Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Italian term or phrase:
contesto urbano
English translation:
local economy
Added to glossary by
Anthony Green
Feb 1, 2002 15:02
22 yrs ago
Italian term
Italy
for beautiful and accurate texts
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Italian to English, French to English, English
contesto urbano
Italian to English
Marketing
ports and shipping
Of course we all know what it means, but is there any way of putting this elegantly in the context (I can't believe I just used the damned word in English too). It's just one of those yukky almost-meaningless rhetorical devices that we translators love to hate, and I'm never really satisfied with my attempts.
I also have to try and mix (or should that be unravel?) my metaphors to do justice to the original text - if the port were described in English as a vital link in the "city chain" it would sound more like an old-fashioned toilet (come to think of it, it smells like one in places!)...
Context "L’Autorità portuale ha inoltre perseguito l’obiettivo di una stretta integrazione con la città, nella consapevolezza che il porto costituisce una maglia essenziale del contesto urbano e può svolgere perciò un ruolo importante, volto ad assecondare il rilevante sforzo posto in essere dall’Amministrazione comunale "
The document is to be published and used for a marketing brochure
I also have to try and mix (or should that be unravel?) my metaphors to do justice to the original text - if the port were described in English as a vital link in the "city chain" it would sound more like an old-fashioned toilet (come to think of it, it smells like one in places!)...
Context "L’Autorità portuale ha inoltre perseguito l’obiettivo di una stretta integrazione con la città, nella consapevolezza che il porto costituisce una maglia essenziale del contesto urbano e può svolgere perciò un ruolo importante, volto ad assecondare il rilevante sforzo posto in essere dall’Amministrazione comunale "
The document is to be published and used for a marketing brochure
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | local economy |
Giles Watson
|
| 4 +1 | metropolitan area |
Marian Greenfield
|
| 4 | urban knit / urban mesh |
Elena Sgarbo (X)
|
| 4 | urban mosaic |
CLS Lexi-tech
|
| 4 | Beautiful rendition, Anthony! |
Elena Sgarbo (X)
|
Proposed translations
1 hr
Selected
local economy
I would be tempted to be a little more specific in English, since the idea is clearly that the port is a "key feature of the local economy".
And for Paola, the technical term for a mosaic tile is "tessera" in English, too. The Greeks first called them that because they have four (tessares) sides. BTW the fascinating Spilimbergo Mosaic School, an occasional customer, is only 30 kilometres from my home.
HTH
Giles
And for Paola, the technical term for a mosaic tile is "tessera" in English, too. The Greeks first called them that because they have four (tessares) sides. BTW the fascinating Spilimbergo Mosaic School, an occasional customer, is only 30 kilometres from my home.
HTH
Giles
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "In the context (!) Giles' "local economy" worked the best, with its excellent dose of lateral thinking, although I had originally used Marian's "metropolitan area". Thanks everyone for their contributions to this. In the end I decided the metaphor of the link in the chain wasn't worth pursuing, and wrote the following : "Another objective of the Port Authority was to integrate more closely with the city, recognizing that the port is a vital component in the local economy."
Please chastise me publicly for anything you disagree with - I'm not that keen on "recognizing", but when all is said and done it's only a translation, not a poetry competition"
6 mins
urban knit / urban mesh
...since we're talking about 'maglia'...
Also (but not as powerful, I think): urban net.
Buon lavoro.
Elena
Also (but not as powerful, I think): urban net.
Buon lavoro.
Elena
+1
22 mins
Marian Greenfield
Native in English
Over 30 years in financial translation
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
1215
metropolitan area
I think this screams for free translation along the lines of:
the port is an essential part of the metropolitan area surrounding....
or maybe even <metropolitan web>
since I think metropolitan area fits a lot better than suburbs (I live in the suburbs of NYC, still part of the metropolitan area, but much less citified than a port).
hth
\msg
the port is an essential part of the metropolitan area surrounding....
or maybe even <metropolitan web>
since I think metropolitan area fits a lot better than suburbs (I live in the suburbs of NYC, still part of the metropolitan area, but much less citified than a port).
hth
\msg
25 mins
CLS Lexi-tech
Native in Italian
Language innovations for the future
Native in: Italian
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian, Italian, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
1505
urban mosaic
mi viene in mente tessera nel mosaico urbano
se solo mi ricordassi come si dice tessera di un mosaico
ciao anthony
paola l m
di gran corsa
se solo mi ricordassi come si dice tessera di un mosaico
ciao anthony
paola l m
di gran corsa
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Elena Sgarbo (X)
: mosaic tile? :-)
12 mins
|
1 hr
Beautiful rendition, Anthony!
George's "local economy" certainly fits well here. I really like how you translated the sentence, A.
Cheers,
Elena
Cheers,
Elena
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