virar el mundo patas arriba

15:59 Jan 22, 2019 

I appreciate seeing all of your translations and reasons; it helps me to confirm my ideas.

15:25 Jan 22, 2019 

Well, thinking about all this, in the end I guess it comes down to the purpose of the translation: is it just so SSA has records of the applications in English, AS records of already processed applications, or is it for the purpose of processing the application in the first place? If the former, then you all are right and it could be left as is, hyperbole and all. If the latter, this is where my experience comes in: it really won't help the applicant's cause to give such a vague (not to say hyperbolic) answer, so if the translator is, in a sense, working on the applicant's behalf, it would be a disservice to keep the hyperbole at the expense of a concrete answer. I've seen so many applications turned down the first time around because the answers were not specific enough, only to be approved on the second or third filing once the applicant actually gave detailed, specific answers to the questions asked. This was the thinking that motivated my original post.

08:12 Jan 22, 2019 

I don't think we are being overly dramatic in our answers, as a person in this situation, with a life-changing injury, sees a stark contrast between the life they used to lead and the things they can do now. The interviewer may follow guidelines but the interviewee can answer however they like. The translation should reflect that.

01:26 Jan 22, 2019 

El reclamante ciertamente se expresa con vehemencia;
- ¿Que cosas podía hacer antes...?
- (Antes podía / era capaz de) virar el mundo patas arriba / comerme el mundo / poner todo patas arriba.

Para luego aclarar, repitiendo la misma idea de manera más calmada;
- De veras / En serio / Realmente yo hacía de todo (...)
[I really used to do everything / I could really do anything]

Pej.
- The world was my oyster. I could really do everything (...)
- I could set the world on fire. Honestly, I could do everything (...)
- I was able to turn the world upside down. I really used to do everything (...)

23:53 Jan 21, 2019 

Appropriate or not, that was what the patient said and that should be reflected as such.

23:30 Jan 21, 2019 

I'm not specifically defending my own suggestion here, but I don't really agree with your comment that "the context doesn't really seem to be appropriate" for that kind of expression. Well, maybe not, but that kind of expression was used; the respondent's idea of what was appropriate may not match most people's.

23:28 Jan 21, 2019 

The patient responded with a hyperbolic expression and I think that should be respected. To minimize it would not be fair to the patient. That's my humble opinion.

23:27 Jan 21, 2019 

I appreciate the point you're making, but doesn't it depend on the personality of the respondent? People don't necessarily follow a script in this situation. You say that the proposed translations don't answer the question, but the question was what was your life like before, and the expression used in reply, which is not just colloquial but way over the top, suggests that this person is prone to dramatise: anything was possible for me before and now my life has been ruined. Shouldn't that tone be reflected?

23:09 Jan 21, 2019 

I understand the idea everyone is trying to get at, and this is an incredibly colloquial phrase. But I have a fair amount of experience with these Social Security disability applications, and somehow, none of the suggested phrases, other than "do everything and anything", really seems to fit the context. This person is applying for disability; the context doesn't really seem to be appropriate for talking about setting the world on fire. Not to mention the fact that such a translation doesn't really answer the question that was asked. And let's face it, Spanish can be very redundant at times, saying essentially the same thing in different ways in the same sentence. We deal with such redundancy all the time in translation; it can be dealt with here as well. For the context, I tink María Dibo's response is best.

21:11 Jan 21, 2019 

I could turn the world upside down is a fair translation. The original is a colloquial way to convey that he could do just anything. "Antes podía comerme el mundo" could be another way to convey a similar image in Spanish (just in case it can give you some more ideas).