Spanish term
el éxito se representa en el dinero como fin e imaginario de poder
The context is as follows:
La "cultura mafiosa" manejaba e introdujo conceptos como: “el fin justifica los medios”, “el éxito se representa en el dinero como fin e imaginario de poder”, “el poder se adquiere por encima de la vida de las personas”, “la ley del más fuerte”.
Since the other "concepts" can be translated easily and idiomatically (e.g. "the end justifies the means", "survival of the fittest"), I wondered if anyone had any "snappy" suggestions for the one in question. The translator's block is real - my previous attempts have all been very literal.
Thanks in advance!
Dec 14, 2018 21:33: Tomás Monti changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (3): Charles Davis, Rachel Fell, Tomás Monti
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Proposed translations
success is measured by money as (it is) the be (all) and end all of power
success is measured by money as (it is) the be (all) and end all of power
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Note added at 1 hr (2018-12-14 22:30:34 GMT)
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you might use "be all and symbol" of power
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Note added at 1 hr (2018-12-14 22:32:55 GMT)
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the normal expression would be "be all and end all" but substituting "symbol" for "end all" would be perfectly understood by native English speakers
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Note added at 2 days 4 hrs (2018-12-17 01:24:58 GMT)
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was involved in a book on this subject and I really think this would be ok
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Note added at 4 days (2018-12-19 02:41:10 GMT)
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coming back to this I still think it's ok to put it like this
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Note added at 4 days (2018-12-19 02:41:48 GMT)
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up to you
agree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
: Nice!
59 mins
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thanks Muriel but I know the way Kudoz goes and won't be enough... was a nice linguistic challenge ... coming back to this I still hold with my reading and thanks
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agree |
neilmac
: "... measured by money as the be-all and end-all of power"....
11 hrs
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thanks Neil and ok with the hyphens
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neutral |
philgoddard
: I don't disagree with this but, call me oldfashioned, I like hyphens :-)
17 hrs
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thanks Phil and hyphenated is much more like it
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agree |
Gillian Smithers
19 hrs
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thanks Gillian
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Success translates to money both as an end game in and of itself and as power/or the illusion of it
Thank you for clarifying the meaning of "imaginario" - that and "se representa" were the parts I was struggling with most! I like your suggestion of "illusion". |
success is measured in money as an aim and an image of power
I agree that it's not particularly snappy in Spanish. In essence I just meant I was looking for a translation that read more naturally in English (all my previous attempts were terribly literal!) I also wondered about "image" instead of "imaginary". Thank you for your contribution! |
agree |
JohnMcDove
: I would go with your option, adding "symbolic", maybe "... and aim and symbolic image of power"
9 hrs
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Thanks very much, John :-) I'm not sure...
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Your power and success are measured by your bank balance
This takes slight liberties, but I think it sounds more idiomatic.
neutral |
Charles Davis
: It takes very considerable liberties // After sleeping on it, I agree you have a point. I should have gone further in your direction. But I'd rather not go so far :-) I should have made more of an effort.
19 mins
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For once, I disagree with your answer. You've stayed too close to the Spanish, and your sentence is hard to understand. I feel that mine conveys the approximate meaning and is much clearer.
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agree |
neilmac
: CTC, especially as the source phrase appears in "quotes".
11 hrs
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Discussion
It took me a while but I finally get the efficiency principle involved;
Success is money, and money is power.
Nice! ;)
... money becomes a goal in itself [an end in itself] and a symbol of power
"Success is measured in money, and money is power."
or even
"Success is money, and money is power".
OK, this doesn't say everything the source expression says, but how much does that really matter?
Cheers.
"Money represents success and is both an aim and symbol of power"
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
money stands for success; as such, money becomes an end in itself and a symbol of power.
Imaginario is used here as "Repertorio de elementos simbólicos y conceptuales de un autor, una escuela o una tradición", en este caso en alusión a un grupo o a una población. There is probably a better translation than symbol but I think that is the core idea in this case.
https://dle.rae.es/srv/fetch?id=L0FsQnh