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close ally

English translation: close allies etc

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:close ally
Selected answer:close allies etc
Entered by: mockingbird (X)

23:00 Jul 14, 2005
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Government / Politics
English term or phrase: close ally
Context:

Except for the Party X which is still led by Y, almost all parties are now having new chairmen, though they are are still the close ally of the influential figures in the parties

Can 'ally' be used in the context of (political)party? if not, what is the alternative?

Thanks
mockingbird (X)
close allies etc
Explanation:
Here's my reading of this:

Except Party X, which is still led by Y, all the parties now have new chairmen, who, however, remain close allies of the influential party figures.

I suppose that people wanted to see a shakeup that would bring new blood to the leadership of the parties. However, the new party chairmen are very much attached to the same people who have held the real power all along.
Is this interpretation correct?

And yes, 'ally' is used within the context of political parties.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs 19 mins (2005-07-15 12:19:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

BBC examples:
Of the nine men now on China\'s most powerful political body, six are close allies of Mr Jiang.
As recently as Thursday of last week, close allies of the Health Secretary insisted he would not run for the job of mayor.
All three ministers belong to the BJP. Mr Mahojan and Mr Malhotra are close allies of Mr Vajpayee.
CNN examples:
The 59-year-old Hu will now head a so-called \'Fourth Generation\' nine-member leadership body stacked with close allies of his predecessor.
Khalil and Ghani were once close allies of ousted deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim

Problems with the grammar of the original:
‘except’ is better that ‘except for’ in this case.
A comma before ‘which’ for this non-defining clause.
You can’t use ‘almost’ if you have mentioned ‘except’.
‘now have new chairmen’ or ‘have now elected new chairmen’: Do NOT use the present continuous with ‘have’ in this case.
I prefer ‘who, however, …’ because it creates a direct link which eliminates any doubts as to who ‘they’ are.
‘are close allies OF’ (plural) or ‘closely allied TO/WITH’ (as suggested by Andrew)
Selected response from:

Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:36
Grading comment
Thanks all
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3closely allied
Lancashireman
4 +2close allies etc
Nick Lingris


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


54 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
closely allied


Explanation:
Except for Party X which is still led by Y, almost all (political) parties are now having (electing) new chairmen, though these are often closely allied with traditionalists (the establishment) within their own parties

Lancashireman
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:36
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  RHELLER: closely allied is good but "now having" sounds incorrect to my U.S. ears
48 mins
agree  Angela Dickson (X): with Rita, but 'closely allied' is the best solution for that part
9 hrs
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
13 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
close allies etc


Explanation:
Here's my reading of this:

Except Party X, which is still led by Y, all the parties now have new chairmen, who, however, remain close allies of the influential party figures.

I suppose that people wanted to see a shakeup that would bring new blood to the leadership of the parties. However, the new party chairmen are very much attached to the same people who have held the real power all along.
Is this interpretation correct?

And yes, 'ally' is used within the context of political parties.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs 19 mins (2005-07-15 12:19:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

BBC examples:
Of the nine men now on China\'s most powerful political body, six are close allies of Mr Jiang.
As recently as Thursday of last week, close allies of the Health Secretary insisted he would not run for the job of mayor.
All three ministers belong to the BJP. Mr Mahojan and Mr Malhotra are close allies of Mr Vajpayee.
CNN examples:
The 59-year-old Hu will now head a so-called \'Fourth Generation\' nine-member leadership body stacked with close allies of his predecessor.
Khalil and Ghani were once close allies of ousted deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim

Problems with the grammar of the original:
‘except’ is better that ‘except for’ in this case.
A comma before ‘which’ for this non-defining clause.
You can’t use ‘almost’ if you have mentioned ‘except’.
‘now have new chairmen’ or ‘have now elected new chairmen’: Do NOT use the present continuous with ‘have’ in this case.
I prefer ‘who, however, …’ because it creates a direct link which eliminates any doubts as to who ‘they’ are.
‘are close allies OF’ (plural) or ‘closely allied TO/WITH’ (as suggested by Andrew)


Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:36
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GreekGreek
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks all

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  TranslateThis
12 mins
  -> Thanks!
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
1 day 1 hr
  -> Thank you, Vicky.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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