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Certificación de vigencia y cargos
no niega nuevo
May 24 02:27
3 mos ago
27 viewers *
Spanish term

dice relación con

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
I am translating (to US English) an academic text about Lucrecia Undurraga, a 19th-century Chilean writer, and the author I'm translating says, "El asunto central del ensayo dice relación con abolir ‘tres tipos de mujeres tradicionales’ entre la élite: la mujer del hogar, la mujer del gran mundo y la devota". The author I'm translating is not only a highly educated person, but also a native Spanish speaker, so I have to assume they are not making a mistake when they use this phrase.

My best guess for this is, "The central question of the essay **has to do** with abolishing 'three types of traditional women': the housewife, the woman of the wider world, and the devout woman."

Somehow, "has to do with" seems pretty tame for something as atypical as "dice relación con", and I'm not completely happy with it in this context, but it's one of the few permutations that seems to make sense here. Any other suggestions?
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 Focuses on
4 +6 relates to, is related to

Discussion

Paul Adie May 26:
. Lo digo otra vez, mil veces si es necesario - no estoy aquí para discutir si la construcción es correcta o no, queremos saber todos qué quiere decir el texto original. Todos sabemos que a veces tenemos que mirar las palabras y tirarlas todas por el aire para obtener el sentido del texto original.
Cecilia Gowar May 25:
@Patransword No recuerdo si miré linguee. En su momento Google no me arrojó resultados de textos originales (como periódicos).
Los ejemplos de Linguee parecen ser todos traducciones. De todos modos, siempre hay un sustantivo después de ¨relación con¨, mientras que en la frase aquí publicada hay un verbo. No se si hay una regla escrita al respecto, pero no es lo correcto.
El significado tampoco tiene sentido ya que no se puede ¨abolir¨ tres tipos de mujeres En todo caso se puede abolir la noción de que existen tres tipos de mujeres.
Esto es lo que dice Fundéu de la expresión en sí:
https://www.fundeu.es/recomendacion/en-relacion-con-mejor-qu...
Paul Adie May 25:
. It certainly exists on Google - if you have a look on Linguee, the first hit is from Onesco: "El cuidado en el hogar dice relación con el cuidado y la educación que recibe un grupo pequeño de niños en el hogar de un auxiliar de educación". I don't know if entering into discussions of lameness is needed - we're just trying to find out what the writer meant.
Cecilia Gowar May 25:
Thanks for the link Toni I had explored RAE and Fundeu and found no mention of this concoction.
I am Argentine, an avid reader and former journalist, have worked with Chilean colleagues in the Reuters Spanish desk and NEVER encountered such nonsense.
It produced no hits in Google either.
When I saw the the link provided by Patransword I reckoned it seemed part of a new stilted style born from replicating concepts sourced from English (typically managerial/mentoring/self help, etc).
The examples given in that previous answer, however, are all in English.
I will certainly do some research through writers and journalists I know but in any case the phrase is lame, even if you replace dice relación con by se relaciona con.
B.Translations May 25:
Frecuent in Chilean academic/government documents This is very standard language use in Chile, in academic and political (as in policy/government) texts. It's principal meaning/use is "relates to" and its synonyms/flavours.
Toni Castano May 24:
@Daniel Yes, you're right. It's definitely "Cono Sur" Spanish, totally unknown in Spain. But it does exist and it's used, as we can see. As for "badly written", this is just my subjective perception of how the expression sounds.
Daniel Hall May 24:
@Toni I have seen that phrase a few times in more formal written Spanish in Argentina. I personally don't like the way it sounds, but yes, it's relatively normal here.
Toni Castano May 24:
@Cecilia I agree, and that is what I exactly thought too when I first opened the topic: What a weird example of badly written Spanish. But afterwards I saw this:
https://x.com/RAEinforma/status/657135863323848704
RAE
@RAEinforma #RAEconsultas Sí. La expresión «decir relación» es normal en el español del Cono Sur y se documenta también en otras zonas.
Cecilia Gowar May 24:
Badly written The text is badly written in Spanish and any native Spanish speaker would agree.
You cannot use a noun after ¨dice¨. Relación, unless you mean a relationship, which is not the case, should be ¨en relación con¨.
I could go on and on pointing at mistakes.
Are you sure you have the correct version?
Carol Gullidge May 24:
Concerns I actually think that “concerns” on its own would be fine. BUT “concerns to” is so non-English that it would be a tragedy if this were somehow to find its way into the Glossary, hence my reluctance to post an Agree!
Andy Watkinson May 24:
I think "has to do with" is certainly the idea here. "The main theme refers to/involves... etc" is the idea gleaned from the examples I've found.

Proposed translations

+3
3 hrs
Selected

Focuses on

You may find this moves away from the Spanish but I think it's the idea, conveying the notion of 'central':

As in
"The essay focuses on dismantling three feminine stereotypes, namely..."

And I've found this to back 'dismantle':
3 Keys To Dismantle Stereotypes With Storytelling

Hope this helps..
Note from asker:
Muchísimas gracias, esto me parece una manera muy elegantemente académica de decir la idea y es lo que voy a usar.
Peer comment(s):
agree Eileen Brophy
2 hrs
agree B.Translations
19 hrs
agree Cecilia Gowar : A vast improvement on the original nonsense
3 days 5 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+6
3 hrs

relates to, is related to

Already in the glossary - did you check?

https://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish-to-english/other/432883-d...

Think it's just a formal way of saying "se trata de" (is about). You could even go with "discusses".
Peer comment(s):
agree Eileen Brophy : I was going to say the same
2 hrs
agree Toni Castano : "Decir relación a: tener conexión con": http://habilis.udg.edu › ~info › webs › relación
4 hrs
agree liz askew
5 hrs
agree Daniel Hall
10 hrs
agree B.Translations : This is very standard language use in Chile, in academic and political (as in policy/government) texts. It's principal meaning/use is "relates to" as well as its synonyms/flavours.
19 hrs
agree Carol Gullidge : Or “concerns” (on its own, as so nearly already proposed by another ProZer!)
2 days 1 hr
Something went wrong...
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