Oct 31, 2012 08:56
11 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term
"tirado por su cabo"
Spanish to English
Other
History
Here is the context:
"...hasta que cien años o poco más a esta parte, que el rey católico don Fernando de Aragón unió su corona con la de Castilla, cada una de estas naciones ("valencians" i "catalans") ***ha tirado por su cabo***, como sintiendo la ausencia de su cabeza, y así tenidas por diferentes".
Google is of little help, because the only sources for the phrase that I found is quotes from the same source that I am translating (just a quote in an article, not the entire book).
Is this "gone off in different directions", basically? Implying that after unification, as Catalonia was no longer their joint "head" they drifted apart.
"...hasta que cien años o poco más a esta parte, que el rey católico don Fernando de Aragón unió su corona con la de Castilla, cada una de estas naciones ("valencians" i "catalans") ***ha tirado por su cabo***, como sintiendo la ausencia de su cabeza, y así tenidas por diferentes".
Google is of little help, because the only sources for the phrase that I found is quotes from the same source that I am translating (just a quote in an article, not the entire book).
Is this "gone off in different directions", basically? Implying that after unification, as Catalonia was no longer their joint "head" they drifted apart.
Proposed translations
(English)
4 | "started to pull away" | Veronica Sardon |
Proposed translations
3 hrs
Selected
"started to pull away"
I think your translation sounds good, but the source is more ambiguous and less definitive. I think I'd go with "started to pull away". In this sense cabo means "end of the rope" (as in dejar cabos sueltos).
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks. I went with "haul apart" which was inspired by Charles' note."
Discussion
So the image, I think, is that the Catalan-speaking nations had been like a fleet sailing together as a single unit, but now each ship was pulling separately.
Here's a similar expression from an old text which illustrates this, I think:
"Y es que como vieron los de la armada que su capitán era fallescido, cada uno tiró por su cabo"
http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=s0716-54552005000100012&...
Check sense 2 in the oldest one available, from 1729.