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Una viejita tzeltal de las de antes (tzec con listones y blusa blanca de india)
volverán los víveres

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Y es eso

English translation:

And that is/was the long and short of it: or It boils/boiled down to:

Added to glossary by Jenni Lukac (X)
Apr 17, 2011 19:43
13 yrs ago
Spanish term

Y es eso

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Colloquialism
This is an easy one, linguistically. Challenge is finding the right register. context is:

Everybody already knows about the "Cease Fire" decision.
Opinion [either] praises or condemns.
The Army [forced] the [Zapatistas/Zapatista troops] to [withdraw from] the centers of population, and retreat to the jungle.
And [that's it/there you have it]: dialogue or blood.
And, judging by the tone of the [declaration of war/'war declaration], the [rebels/insurgents] want blood.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 And that is/was the long and short of it: or It boils/boiled down to:
4 And that's what we're talking about
4 (what) it comes down to
4 and that's what it is about
4 So, it's... ; It's a matter of...
Change log

Apr 23, 2011 18:38: Jenni Lukac (X) Created KOG entry

Discussion

Carol Gullidge Apr 18, 2011:
@ Lydia and Deborah That's also what I was referring to in my earlier comment!
Lydia De Jorge Apr 18, 2011:
@Deborah, You read my mind. I was wondering the same thing!
Bubo Coroman (X) Apr 18, 2011:
What is the connection between the forced retreat of the Zapatistas, and the choice between dialogue and blood? Given that the retreat was forced, what chance is there that the "dialogue" might be "open" or "free"? Is the author saying "dialogue or blood" tongue in cheek, knowing any dialogue would be a sham?
offset (asker) Apr 17, 2011:
Spanish original Todo el mundo sabe ya la decisión presidencial del “Cese el fuego”.
Las opiniones celebran o condenan.
El Ejército obligó a las tropas zapatistas a desocupar los centros de población y a replegarse hacia la selva.
Y es eso: el diálogo o la sangre.
Y a juzgar por el tono de la declaración de guerra, los alzados quieren sangre.
Carol Gullidge Apr 17, 2011:
context totally agree with trixiemck. As it stands, the English text seems rather disjointed. Your suggested translation suggests that dialogue or blood is intended to sum up - albeit pithily - the sentence before (The Army forced...), and yet it appears instead to be rather a non-sequitur. The source text would help us to judge the register as well as to make better sense of it
Monica Colangelo Apr 17, 2011:
??? You need to post the word, phrase or sentence in question exactly as it appears in the text you are translating. This is very confusing and the phrase to be translated is not there.

Proposed translations

+4
10 mins
Selected

And that is/was the long and short of it: or It boils/boiled down to:

Two options that come to mind...19 Mar 2010 ... As I see it, the conflict boils down to nothing more or less than two ... Guns and bombs replaced political dialogue as a mechanism for ...
canadasworld.wordpress.com/.../further-thoughts-on-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/ - En caché - Similares; 29 Aug 2009 ... If you are the one to initiate dialogue, you may want to invite Tom to ... Conflict really boils down to this: what BOTH people can bring to ...
ezinearticles.com › Business › Workplace Communication - En caché; Conflict Management: The Long and the Short of It. I. William Zartman ... on shorter-term negotiations to end a conflict or on longer-term efforts to remove ...
Peer comment(s):
agree Henry Hinds
1 hr
Cheers and thanks, Henry.
agree Andy Watkinson
2 hrs
Greetings and thanks, Andy.
agree Evans (X) : yes, there are many phrases to this effect, it (boils down to) a stylistic choice
12 hrs
Greetings and thanks, Gilla.
agree Thayenga
12 hrs
Greetings and thanks, Thayenga.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "all were on point. Thanks, team."
48 mins

And that's what we're talking about

another option!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 55 mins (2011-04-17 20:38:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

perhaps "It's as simple as that"...
Something went wrong...
1 hr

(what) it comes down to

another option

or

it comes right down to

It comes down to whether you want to go to the movies or stay at home and ...
idioms.thefreedictionary.com/come+down+to - Cached - Similar
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

and that's what it is about

What about .... and that's what it is about: dialogue or violence/blood?
Something went wrong...
13 hrs

So, it's... ; It's a matter of...

The source text is refreshingly unwordy, and I'd aim to retain this sparseness in the TT.

So, it's dialogue or blood/bloodshed
It's a matter of dialogue or blood

My problem is that despite the "Y" of the ST, I don't really think the word "And" sounds very logical here, in this context - given what follows and what precedes it.

Something went wrong...
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