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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

antes muerto que bombardeado

English translation:

better safe than sorry

Added to glossary by Robert Rutledge
Aug 13, 2022 18:58
1 yr ago
42 viewers *
Spanish term

antes muerto que bombardeado

Spanish to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I am currently translating a Colombian telenovela based in Medellín.

The protagonist is a singer. She is hosting a party at her house and it is coming to an end.

Her guitarist tells her "Mañana hay mucho que hacer. Si es que puedo hacer algo, porque antes muerto que bombardeado."

I am having a hard time grasping this phrase and Googling it brought me to some shady websites.

Does "bombardeado" refer to the fact that the guitarist feels bombarded with things he has to do?

Is he saying something among the lines of "I'd rather die than go through that?"
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 “Prevention is better than cure” or “Better safe than sorry”
4 Better to be dead than under siege!
4 rather six feet under than blown asunder (by the pressure)

Discussion

Marcelo González Aug 15, 2022:
@AllegroTrans - yes, agreed ... though my interpretation (for now at least) is a bit different. I don't see a 'problem' but rather an attempt to support the host in her desire to see the evening come to an end. A sort of, "ok folks, that's a wrap ..." but I could be wrong, of course, with so little context. "Mañana hay mucho que hacer, si es que puedo hacer algo, porque antes muerto que bombardeado" (with the insertion of a comma where I suspect it could have also been appropriate or intended). "Tomorrow there's much to be done, [that is] if I'll be able to do anything: as an ounce of prevention is worth of pound of cure [as the saying goes]" ;-) Again, I could be wrong, but think this may be the idea here. Robert, any thoughts?
AllegroTrans Aug 15, 2022:
The point is This guitarist has "trouble" of some kind. This could be anything from work pressure to a death threat, from being deeply in debt to being blackmailed. "Bombardeado" could be made to fit any of these situations, but unless Robert (who obviously knows the plot) gives us more information, the answers may not fit the situation. Robert, please provide context, it is important
Marcelo González Aug 15, 2022:
So the guitar player, who may be trying to help the singer to politely bring the event to a close, tells the guests something equivalent to "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"??? Maybe, if the point was to convey a touch of humor by having a character use an expression incorrectly for comic effect (something I've seen quite a bit in some series colombianas). And if that slight comic effect is really what was being pursued, maybe Adrian's suggestion would fit the bill rather nicely ... the idea of primero o mejor muerto que acribillado ... better six feet under than blown to pieces
AllegroTrans Aug 14, 2022:
Robert Context, please!
Andrew Bramhall Aug 13, 2022:
Juxtaposition of ideas at play here Yes, you're right Phil, but that ain't what the piece says; my piece certainly more reflective of the truth than the other flight of fancy/ fantasy.
philgoddard Aug 13, 2022:
Yes, more context would help.

Also, surely "better besieged than dead" would make more sense.
AllegroTrans Aug 13, 2022:
@ Robert. context please What kind of a hard time is this guitarist going through? Is it about crime? war? gang violence? personal problems? something else?

Proposed translations

+3
4 hrs
Selected

“Prevention is better than cure” or “Better safe than sorry”

Not being Colombian, it is no wonder that this saying sounded weird to me. It is totally unknown in Spain. But after conducting some research (driven by my insatiable curiosity), I found the following website, that includes not only the saying itself, but also its meaning. So let´s take a look at it:

From Colombia:
https://www.laobramaxima.es/www/cronica.php?regid=11
Crónicas Misioneras
Crónica 11. Sonsón - Colombia
En la Antioquia de los “paisas”
Es el departamento civil. Departamento laborioso y productivo. Dicen que los antioqueños son capaces de producir oro de las piedras. Antioquia es el cerebro económico de la nación. En todo caso, los antioqueños son hábiles negociantes. Los “paisas” tienen palabra fácil, garbosa, expresiva. Se explican por refranes. Cada decir en boca del antioqueño es un condensado de sentencias, vale por un capítulo: el tal señor “es el perro de todas las bodas”, la señora “corrió más veloz que la mala noticia”, el buen hombre “aprendió antes a hablar que a mamar”, “guerra anunciada soldado que se salva”, del que quiere curarse en salud dicen que “primero muerto que bombardeado”, al que ha perdido el oficio “se le rompió la cuchara”, ...

The key information here is the expression “curarse en salud”, which is definitely very popular in Spain with the following meaning:

https://www.significados.com/curarse-en-salud/#:~:text=“Curarse%20en%20salud”%20es%20una,las%20medidas%20necesarias%20para%20evitarlo.
Significado de Curarse en salud
Qué es Curarse en salud:
“Curarse en salud” es una locución que se emplea para expresar que es mejor prevenir un mal antes de que ocurra. En este sentido, esta expresión acostumbra a ser utilizada en situaciones donde una persona avizora un daño o una amenaza, y anuncia su intención de tomar las medidas necesarias para evitarlo.

“Curarse en salud” means in Spanish the same as “más vale prevenir que curar”, which translates into English as to take precautions in order to avoid possible undesirable consequences later.

Collins quotes two possible translations of this, but there some variants of them both, sure:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english...
más vale prevenir que curar
prevention is better than cure
better safe than sorry

By the way, I think the most popular version of this South American (or just Colombian, I am not sure) saying is “primero muerto que bombardeado” rather than “antes muerto que bombardeado” (judging by the Google hits), but if I am guessing right the meaning of both options is exactly the same.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2022-08-13 23:47:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Typo:
Collins quotes two possible translations of this, but there ARE some variants of them both, sure:
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : Good research. I don't fully understand the context, but you could possibly also say 'play it safe' or 'just to be on the safe side'.
1 hr
Thanks, phil. I don´t understand it fully either, so in my view the logical way to go here is to translate the saying according to its meaning in Colombia. I can´t do much more than that.
agree neilmac : “Better safe than sorry” seems to fit the context neatly....
7 hrs
Thanks Neil. I wish I could understand the (meagre!) context as well as you.
neutral AllegroTrans : Great research but with zero context concerning what is this guitarist's "trouble" there is really no way of knowing if it fits // a better way to go would be a response from the Asker!
11 hrs
Okay, true that we don´t know what the guitarist´s trouble is. So the only way to go here is to interpret the meaning of the expression in Colombia, precisely what I did. // Also true, but this doesn´t depend on me...
agree Andrew Bramhall : Yes, very likely a good solution unlike the offering above.
14 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I really appreciate the time and research you put into this. Saludos de Dayton, Ohio!"
2 mins

Better to be dead than under siege!

Yes, he's doubting his ability to cope, as you suggest;
Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : Insufficient context from asker
17 hrs
Agree on reflection; Thank you.
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1 hr

rather six feet under than blown asunder (by the pressure)

> by the pressure put on the guitarist.

> so, rather an original rhyme, than a flat and mediocre turn of phrase.
Example sentence:

Dead and buried, as in No, you can't read my diary—not until I'm six feet under.

Reference:

http://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781351154406-5/blown-asunder-dissolution-disorganisation-dislocation-collective-organisa

Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : How do you know that it's about pressure put on the guitarist? Might it not be something else entirely? There is something in the plot of this story that we don;t know and which Asker hasn't told us.
21 mins
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