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EO: BEG
capacidad de escuchar

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

hacer papelones que cuestan caro

English translation:

commit costly blunders, costly screw-ups, cause themselves costly embarrassment

Added to glossary by Mónica Algazi
Jan 15, 2014 12:38
10 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Spanish term

hacer papelones que cuestan caro

Spanish to English Other Journalism Press report
Los Fiscales deben investigar y no * hacer papelones que cuestan caro *, como el que terminó en la decisión de [name of international financial institution] de abandonar el país.

TIA!
Proposed translations (English)
5 +3 costly blunders
4 +3 (their) costly screw-ups
4 cause themselves costly embarrassment
Change log

Jan 18, 2014 00:01: Mónica Algazi changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/62856">Mónica Algazi's</a> old entry - "hacer papelones que cuestan caro"" to ""commit costly blunders, costly screw-ups, caused themselves costly embarrassment""

Discussion

Pablo Julián Davis Jan 15, 2014:
Register Very interesting, an opinion column ('op-ed' in the US, at least) can lend itself to a quite formal register, or to a very colloquial one. George Will might exemplify the former, the late Mike Royko of Chicago the latter. We can imagine Royko writing, "C'mon, give me a break!" or "What a screw-up!" So I guess it's a matter of where we read the register. The truth is that 'papelón' is, in an of itself, a fairly straight word, of ordinary register; and pitching it there, in the middle register-wise, I think 'blunder' is a very good option. My own feeling was that the opinion piece in question was of the aggrieved man-in-the-street variety, populist in tone (I know that may have come across as snide, I didn't mean it that way, simply trying to characterize the register), and if I'm making a correct inference about register, 'screw-up' would fit comfortably.
Mónica Algazi (asker) Jan 15, 2014:
This press report Refers to an opinion column in a daily newspaper. It refers to a judicial case involving two nations and raids on financial institutions over alleged money laundering practices. No evidence was found, the case was finally closed, and the raided institution decided to withdraw from the market.
philgoddard Jan 15, 2014:
Context Can you tell us what this is about, please.
María M. Hernández S. Jan 15, 2014:
perhaps "rather than show themselves off"
Mónica Algazi (asker) Jan 15, 2014:
I do understand the meaning, María I was just wondering whether there is a better option in English than "rather than make a fool of themselves at a high cost".
María M. Hernández S. Jan 15, 2014:
Hacer un papelón es actuar en forma tonta, ridícula. Un papelón que cuesta caro sería una actuación que además de tonta, sus consecuencias resultan costosas o conducen a pérdidas.
http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=papelón

Proposed translations

+3
3 hrs
Selected

costly blunders

"rather than commit costly blunders" - perhaps more appropriate to the context, i.e. more formal than screw-up but means the same thing.
Reference:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1704054-thiago-departure-a-costly-blunder-for-barcelona

Note from asker:
Thank you, Richard!
Peer comment(s):
agree neilmac : If we want to tippy-toe, this may be more to the asker's liking :)
5 mins
agree Charlie Higgins : consistent with tone
58 mins
agree James A. Walsh
20 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "A difficult decision indeed. Thank you all!"
2 hrs

cause themselves costly embarrassment

a register approrpiate to a financial context?
Note from asker:
¡Me gusta! Gracias, Pat.
Something went wrong...
+3
2 hrs

(their) costly screw-ups

Por 'papelones' sugiero 'screw-ups', que significa errores pero con fuerte connotación de que el error es burdo, craso y muy evidente. Para traducir, recomiendo configurar la frase, con una construcción a partir de 'We can't afford', es decir, No podemos darnos el lujo, No podemos costear, No es sostenible, etc. (ver abajo*).

seeingredaz.wordpress.com/.../a-costly-screw-up-for-state-rep-cloves-ca...‎ : "A costly screw-up for state Rep. Cloves Campbell Jr. Democrat state Rep. Cloves Campbell, Jr., 48, running for a third term in Legislative District 16, finds himself in a costly and embarrassing ..."

books.google.com/books?isbn=1467864803 : Doug Graney. Gray Avengers. "Admiral Logan, the headquarters commander, became angered by what was shaping up to be a costly screw up. It didn't matter that he followed orders from ..."

*SUGERENCIA DE TRADUCCIÓN: "Prosecutors need to carry out serious investigations. We can't afford their costly screw-ups, like the one that led to [Bankcorp's] decision to pick up and leave [Santo Tomás]."

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Note added at 2 hrs (2014-01-15 15:05:17 GMT)
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Perdón, quise decir 'recomiendo reconfigurar la frase'. ¡Saludos!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2014-01-15 15:21:38 GMT)
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He leído tu comentario, Mónica, y me diste que pensar. Pero hacienda eso que solemos hacer los traductores, sobre todo cuando de expresiones coloquiales se trata --es decir, realizar una pequeña puesta de escena teatral mental-- creo que son bastante equivalentes. Imagino que alguien me diga 'Qué papelón hiciste, hermano' y luego que me digan en ingles 'Nice screw-up, buddy' y emocionalmente se sienten muy comparables, me parecen casi iguales en cuanto a severidad. Al menos, eso es lo que me dice el oído. Ambas expresiones son más fuertes que 'metida de pata' o 'flub/mistake' pero no tan fuertes como 'cagada'/'fuck-up'.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2014-01-15 16:37:29 GMT)
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Bendito autocorrector... siempre 'metiendo la cucharita'. Quise decir, obviamente, 'haciendo (no hacienda) eso que solemos hacer los traductores...'. ¡Saludos!
Note from asker:
Por aquí viene la cosa... ¿No es un poco "fuerte" de más la expresión "screw-up"? ¡Gracias, Pablo Julián!
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
5 mins
agree neilmac : When I saw "papelones" I thought "how informal!" but "screw-ups" captures the tone perfectly IMHO...
37 mins
agree Darius Saczuk
2 days 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
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