Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

dar el paseo

English translation:

take someone for a walk / for a (one-way) ride

Added to glossary by Aïda Garcia Pons
Feb 21, 2007 15:37
17 yrs ago
5 viewers *
Spanish term

dar el paseo

Spanish to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Spanish Civil War
Contexto:
–Estoy seguro de que a ése le dieron el paseo, –dijo una vez un vecino.
–Pues ¡qué paseo más salvaje Señor Pedro! ¡Vaya un paseo!

"Dar el paseo" is an expression that was used during/after the Spanish Civil War. It meant one was taken away from home, interrogated and later shot dead and left somewhere to be found.
It was usually used in the context of "dar el paseo a alguien"=arrestarlo y pegarle un tiro luego.

En el contexto de arriba hay un juego de palabras pues en el primer caso el vecino se refiere a darle el paseo a alguien=matarlo; mientras que la viuda se queja y usa el significado normal de paseo=go for a walk.

Me gustaría saber es si en textos ingleses sobre la Guerra Civil Española se ha traducido la expresión "dar el paseo" y de ser así cómo.
I've done a search online but can't find anything. Maybe someone, a specialist in history or knowledgeable of the Spanish Civil War, will have an idea...

Thank you all in advance.
Aïda

Proposed translations

+2
38 mins
Selected

take someone (out) for a walk

I suggest this with perhaps adding a note giving the historical background for "dar el paseo".

I have no specific references at hand right now from contemporary literature or film, but the killer telling their victim "let's go for a walk" sounds familiar to me. The context will make it clear what this means.
Note from asker:
Thank you Carlos. I like your answer and the context in David's link. It is a good option but I would like to avoid using footnotes. As Edward suggests adding "long" before "walk" would help.
Peer comment(s):

agree Edward Tully : perhaps adding "long" before "walk" to make it crystal clear...
2 hrs
Good point, thank you.
agree David Cahill : http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/sidney_reilly.html
2 hrs
Many thanks.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you all. All your answers have been most helpful. I've been thinking about which one to use for quite a while: the walk, the ride or the one-way ride. I like them all and I think they go well in this context as I can keep the word play."
14 mins

Extra-judicial killing

Lo he visto traducido como "extra-judicial killing" en alguna ocasión, pero si el documento que traduces te lo permite, yo usaría la palabra "paseillo" (entre comillas) y luego explicaría brevemente el significado.
Note from asker:
Gracias Nuria. Tomo nota para cuando me salga un texto "formal".
Peer comment(s):

neutral Andy Watkinson : Hola Nuria. Efectivamente es un "extra-judicial killing", pero se busca un juego de palabras, algo más "mafioso" ;-)
1 hr
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+1
24 mins

to take someone on a ride

Maybe you could use this expression and add an explanation.
Note from asker:
Thank you Giovanni. I knew there was something about "a ride" but couldn't quite figure out what.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Andy Watkinson : Thought of that, but the usual expression is "for a ride" and the meaning is rather to deceive, swindle, etc....
2 mins
agree Nedra Rivera Huntington : "FOR a ride", while now usually used in the sense Andy indicates now, in the early part of the 20th century meant murder: http://a9.com/take someone for a ride?factdsid=2417&facteid=8802 and http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/drgw008.html
2 hrs
Interesting remark! I didn´t know that. :-)
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+1
33 mins

...I'm sure he was taken out

to take someone out is to kill him/her
Note from asker:
Thanks Lydia.
Peer comment(s):

agree Carol Gullidge : I like this, EXCEPT that I doubt if the expression would have been current at the time. A bit of an anachronism. Maybe I'm wrong? .... In that case....
32 mins
Hi Carol, the expression is used in "Elliot Ness:the Real Story" around the same timeline.
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+1
2 hrs

taken for a one-way ride

A common practice in the SCW for eliminating one's enemies. The most celebrated case was the murder of Calvo Sotelo, the leader of the opposition in the Cortes (parliament). This made the revolt by the military a few days later inevitable.

... (possibly for failing in a murder assignment or attempting to leave Buchalter's ... he had been taken for a "one way ride" by Workman and driven to Lyndhurst, New ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Fienstein -
(The quotation marks are from the text.)
Note from asker:
Just found this: "Ms. Van, who died Tuesday in her Elk Grove Village home, was born Lucille Fanolla in Ohio. Her family moved to Chicago when she was a young girl. She was 9 when her father had a fatal run-in with Al Capone. A baker selling brewer's yeast to two gangs, he ignored warnings from Capone's men to deal only with them. "Capone's people told him to meet them at a restaurant," said Ms. Van's son, Mark Allison. "They took him for a one-way ride." from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20021228/ai_n12485061
Also: A one way ride, also known by the phrase "take for a ride", is a slang term used by the underworld as an execution method. The usual plan is for the victim, who is lured or forced into a car, to be driven to a remote location where they are killed (either on route or after their arrival) where their bodies are dumped. First coming into use during Prohibition." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_way_ride
Peer comment(s):

agree Noni Gilbert Riley : Yes, although once again Carol´s comment about anachronisms may be relevant.
1 hr
It was more common in the 30's and 40's than it is now.
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