English translation: Do not invest in the currency of countries where the tap water is unfit to drink
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:
If you can’t drink the water, sell the currency.
English translation:
Do not invest in the currency of countries where the tap water is unfit to drink
The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2012-01-20 11:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
English to English translations [PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase:If you can’t drink the water, sell the currency.
Another time, the chief economist in London came by the proprietary trading desk to offer his macroeconomic view of the world. One trader cut him off and with his boots up on the desk,” told him, “With all due respect, I do my own research. I was in quite a few bars in Spain last weekend and let me tell you something—they were empty.” He followed this bit of trenchant analysis with another: “I’ve got another rule that I live by: ‘If you can’t drink the water, sell the currency.’ ”
Explanation: Because such countries will usually be relatively poor, if not actually Third World.
An economy incapable of providing a clean water supply will not, according to this rule, be strong enough to make its currency a profitable investment.
This person comes across as pragmatic but crude (note the boots on the desk). There is a clear implication that this "rule" is of dubious value, and based on nothing more than prejudice. "Trenchant analysis" is clearly meant ironically; his "research" involves going to bars. Though poor drinking water probably does generally mean weaker economies, it is far from obvious that this is a good rule for a currency investor to follow.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 mins (2012-01-16 21:42:15 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Take India, for example. Or Brazil. I don't know, but I imagine their tap water is certainly no better than Spain's (which is fine, by the way). Yet their currencies certainly might be good investments at certain times, even if they are not at the moment. This is a pretty stupid rule if taken literally.
...what it means is that if the country is in such a poor state that the water is undrinkable, then it would be better to rid yourself of that country's currency (a bad investment!)
I think this is consistent with a rule-of-thumb macroeconomic view of the world — though there are of course plenty of other possible interpretations!
By using this phrase, is the trader declaring his credo (If you want to drink something more than just water, go trade in currency)? Or is it related to the previous sentence about Spain (If you can't drink even water because the bars are empty, sell the currency, i.e. Spanish currency)? Or is there any other explanation?
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Answers
7 mins confidence:
if you can’t drink the water, sell the currency.
se a água não for potável, então não invista na moeda local
Explanation: if you can’t drink the water, sell the currency. => se a água não for potável, então não invista na moeda local
airmailrpl Brazil Local time: 22:05 Works in field Native speaker of: English, Portuguese PRO pts in category: 40
if they do bot have potable water, do not hold onto the currenyn sell it
Explanation: The implication might be the country once had water that was drinkable, but now they don't. The implication would be that the country is in decline and the currency will drop in value
Stephanie Ezrol United States Local time: 21:05 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 74
Do not invest in the currency of countries where the tap water is unfit to drink
Explanation: Because such countries will usually be relatively poor, if not actually Third World.
An economy incapable of providing a clean water supply will not, according to this rule, be strong enough to make its currency a profitable investment.
This person comes across as pragmatic but crude (note the boots on the desk). There is a clear implication that this "rule" is of dubious value, and based on nothing more than prejudice. "Trenchant analysis" is clearly meant ironically; his "research" involves going to bars. Though poor drinking water probably does generally mean weaker economies, it is far from obvious that this is a good rule for a currency investor to follow.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 mins (2012-01-16 21:42:15 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Take India, for example. Or Brazil. I don't know, but I imagine their tap water is certainly no better than Spain's (which is fine, by the way). Yet their currencies certainly might be good investments at certain times, even if they are not at the moment. This is a pretty stupid rule if taken literally.
Charles Davis Local time: 03:05 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 60
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Asker: Thanks for the profound explanation, now it's all very clear.
The translation workplace 
