Breakdown of ¡Cómo empeoró el lío con esa indirecta!
esa
that (feminine)
con
with
cómo
how
empeorar
to get worse
el lío
the mess / the trouble
la indirecta
the hint / the indirect remark
Questions & Answers about ¡Cómo empeoró el lío con esa indirecta!
Why use cómo here instead of cuánto if we are exclaiming 'how much' the mess worsened?
In Spanish exclamations, cómo is frequently used right before a verb to emphasize the intensity or manner of an action, translating roughly to 'How much!' or 'Boy, did it...!' While you could grammatically say cuánto empeoró, cómo is very natural and idiomatic here for expressing shock at how things unfolded.
What exactly does an indirecta imply here? Is it just a helpful hint?
No, an indirecta usually carries a negative, passive-aggressive, or sarcastic weight. It translates best as an 'insinuation' or a 'subtle dig' at someone. If you want to give someone a helpful clue (like in a puzzle or game), you would use the word pista instead. Here, the 'hint' was clearly a snide remark that escalated the conflict.
The subject is el lío getting worse. Why isn't the verb reflexive (se empeoró)?
If I wanted to practice the current lesson and add por cierto or a propósito, where would it go?
If you were gossiping and suddenly remembered this drama, you would place the marker right before the exclamation to smoothly change the subject. For example: A propósito, ¡cómo empeoró el lío con esa indirecta! (Speaking of which, how the mess worsened with that hint!). Digressive markers sit nicely outside the exclamation marks.
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