Oct 16, 2010 23:54
14 yrs ago
Spanish term

sin calidad asegurada, del servicio público

Spanish to English Social Sciences Government / Politics 21st century crises
I'm really having problem with the middle of this sentence:

El eterno debate entre la presunta eficacia, pero egoísta, de la iniciativa privada y la garantía de una cierta justicia, pero sin calidad asegurada, del servicio público, se ha saldado hoy de manera contundente a favor de la segunda.

So far, I have:
eternal debate between the presumed, but selfish, efficiency of private initiative and the guarantee of a certain justice, but ***not a secure one, of public service,*** and the outcome today is bluntly in favor of the latter.

I don't see how "public service" fits in here (and this is quotation from an article in El País).

Discussion

Jackie Bowman Oct 19, 2010:
Perhaps consider “albeit” ... ... to reflect the balance of the source?

These days the endless debate about the alleged efficiency of private initiative (albeit selfish) and the guarantee of some justice offered by public provision (albeit of uncertain quality) has resoundingly … blah
Patricia Rosas (asker) Oct 17, 2010:
thanks, Mediamatrix, it is indeed for the USA. Is it: guarantee of public service with a certain justice, but not necessarily an ensured one?
mediamatrix (X) Oct 17, 2010:
The crux ... ... of your problem, Patricia, is that the whole concept of 'public service', as understood in Europe (including Spain) is (almost) unknown in the US of A.
Your translation will need to take account of the target readership. If it's for the US (of A), you'll need to spell it all out in words of one syllable; if it's for Europe a literal translation will be 'good enough'.

Proposed translations

3 hrs
Selected

[the promise of a certain justice,] if not guaranteed, by a government that serves the public

For my interpretation to make sense, "garantía" is not as strong as "asegurada"
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Muriel. Very nicely put!"
-1
6 mins

unsecured guarantee

la garantía ... del servicio público is an ansecured guarantee

If you provide an unsecured guarantee, your property is still at risk for payment of the debt. However, before the lender can use your property to recover ...
www.aussielegal.com.au/informationoutline~nocache~1~SubTopi... - Cached - Similar
30 Sep 2010 ... Anyone seeking for an unsecured guarantee loan at low interest rate can contact me on [email protected] with the amount needed.
www.nuwireinvestor.com/.../apply-for-your-unsecured-guarant... - Cached
etc. ....
Peer comment(s):

disagree Jennifer Levey : The ST has nothing to do with secured guarantees - it's about public vs private approaches to business management.
12 mins
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23 mins
Spanish term (edited): sin calidad asegurada

no guarantee of quality

Note that 'del servicio público' qualifies 'una cierta justicia', not 'calidad asegurada'.

la garantía de una cierta justicia, pero sin calidad asegurada, del servicio público
--> (to a first aproximation)
the assurance of a certain degree of fair-play, albeit with no guarantee of quality, of the public service
Note from asker:
thanks for shedding some light on this!
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30 mins

but an unassured quality of public service

My reading:

El eterno debate entre la presunta eficacia, pero egoísta, de la iniciativa privada y la garantía de una cierta justicia, pero sin calidad asegurada, del servicio público, se ha saldado hoy de manera contundente a favor de la segunda.

The eternal debate between the presumed, but selfish efficiency of the private initiative and the guarantee of certain justice, but an unassured quality of public service, today forcibly favors the latter outcome.

The public service qualifies "certain justice". That is how I read it.

Suerte!
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1 hr

but without the public service assurance of quality

pero sin calidad asegurada, del servicio público...the comma should not be there
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+1
2 hrs

...guarantee of a level of social justice, although not necessarily of quality...

I don't presume to speak for the U.S. but certainly in Australia we would use the terms private sector and public sector in this context. Essentially the excerpt is comparing services as provided by commercial enterprises and those offered by government. Hence my (not particularly literal) translation: "The eternal debate between individualist private sector efficiency and the guarantee of a level of social justice, although not necessarily of quality, offered by the public sector..."
Note from asker:
Thank you for thinking outside the box. I believe (given the rest of the context in the document) that you've come the closest thus far to the author's intended meaning. Gracias!!
Peer comment(s):

agree lorenab23
1 hr
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4 hrs

without quality assurance of public service

most proximate
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