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Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo

English translation: Spanish Car Company

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo
English translation:Spanish Car Company
Entered by: Charles Davis

23:17 Apr 11, 2018
Spanish to English translations [Non-PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Automotive / Cars & Trucks
Spanish term or phrase: Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo
This is just to satisfy my curiosity, not a professional query for translation... we all know the Spanish car maker SEAT, which stands for Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo. I see this translated literally all over the place as Society of Spanish Automobile Tourism or some very close derivative thereof, which sounds like a false friend to me so is that an accurate translation of the name of the car company? I'm not a Spanish speaker so I have no idea... just sounds like an odd name for a car company.
Setti Mulari
New Zealand
Local time: 01:15
Spanish Private Car Company
Explanation:
No, translations like the one you've quoted are not accurate at all. Leaving aside "de" (of), two of the other four words do not have the same meaning as their English cognates:

"Sociedad" can mean society (society in general or an association), but it can also mean "company" (as in corporation), and that's what it means here.

"Turismo" can mean tourism, but "automóvil de turismo" means a private car, and "turismo" on its own is still used to mean a private car in Spanish officialese to this day (e.g. in police reports). It's a bit old-fashioned now, but you need to bear in mind that the name of the company was formulated over half a century ago, in 1950. Actually in UK and Commonwealth English "tourer" or "touring car" is a similarly old-fashioned term with a similar meaning.

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-04-12 00:36:15 GMT)
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I should add that "Spanish Private Car Company" is intended as a literal rendering of the words, not as a translation for general use. It's ambigious, because it could be taken to mean a private company that makes cars, whereas the Spanish name means a company that makes private cars. If you want an accurate translation for general use I would cut "private" and just say "Spanish Car Company". "Car" implies private car anyway.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:15
Grading comment
Many thanks.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2Spanish Private Car Company
Charles Davis
5Motor cars
GFSTranslations
Summary of reference entries provided
Refs.
Taña Dalglish

  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Spanish Private Car Company


Explanation:
No, translations like the one you've quoted are not accurate at all. Leaving aside "de" (of), two of the other four words do not have the same meaning as their English cognates:

"Sociedad" can mean society (society in general or an association), but it can also mean "company" (as in corporation), and that's what it means here.

"Turismo" can mean tourism, but "automóvil de turismo" means a private car, and "turismo" on its own is still used to mean a private car in Spanish officialese to this day (e.g. in police reports). It's a bit old-fashioned now, but you need to bear in mind that the name of the company was formulated over half a century ago, in 1950. Actually in UK and Commonwealth English "tourer" or "touring car" is a similarly old-fashioned term with a similar meaning.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2018-04-12 00:36:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I should add that "Spanish Private Car Company" is intended as a literal rendering of the words, not as a translation for general use. It's ambigious, because it could be taken to mean a private company that makes cars, whereas the Spanish name means a company that makes private cars. If you want an accurate translation for general use I would cut "private" and just say "Spanish Car Company". "Car" implies private car anyway.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:15
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 108
Grading comment
Many thanks.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Juan Jacob: Vaya, hasta que me entero... mira tú.
1 hr
  -> Gracias, Juan :-) Así es, ni más ni menos.
agree  JohnMcDove: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAT/Mi padre tenía un 850, en la época de los 60 y 70 cuando el 600 estaba en pleno auge. Como la canción de "Adelante hombre del 600, la carretera nacional es tuya. Adelante, manos al volante, tienes un domingo por delante.
1 hr
  -> Gracias, Juan :-) Fíjate, mi suegro también dio el salto directamente al 850. Aún estaba impecable en los 80, con su Virgen de la Concepción en el salpicadero y su San Cristóbal también, si recuerdo bien... le ponía una lona incluso dentro del garaje.
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Motor cars


Explanation:
Motor cars
An "automovil de turismo" in UK English is a "saloon car", in the USA it is a "sedan car" or simply an "automobile".
But in the name of a company, we would use:
"Motor car(s)" or "Motors", such as Austin Motors, Morris Motors, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation.
Thus SEAT - if it were in England or USA would be:
"Spanish Motor Car Company" or "Spanish Motors Company"

Example sentence(s):
  • See the explanation above!
GFSTranslations
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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Reference comments


1 hr peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Refs.

Reference information:
Comments/references:

SEAT, S.A. is indeed "Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo". The translation "Society of Spanish Automobile Tourism" does sound very contrived and very non-English and is very literal. Firstly, Sociedad would not be "Society" but rather "Corporation/Company". The combination of the words "automobile tourism" does not make too much sense to me either.

http://www.seat.com/home.html
http://www.seat.com/corporate/history/1950.html
The Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo, S.A. is founded on May 9th, with the aim of motorising Spain.

http://www.seat.co.uk/

I did find a link which uses "Spanish Corporation of Private Cars" which is a little better sounding than "Society/Automobile Tourism", and any other combinations of these words, but not by much. Personally, as far as an equivalent English translation, I would just leave it as "SEAT, S.A." [S.A. by the way stands for "Sociedad Anónima"], https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english... often rendered as limited liability company (esp Brit) ⧫ corporation (US), by way of explanation.

Spain - Página 70 - Resultado de Google Books
https://books.google.com.jm/books?isbn=1438105428 - Traducir esta página
Zoran Pavlovic, ‎Reuel R. Hanks, ‎Charles F. Gritzner - 2006 - ‎Electronic books
Shortly after Spain joined the European Union in 1986, German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen began investing heavily in Spanish automobile manufacturer **SEAT (Spanish Corporation of Private Cars)**. Pictured here is an automobile lot at SEAT's manufacturing plant in Martorell, Spain. The plant annually produces.

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-04-12 00:25:43 GMT)
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Here is yet another version:
Spanish Cars - SEAT 600 | don Quijote UK
www.donquijote.co.uk › Spanish Culture Blog
Traducir esta página
**SEAT stands for Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo, or "Society of Spanish Touring Cars"**, and the company took much of its inspiration from the Italian manufacturer Fiat. Seat forged a strong alliance with Fiat as Franco's Government at the time hoped to emulate the Italian brands success because Spain had ...

Taña Dalglish
Jamaica
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  JohnMcDove: http://dle.rae.es/?id=4Tpk0J8 automóvil de turismo 1. m. coche (‖ automóvil). :-) /You're welcome, Taña. Yes, undoubtedly, having Charles around is a God's blessing, even if he is atheist... ;-) And the question seems PRO, to me...
1 hr
  -> Thanks John. Charles has summed up the ambiguities nicely.
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