Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
Y para prueba, un botón.
English translation:
One need look no further than...
Added to glossary by
Thomas Walker
May 8, 2017 23:02
7 yrs ago
Spanish term
Y para prueba, un botón.
Spanish to English
Other
Government / Politics
Current events
This is from an op-ed piece in a Mexican newspaper. The broad subject is U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America.
I feel like I kind of almost have a feel for what this phrase conveys, but I'm uncertain, & I can't really nail down a good English equivalent. "Para prueba", probably "for/as proof". But, "as proof, a button"? I hadn't run across this phrase before, but it seems to be pretty common - a Bing search got 7,000+ hits. None that I looked at helped me understand what it means, though...
Here's the paragraph:
Luego de las últimas acciones de Trump en Siria y Afganistán, muchos siguen creyendo que la política exterior estadunidense con América Latina será de segundo orden en las prioridades del Pentágono. Pero no. Ni mucho menos. ***Y para prueba, un botón.*** En su reporte anual al Congreso, el almirante Kurt Tidd, actual comandante del Comando Sur, declaró abiertamente: Planteado de manera simple, los desafíos para la seguridad en la región (América Latina) probablemente se transformen en desafíos al interior de la frontera de Estados Unidos. Dicho de otro modo, en clave militar, se da una vuelta de tuerca más a la nunca abandonada doctrina monroista. En virtud de un planteamiento geopolítico de largo plazo para América Latina, el actual gobierno estadunidense actualiza la noción de patio trasero.
Any help greatly appreciated.
I feel like I kind of almost have a feel for what this phrase conveys, but I'm uncertain, & I can't really nail down a good English equivalent. "Para prueba", probably "for/as proof". But, "as proof, a button"? I hadn't run across this phrase before, but it seems to be pretty common - a Bing search got 7,000+ hits. None that I looked at helped me understand what it means, though...
Here's the paragraph:
Luego de las últimas acciones de Trump en Siria y Afganistán, muchos siguen creyendo que la política exterior estadunidense con América Latina será de segundo orden en las prioridades del Pentágono. Pero no. Ni mucho menos. ***Y para prueba, un botón.*** En su reporte anual al Congreso, el almirante Kurt Tidd, actual comandante del Comando Sur, declaró abiertamente: Planteado de manera simple, los desafíos para la seguridad en la región (América Latina) probablemente se transformen en desafíos al interior de la frontera de Estados Unidos. Dicho de otro modo, en clave militar, se da una vuelta de tuerca más a la nunca abandonada doctrina monroista. En virtud de un planteamiento geopolítico de largo plazo para América Latina, el actual gobierno estadunidense actualiza la noción de patio trasero.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
4 +9 | One need look no further than... | 12316323 (X) |
4 +2 | For instance... | Robert Carter |
4 | And for/as evidence, an example. | Michael Powers (PhD) |
References
Prueba vs muestra | neilmac |
Proposed translations
+9
4 mins
Selected
One need look no further than...
One need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...
Those interested in X need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2017-05-08 23:11:31 GMT)
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It's a common phrase here in Colombia, and universally, I believe. Here, it's "para la prueba, un botón."
Another option I've just thought of: "To give but one example,..."
However, I prefer my first suggestion.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2017-05-08 23:31:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
*My mistake- here, and in many other countries, it's "Para la muestra, un botón."
Those interested in X need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2017-05-08 23:11:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
It's a common phrase here in Colombia, and universally, I believe. Here, it's "para la prueba, un botón."
Another option I've just thought of: "To give but one example,..."
However, I prefer my first suggestion.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2017-05-08 23:31:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
*My mistake- here, and in many other countries, it's "Para la muestra, un botón."
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Robert Carter
: That too... :-)
0 min
|
Thanks, Robert :)
|
|
agree |
Michael Powers (PhD)
: Nicely worded, Kathryn. Mike :)
14 mins
|
Thank you, Mike!
|
|
agree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
: You seem to have a nice sense for finding the "mot juste".
30 mins
|
Thank you, Muriel. That's kind of you to say.
|
|
agree |
Christian [email protected]
: I also like your second option.
2 hrs
|
Thanks, Christian! I value your bilingual judgment.
|
|
agree |
franglish
8 hrs
|
Thank you, franglish.
|
|
agree |
neilmac
: Usually seen as "De muestra un botón/Como muestra un botón" over here...
8 hrs
|
Thanks, Neil. Interesting.
|
|
agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
12 hrs
|
Thanks, Gallagy.
|
|
agree |
Andy Watkinson
: I'm stealing this if you don't mind...
13 hrs
|
Thanks, Andy. You are welcome to it. This phrase wouldn't have occurred to me if the Spanish had appeared all by itself... it was the context.
|
|
agree |
Marcelo González
1 day 23 hrs
|
Thanks, Marcelo.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for your thoughtful response & discussion, Kathryn. Although Robert's & Michael's answers were I think correct, I thought yours worked better in the context - & I used it in my translation."
+2
4 mins
For instance...
botón
como botón de muestra — (just) to give you an idea
es un irresponsable: como botón de muestra ayer perdió las llaves — he's totally irresponsible: just to give you an example / for instance, only yesterday he lost the keys
https://es.oxforddictionaries.com/traducir/espanol-ingles/bo...
como botón de muestra — (just) to give you an idea
es un irresponsable: como botón de muestra ayer perdió las llaves — he's totally irresponsible: just to give you an example / for instance, only yesterday he lost the keys
https://es.oxforddictionaries.com/traducir/espanol-ingles/bo...
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Michael Powers (PhD)
: Oxford is usually a very reliable reference. Mike :)
13 mins
|
Thanks, Mike.
|
|
agree |
Wilsonn Perez Reyes
: also, For example:
19 mins
|
Thanks, Wilsonn.
|
15 mins
And for/as evidence, an example.
"un botón" could be interpreted in this context as a shortened form of "un botón de prueba" meaning an example. Note the source cited below uses "example" for botón de muestra with "prueba" in parentheses).
(informal) on button n
botón de muestra loc nom m (ejemplo, señal, prueba) example n
(informal) on button n
botón de muestra loc nom m (ejemplo, señal, prueba) example n
Reference comments
8 hrs
Reference:
Prueba vs muestra
There are several variants of the phrase depending on where it appears. In Spain, the form is more likely to be "de/como/para muestra un botón", and it is notoriously hard to translate, as there are so many possibilities.
https://eleredeliris.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/para-muestra-u...
http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=5927...
https://eleredeliris.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/para-muestra-u...
http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=5927...
Reference:
https://plaza.podemos.info/debates/610
https://ar.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111013065052AABCEOK
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