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Del tabaco, como de las mujeres, no hay que abusar.

English translation: Tobacco, like women, should be enjoyed in moderation.


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:Del tabaco, como de las mujeres, no hay que abusar.
English translation:Tobacco, like women, should be enjoyed in moderation.
Entered by: Marilena Berca
Options:
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00:53 Dec 7, 2011
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism / Smoking
Spanish term or phrase: Del tabaco, como de las mujeres, no hay que abusar.
Es una frase de George Courteline.

Estaba pensando en "Smoking too much and too many women should be avoided".

Quedo a la espera de vuestras sugerencias.
Marilena Berca
Spain
Local time: 09:04
One should not over do it with tobacco or women.
Explanation:
or
Women and tobacco should be enjoyed in moderation.
Selected response from:

rich.
Mexico
Local time: 02:04
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +9One should not over do it with tobacco or women.
rich.
4 +1Tobacco, like women, should not be abused
neilmac
4 -1excessive indulgence in tobacco is as bad as it is in womenpeninsular


  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +9
One should not over do it with tobacco or women.


Explanation:
or
Women and tobacco should be enjoyed in moderation.

rich.
Mexico
Local time: 02:04
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rosa Paredes: Me gusta más la segunda, suena bien....
22 mins
  -> Thanks Rosa. It was my first choice, then I switched 'em, supposedly to be more in keeping with the ST
agree  Charles Davis: The second is MUCH better. Ideally (and closer to the original): "Tobacco, like women, should be enjoyed in moderation".
31 mins
  -> It was the "no hay que abusar" "not over do it" that made me think it was more in keeping with the ST. Thanks Charles :)
agree  Lindsay Spratt: The second one!
52 mins
  -> Thanks Lindsay. Should have gone with my gut feeling. Now I feel like a bit of cheat with two very different answers. Oh well! :)
agree  Marjory Hord
4 hrs
  -> Thanks Marjory
agree  Karen Chalmers: I like the second one too.
6 hrs
agree  Simon Bruni: I like Charles' suggested version
7 hrs
  -> Thanks Simon
agree  franglish: With Charles, though, to get away from such a sexist pronouncement, I'd be tempted by "... like the pleasures of the flesh, ..."! (I know I know, source text says "women")
7 hrs
  -> Nice nonsexist version! I would hope if he was a wit and writer today (100 years on), he might have been with it enough to be more politically correct, and it could be argued that any mention of not abusing women could be pro feminist. Thanks Franglish
agree  Jenni Lukac: I lean towards the moderation version.
8 hrs
  -> Thanks Jenni
agree  neilmac: The first is more informal. Both versions sound suitably roaring 20s to me ;)
11 hrs
  -> Thanks for the support for version one BTW. I don't thing I've ever started a sentence with "one" in that context, but... :)
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
excessive indulgence in tobacco is as bad as it is in women


Explanation:
.

peninsular
Local time: 12:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Terri L. Myers: Poorly written in English, ambiguous and unclear. Implies that excessive indulgence in tobacco by women is a bad personality trait
7 hrs
  ->  Thanks Ms Myers, for your observation. I was not satisfied with the construction myself, my emphasis was on the use of 'excessive indulgence. '
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Tobacco, like women, should not be abused


Explanation:
This looks to me like a rather lame take on the current obsession with "violencia de genero" (partner abuse) in Spain. I don't appreciate the witticism myself (if it is intended as such) but there's no accounting for taste.

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Note added at 9 hrs (2011-12-07 10:21:23 GMT)
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I mean, that I don't perceive it as saying that "tobacco and women are bad for you", rather that "tobacco should not be abused, and neither should women". The semantic difference is important IMHO.
I may be mistaken...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2011-12-07 10:26:29 GMT)
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Moreover, I don't understand why everyone seems so keen to avoid or euphemise the original concept of "abuse". After all it is not recreational drugs, sex, or even violence (etc.) that are toxic per se, but their abuse.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2011-12-07 10:32:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I suppose my 21st century view of it (probably too PC) doesn't quite chime with the zeitgeist of the author's early 20th century Paris, so perhaps the more louche versions suggested are better options than mine.

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 09:04
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Terri L. Myers: Closest to original, carries the same emphasis in English as in the original Spanish
3 hrs
  -> Cheers, although I suspect the original author's intention was the mildly sexist quip understood by Rich.
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