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portación de apellido

English translation: (he may not) have a famous last name

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Spanish term or phrase:	portación de apellido
English translation:	(he may not) have a famous last name
Entered by:	Simon Bruni

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11:55 Nov 3, 2011

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.

Spanish term or phrase: portación de apellido

Hello. This is from an article on a top polo player renowned for his simple ways and modesty, for a polo magazine. The author is probably Argentine or possibly Chilean.

"Nunca se pone en protagonista…
Es así. Debe ser Trenque Lauquen, su infancia en bicicleta para ir del colegio a la quinta, los primeros taqueos junto a su padre y sus tíos, los Jauretche. Nero no tiene portación de apellido, pero lleva algo que no está en sus documentos: TALENTO. XXX no tiene portación de apellido, pero lleva algo que no está en sus documentos: TALENTO"

I think the idea is that a lot of Argentine polo players are from wealthy families that are established in the polo world, have important ranches for breeding ponies etc, but this player has made it to the top on his own merit. But I might be wrong!

Going into UK English please.

Thanks for your help
Simon

Simon Bruni KudoZ activity Questions: 575 (3 open) (10 without valid answers) (18 closed without grading) Answers: 1177 United Kingdom
Local time: 06:31

(he may not) have a famous last name

Explanation:
This is how I read it.

Selected response from:

Jenni Lukac
Local time: 07:31

Grading comment

Thanks everyone!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

(he may not) have a famous last name

Jenni Lukac

3 +4

his surname may not open doors

Martyng

5 +1

he may not have the right surname

Chloe Bullock

4 +1

doesn't (may not) come from a polo-playing family

Noni Gilbert

famous last name

evelyn beltrán

"his family may not belong to the polo playing set"

Emily Marcuccilli

does not have/bear an important/prestigious surname

Lisa McCarthy

carry a posh name

Sebastian Wasserzug

Discussion entries: 4

Answers

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

(he may not) have a famous last name

Explanation:
This is how I read it.

Jenni Lukac
Local time: 07:31
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 96

Grading comment

Thanks everyone!

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

doesn't (may not) come from a polo-playing family

Explanation:
Another angle on it.

Noni Gilbert
Local time: 07:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

7 mins confidence:

does not have/bear an important/prestigious surname

Explanation:
Something along those lines maybe.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2011-11-03 12:03:01 GMT)
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Modern Day Descendants of the Goths? [Archive] - Skadi Forum
forums.skadi.net/archive/index.php/index.php?t-62595.htmlCached
Not certain about the genetic relations though, my impression is that the Goths ... borders of Spain contain the origins of the **prestigious surname** Gonzalez. .... Do the Native Americans in the Us have english surnames too? :| ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2011-11-03 12:08:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or "he doesn´t boast a prestigious surname"

Mundy OFFICIALLY a highly prestigious surname | Facebook
www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2208713710&topic=1839Cached
Mundy OFFICIALLY a highly prestigious surname. Back to I love Mundys ... Just a measly 13% of the UK's population can **boast a surname** that is 'more high ...

Lisa McCarthy
Spain
Local time: 07:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 30

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

his surname may not open doors

Explanation:
just another way of putting it

Martyng
Spain
Local time: 07:31
Native speaker of:

English

2 hrs confidence:

"his family may not belong to the polo playing set"

Explanation:
There is the suggestion that in the polo world is something of a closed shop. Using "set" would convey this.

Emily Marcuccilli
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:31
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

3 hrs confidence:

famous last name

Explanation:
portacion de apellido=he does not carry/have a famous last name

evelyn beltrán
United States
Local time: 01:31
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish

21 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

he may not have the right surname

Explanation:
this is slightly tongue in cheek but implies that although he doesn't share the name Jauretche, he has got to the top on merit, and not as others might do by using their surname to get a foot in the door.

Chloe Bullock
Local time: 06:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English

21 hrs confidence:

carry a posh name

Explanation:
Your intuition was right: it refers to this person not having a posh last name. It’s got to be Argentinean. Alludes strongly to “portacion de armas”, an expression that is quite common and became almost a synonym for the legal offence of “portacion ilegitima de armas” -hence “portacion de nombre.” People do use this expression, and everyone understands it as “having a posh last name,” “being somebody”, etc -which still matters a big deal in Argentina, Polo-wise especially.

Most things I can think of that try to “continue” the parallel guns/last name do not seem to work well:

But he’s no posh-family-name carrying lad, but… (not sure at all how natural this would sound!)

Though he carries no poshness to his name, …

But it needs to work with what comes next: there’s an opposition between what he doesn’t have and what he does have (posh name/talent).

“He doesn’t carry a posh name, but does carry something that IDs won’t
show: Talent.”

There’s also the cultural problem in the mentioning of “documento” (National Identity Document, or DNI), that everyone still believes one needs to carry at all times… and of course has your name in it.

“He might not carry a posh surname, but does carry something that names won’t tell: Talent.”

Some ideas… Hope it helped!

Sebastian Wasserzug
Thailand
Local time: 12:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

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portación de apellido

English translation: (he may not) have a famous last name

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portación de apellido

English translation: (he may not) have a famous last name

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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