Mar 5, 2020 19:58
4 yrs ago
29 viewers *
Spanish term
Un abigarrado obstáculo
Spanish to English
Other
Government / Politics
current affairs
This is from an opinion piece in a Mexican periodical, about Bernie Sanders's campaign to be the Democratic presidential candidate. The paragraph in which it occurs is:
"La predicción hoy es simplemente inconcebible. No porque Bernie Sanders no sea capaz de ganar el voto directo en las elecciones primarias del Partido Demócrata. Y es plausible que la mayor parte de los electores se sientan atraídos por su integridad y sus programas sociales. Pero el primer gran escollo aparecerá en la convención nacional, dominada en cierta manera por los delegados cautivos de una burocracia partidaria que lo ve con recelo y antipatía. Un primer y ***abigarrado obstáculo."***
The traditional meaning of "abigarrado" refers to appearance - multi-colored, piebald, brindled, motley, etc. But these don't seem to make much sense in this phrase, in this context. There is a less common sense of "abigarrado" meaning disjointed, uneven, which I thought of stretching out to maybe "convoluted" - but even these meanings don't seem to work very well in this context.
Any ideas? All help will be greatly appreciated.
"La predicción hoy es simplemente inconcebible. No porque Bernie Sanders no sea capaz de ganar el voto directo en las elecciones primarias del Partido Demócrata. Y es plausible que la mayor parte de los electores se sientan atraídos por su integridad y sus programas sociales. Pero el primer gran escollo aparecerá en la convención nacional, dominada en cierta manera por los delegados cautivos de una burocracia partidaria que lo ve con recelo y antipatía. Un primer y ***abigarrado obstáculo."***
The traditional meaning of "abigarrado" refers to appearance - multi-colored, piebald, brindled, motley, etc. But these don't seem to make much sense in this phrase, in this context. There is a less common sense of "abigarrado" meaning disjointed, uneven, which I thought of stretching out to maybe "convoluted" - but even these meanings don't seem to work very well in this context.
Any ideas? All help will be greatly appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+1
1 hr
Selected
[suggestions for the whole sentence]
I think we have to get away from dictionaries here, because they're not much help, and think what kind of adjectives we might use to describe an obstacle in English. We also have to look at the sentence as a whole.
Here are some ideas:
This initial obstacle will not be easy to overcome.
This is the first obstacle the campaign faces, and it is not easily surmountable.
Overcoming this initial obstacle will be a challenge.
Here are some ideas:
This initial obstacle will not be easy to overcome.
This is the first obstacle the campaign faces, and it is not easily surmountable.
Overcoming this initial obstacle will be a challenge.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Luis M. Sosa
: Agree with your 2nd choice -and with those who said source terme is badly used, so dictionary will not help!
17 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, Phil. I felt there was no way stay on the literal side with this one. I ended up using "This first obstacle will be a difficult one to overcome.""
34 mins
an incoherent/heterogeneous/varied obstacle
Abigarrado/variado/heterogéneo/incoherente.
+3
12 hrs
a thorny hurdle
A bit of a mixed metaphor... But I'm not the first to suggest it.
Hurdle (noun) -> a problem that you have to deal with before you can make progress:
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Note added at 12 hrs (2020-03-06 08:14:31 GMT)
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Thorny (adjective)
A thorny problem or subject is difficult to deal with: 'The thorny issue of taxation'
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Note added at 12 hrs (2020-03-06 08:15:27 GMT)
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It may look a bit odd at first, but then again, so does the original text :-)
Hurdle (noun) -> a problem that you have to deal with before you can make progress:
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Note added at 12 hrs (2020-03-06 08:14:31 GMT)
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Thorny (adjective)
A thorny problem or subject is difficult to deal with: 'The thorny issue of taxation'
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Note added at 12 hrs (2020-03-06 08:15:27 GMT)
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It may look a bit odd at first, but then again, so does the original text :-)
Example sentence:
The other thorny hurdle facing the DRS was India.
But once I had overcome this thorny hurdle,...
