Russia)
Works in: English to Armenian, Armenian to English, Armenian to Spanish, and 9 more.
did not utter a word
Definition of not utter a word
: to not say anything
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not utter a word
said nothing one way or the other
"He said nothing, one way or the other, despite her repeatedly imploring him to set the record straight"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1098885/Prince-Ph...
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Note added at 3 days 13 hrs (2020-12-21 11:37:07 GMT)
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As Steve says, it's colloquial.
The only reason I'm not posting an agree to Kathryn's perfectly correct suggestion is that I find it rather flat and perhaps not quite colloquial enough to capture the very colloquial feeling of "ni fú ni fá" ...
Slightly off topic, another similar Spanish expression I like is "“ni chicha ni limonada”...(neither one thing nor the other).
You may like to note that I've said nothing one way or the other as to whether...
I've said nothing one way or the other about the US. Guidelines
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