James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 30, 2010:

Thanks for all your help people... In the end, I actually got to speak to someone (on the phone) from the Marketing dept. of the UK branch of this company (very helpful indeed!). This turned into more copy-writing, and the end result was this:

"For the best part of the next century, XXXX continued to front the Iberian market, building an extensive portfolio that served to position the brand at the forefront of excellence within the heating and hot water sector...."

Thanks again for all your help :))

Lanna Rustage Apr 29, 2010:

This is a classic case of contact with the client and explaining that in advertising the exact words are vital, and maybe giving an example of an english phrase that sounds daft - or crude - in Spanish. If the advert will put people off, that is no good at all.

Emma Goldsmith Apr 29, 2010:

mistranslation I see what you mean James, and agree that "confort" does have a convenience element in it. But I think you may find that your client complains of mistranslation if you use quality / superiority / excellence. They might claim that the original doesn't say any of that, and IMHO they would be right. Still, it's you who has to defend your translation at the end of the day, and you are clearly well equipped to do so after all the opinions that have been given here :)

James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 28, 2010:

Some ramblings... Hi Emma,
I’ve seriously discussed this in-depth with my native Spanish partner, as well as other Spanish colleagues here, and they all convey the literal translation — the message of Comfort (as in, oh I feel so comfortable because this bathroom is so thermally comfortable); and Convenience (as in, oh it’s just so easy and convenient to make my bathroom so thermally comfortable). So I understand the message perfectly in Spanish.
However, this just doesn’t work for me in this context in the English. It’s obvious in the Spanish that they expect the reader to understand that they are referring to how good their products make THEM (the reader) feel; but in the English version, however, a literal translation is just too ambiguous, I believe. My problem with it is that you wouldn’t automatically connect comfort to how their products make you feel — you’d be left wondering what to connect it to, frankly. Which is the ambiguity.
This is for an very upmarket UK magazine, and is an article about the world's leading producer of bathroom fittings & fixtures, so I’ve got to get it “just right” — no room for ambiguity here! :)

Emma Goldsmith Apr 28, 2010:

What is the client trying to say? I've followed this interesting discussion, gone on thinking about it, and I reckon that the client may really want to convey "comfort" - as simply as that :)
After all, most of the other words that have been suggested could readily have been used in the Spanish, but the client chose not to use them. My two cents...

James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 28, 2010:

What do you think of EXCELLENCE? "For the greater part of the next century, XXXX continued to lead the Iberian market, building a portfolio of everything needed to make the brand synonymous with excellence in the heating and hot water sector."

Just thinking out loud, so to speak. Ideally I'm looking for a one-word solution, as I find the text rather 'wordy' as it is...

Lanna Rustage Apr 28, 2010:

The trouble is that the concept of confort just doesnt exist in English in this sense. I often put "heating and air conditioning", but in this case, quality sounds good. In advertising, exact translations are impossible ...

James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 28, 2010:

Yes it has me stumped! º_º
That's my expression whenever I look at the word 'confort' in this text, hehe.

I think you're spot on with your observation, GIlla. And I can't for the life of me think of a way of putting it either...

I've been trying to word it based on the next sentence in the context somehow:
"This is why we have used the motto “All things Heating” for a large part of our history."

“All things Heating” would fit the spot lovely, but then that would render the whole next sentence pretty much redundant... Sigh...

Evans (X) Apr 28, 2010:

having said "mod cons" sounds old fashioned to me, I can't for the life of me think what we would say instead. I think it has fallen into disuse because houses have these things as a matter of course and we would be disturbed to come across one without (in the wealthier parts of the world that is), so we don't boast about having "all mod cons". Perhpas you could say something like first-class facilities or quality fittings...

James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 28, 2010:

Thanks Gilla That's thrown a whole different angle on things. Makes perfect sense and is great food for thought.
@Lucy, the company makes bathroom fittings: toilets, wash basins, heated towel rails, baths, etc. Hope that helps.

Lucy Phillips Apr 28, 2010:

sorry to be dense, but what does the company actually make? boilers? it might help in finding a suitable translation.

without any more details, some ideas that occurred to me were 'luxury' 'peace of mind'... but I may be way off the mark here.

Evans (X) Apr 28, 2010:

James, I think this comes from the French expression "tout confort" which refers to all mod cons, i.e. modern conveniences, a now rather old-fashioned way of referring to the facilities in a house - heating, hot and cold water etc.