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Chema Nieto Castañón
: I think it sounds perfect here
1 day 9 hrs
|
Praise indeed! Cheers Chema :-)
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|
agree |
ocetalo
: I think "abigarrado" is used here just for phonetic effect (the word itself sounds pretty rough). "thorny hurdle" has a similar phonetic effect and also works perfectly in the context
2 days 17 hrs
|
agree |
Sara Fairen
4 days
|
+1
15 hrs
an obstacle in disarray // a disheveled obstacle
It seems to be a slight on his appearance: 'motley,' 'unkempt,' etc.
... --- an obstacle in disarray, and the first [to be overcome]
... --- a first, and disheveled, obstacle [at that]
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Note added at 23 hrs (2020-03-06 19:10:29 GMT)
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And here's a satirical piece below, precisely in this context of Bernie's appearance, while even using the adjective 'disheveled.' ;))
https://babylonbee.com/news/disheveled-and-covered-in-100-bi...
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Note added at 1 day 4 hrs (2020-03-07 00:43:42 GMT)
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And here's an Esquire article that also makes a clear reference to his less-than-well-groomed appearance.
At first glance, Bernie Sanders, the disheveled 74-year-old senator from Vermont doesn't look like a candidate who would energize millennial ..
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/videos/a38115/bernie-s...
And a redit post that asked 4 YEARS AGO ...
Why does Bernie Sanders look so disheveled all the time?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/40qlpf/why_does_...
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Note added at 2 days 4 hrs (2020-03-08 00:15:59 GMT)
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Following your comments, Tom, perhaps:
... --- a patchworked/patchwork-assembled obstacle
along the lines of improvised, even if only seemingly, slapped together and disjointed
or (a more clearly negstive option)
... --- a haphazardly-assembled obstacle, and the first [that must be overcome]
... --- an obstacle in disarray, and the first [to be overcome]
... --- a first, and disheveled, obstacle [at that]
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 hrs (2020-03-06 19:10:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
And here's a satirical piece below, precisely in this context of Bernie's appearance, while even using the adjective 'disheveled.' ;))
https://babylonbee.com/news/disheveled-and-covered-in-100-bi...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 4 hrs (2020-03-07 00:43:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
And here's an Esquire article that also makes a clear reference to his less-than-well-groomed appearance.
At first glance, Bernie Sanders, the disheveled 74-year-old senator from Vermont doesn't look like a candidate who would energize millennial ..
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/videos/a38115/bernie-s...
And a redit post that asked 4 YEARS AGO ...
Why does Bernie Sanders look so disheveled all the time?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/40qlpf/why_does_...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 4 hrs (2020-03-08 00:15:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Following your comments, Tom, perhaps:
... --- a patchworked/patchwork-assembled obstacle
along the lines of improvised, even if only seemingly, slapped together and disjointed
or (a more clearly negstive option)
... --- a haphazardly-assembled obstacle, and the first [that must be overcome]
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Lydia De Jorge
: Well done! Reading the context once more, I realize this makes perfect sense. The reference is Bernie, NOT the situation.
5 hrs
|
He's often shown in the media this way, and has even been satired for this as well ;)) Thanks, Lydia!
https://babylonbee.com/news/disheveled-and-covered-in-100-bi...
|
+1
4 hrs
the first and most challenging obstacle
I would put a dash between this phrase and the previous sentence.
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Note added at 2 days 2 hrs (2020-03-07 22:20:51 GMT)
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I think an attempt to try to parse "abigarrado" may diminish the emphasis intended in the original text.
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Note added at 2 days 4 hrs (2020-03-08 00:20:04 GMT)
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How about 'hair-raising challenge'?
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Note added at 2 days 2 hrs (2020-03-07 22:20:51 GMT)
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I think an attempt to try to parse "abigarrado" may diminish the emphasis intended in the original text.
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Note added at 2 days 4 hrs (2020-03-08 00:20:04 GMT)
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How about 'hair-raising challenge'?
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Sara Fairen
: I think your first option was right too
4 days
|
Thank you, Sara!
|
Discussion
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/03/politics/democratic-estab...
Con significados comunes que incluyen palabras como 'mal combinados' y 'reunido sin concierto', bien puede ser que se refiera al aspecto físico de su persona.
DRAE
abigarrado
1. adj. De varios colores, especialmente si están mal combinados.
2. adj. Heterogéneo, reunido sin concierto.
;-)