Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

como elemento decorativo o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas

English translation:

as decorative elements, or when we take pleasure in gazing at them

Added to glossary by Barbara Cochran, MFA
Jun 8, 2020 18:23
3 yrs ago
35 viewers *
Spanish term

como elemento decorativo o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature toda vez que las preferimos como elementos decorativos o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas en jardines...
Es una traducción sobre la influencia de flores y plantas en el ser humano, del español al inglés para ser publicada en un post literario. El texto está escrito en español de Venezuela.
Flores y plantas:
Ellas nos transmiten su energía a través de sus colores, sus formas, sus olores y esto nos permite establecer lazos con esa energía toda vez que las preferimos como elementos decorativos o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas en jardines, parques, campos y montañas.

Esta es mi propuesta:
Flowers and plants:
Their characteristics such as colours, shapes and fragrances connect humans with their energy. In consequence, this allows us to create links which leads us to prefer them as decorative elements or when we enjoy watching them in gardens, parks, fields and mountains.

Gracias por su atención y ayuda
Change log

Jun 11, 2020 11:56: Barbara Cochran, MFA Created KOG entry

Jun 11, 2020 12:18: Barbara Cochran, MFA changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/123909">Barbara Cochran, MFA's</a> old entry - "como elemento decorativo o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas"" to ""every time that we show our preference for them as decorative elements, or when we enjoy gazing at t""

Jun 11, 2020 12:18: Barbara Cochran, MFA changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/123909">Barbara Cochran, MFA's</a> old entry - "como elemento decorativo o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas"" to ""every time thatas decorative elements, or take pleasure in gazing at them when we enjoy gazing at t""

Jun 11, 2020 12:19: Barbara Cochran, MFA changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/123909">Barbara Cochran, MFA's</a> old entry - "como elemento decorativo o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas"" to ""as decorative elements, or take pleasure in gazing at them when we enjoy gazing at t""

Jun 11, 2020 13:49: Barbara Cochran, MFA changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/123909">Barbara Cochran, MFA's</a> old entry - "como elemento decorativo o cuando nos deleitamos al observarlas"" to ""as decorative elements, or take pleasure in gazing at them""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Yvonne Gallagher

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Discussion

Domini Lucas Jun 9, 2020:
humans would avoid humans. Sounds a bit like as opposed to aliens . Seem to remember this being mentioned elsewhere recently?

Proposed translations

+2
6 mins
Selected

every time that we show our preference for them as decorative elements, or when we enjoy gazing at t

...gazing at them..."

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Note added at 23 mins (2020-06-08 18:47:23 GMT)
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"or when we rest our gaze on them..."

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Note added at 1 hr (2020-06-08 20:01:07 GMT)
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"o when we take pleasure in gazing at them..."

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Note added at 1 hr (2020-06-08 20:02:31 GMT)
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"or..."
Note from asker:
Gracias por su atención. En verdad que es difícil escoger una respuesta porque todas son valiosas. Me decido por la suya porque la siento muy cerca a la poesía.
Peer comment(s):

agree Chema Nieto Castañón
3 hrs
Gracias, Chema.
agree Marcelo González : I especially like your last option :-)
7 hrs
Mil gracias, Marcelo.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Gracias por su atención. En verdad que es difícil escoger una respuesta porque todas son valiosas. Me decido por la suya porque la siento muy cerca a la poesía."
+4
18 mins

(whenever we use them) as decoration, or delight in looking at them

As a veteran translator of gardening books, I know that copy like this is difficult to translate. It's a waffly statement of the obvious, often designed to fill the space between pictures.
Peer comment(s):

agree Chema Nieto Castañón
3 hrs
agree Stephanie Ament : Agree. I posted some slight variations, but it seems that "delight" is a key term to get in here.
7 hrs
agree Marcelo González
7 hrs
agree Rebecca Reddin
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
21 mins

whether we prefer them as decorative elements or when we delight in observing ..

Flowers and plants:
Their energy is transmitted to us through their colors, their forms, their smells and this allows us to establish links with that energy, whether we prefer them as decorative elements or when we delight in observing them in gardens, parks, fields and mountains.
Peer comment(s):

agree Yvonne Gallagher : yes to "whether we prefer.." but I don't like "observing". This is basic Spanish (and English) IMO
16 hrs
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

every time we choose them as decoration or enjoy watching them

.. in gardens, parks, fields or mountains.
Peer comment(s):

agree Chema Nieto Castañón
1 hr
Thanks Chema! ¡Saludos!
neutral Marcelo González : Though I really like the beginning, I'm not so sure about the end, with 'watching' for things that don't move. Watching flowers or plants seems odd. IMO
6 hrs
You are right, it should be ¨seeing¨
agree Yvonne Gallagher : I like the beginning too but NOT "watching" This is basic Spanish (and English) IMO
15 hrs
Thanks Yvonne! True, it should be ¨seeing¨.
Something went wrong...
6 hrs

as a decoration or something we love looking at

my ideas

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Note added at 6 hrs (2020-06-09 00:39:41 GMT)
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just the way we would say it in English

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Note added at 6 hrs (2020-06-09 00:43:14 GMT)
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anyway steer away from "watching"
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

use them for decorating or delight in seeing them in gardens, parks, countrysides, etc.

Some great suggestions here; just offering a slight variation. Your translation seems a bit literal, so maybe be careful with that.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2020-06-09 01:50:07 GMT)
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I had another resource here that didn't come through; apologies. Alternatively "use them decoratively" (ref. https://www.spotlightnews.com/opinion/point-of-view/2011/12/... and https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/05/archives/around-the-garde... The latter reference is a bit old but the usage isn't necessarily outdated.
Example sentence:

"Wildcrafting ideas abound when using plants for decorating"

Something went wrong...
23 hrs

They convey their energy.../every time we either choose them as decoration/thrilled by their look

They convey their energy through their colours, shapes, and fragrances allowing us to connect to that energy every time we either choose them as decoration or we are thrilled by their look in gardens, parks, fields, and mountains.

A. "They convey their energy" me parece suficiente. No hay necesidad de incluir el pronombre "nos" del dativo u objeto indirecto. Por otra parte "convey" tiene más fuerza semántica que "transmit".

B. Me parece que el "preferimos" del texto original debe entenderse como "elegir", ya que no hay un elemento comparativo. Digo, uno por lo general prefiere una cosa en relación a otra.

C. "Thrilled by their look" me parece que tiene más fuerza que "observar". También podrías decir "thrilled by their presence in..." a fin de no limitarte sólo a lo visual.

Espero que en algo te ayude. Suerte
Something went wrong...
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