un tópico cierto, o un cierto tópico?

English translation: a hot topic or (all) hot air?

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Spanish term or phrase:	un tópico cierto, o un cierto tópico?
English translation:	a hot topic or (all) hot air?
Entered by:	Lisa McCarthy

15:45 Dec 22, 2010

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Tourism & Travel /

Spanish term or phrase: un tópico cierto, o un cierto tópico?

This is an interview, talking about the AVE now going to Valencia.
A translation is not going to work in English without tackling it from another angle. Any suggestions as to how to deal with it would be welcome :) For a UK audience.

Interviewr: ¿Lo del antes y el después del AVE es un tópico cierto, o un cierto tópico?-

Interviewee: Cuando el metro llegó por fin a la calle Colón y al centro de la ciudad, también vinieron los Reyes. Cualquier infraestructura importante, y el AVE lo es, supone un antes y un después. Las sociedades están avanzando a gran ritmo en un mundo globalizado en el que me parece que no hay que sacralizar nada, sino aprovecharlo, utilizarlo y sacarle el máximo rendimiento.

Lisa McCarthy KudoZ activity Questions: 2147 (9 open) (189 closed without grading) Answers: 2866 Spain
Local time: 01:23

a hot topic or (all) hot air?

Explanation:
another option!

Selected response from:

Edward Tully
Local time: 01:23

Grading comment

Thanks, Edward! Close call between this and David's suggestion. Just preferred the sound of this one :)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

a hot topic or (all) hot air?

Edward Tully

4 +2

a talking point - or all pointless talk?

David Ronder

truth or myth

Andres Pacheco

Newsworthy or not worthy?

lorenab23

a topic for discussion or a discussion topic?

Yvonne Gallagher

a real issue, or just media hype

Charles Davis

any real clout? Or is it just hearsay?

James A. Walsh

chalk and cheese, or two sides of the same coin?

Patrick Jones

a matter of fact, or a matter for discussion?

Patrick Jones

Life pre AVE and life after AVE - is it really such a difference?

Neil Ashby

Discussion entries: 10

Yvonne Gallagher

Ireland

00:28 Dec 23, 2010

@ Charles, welcome to the club:-)

Charles Davis

Spain

Patrick

23:20 Dec 22, 2010

You can post more than one answer if you want, though you're not supposed to make a habit of it. If you wish you hadn't posted an answer and want to make it invisible, you can do so with the "Hide" option at the bottom of the box, but I don't think you can actually remove it from the system entirely.

Patrick Jones

United Kingdom

18:30 Dec 22, 2010

Cheers Charles, I am relatively new to this so I didn't know I could post more than one answer. I am learning that as discussions and ideas evolve I sometimes wish I could retract previous answers!

Dr Neil, when I saw your answer you had still not corrected the grammar, which was why I did not vote for it. The reason that I liked it was that it did not add something to the meaning, something which many of the others others seemed to do in an attempt to maintain the wordplay.

Charles Davis

Spain

17:44 Dec 22, 2010

A matter of fact, or a matter for discussion... That sounds like an answer you could post! :)

Neil Ashby

Spain

17:43 Dec 22, 2010

Patrick, if my idea was so good why didn't you vote for it? ;@)
But seriously thank you for your comments, it's good to know that as a relatively inexperienced translator I'm on the right lines....

Patrick Jones

United Kingdom

17:34 Dec 22, 2010

Charles, is that a matter of fact, or a matter for discussion?

;-)

Charles Davis

Spain

17:26 Dec 22, 2010

Well, Patrick, to quote Lisa herself, "A translation is not going to work in English without tackling it from another angle".

Patrick Jones

United Kingdom

17:20 Dec 22, 2010

Actually, thinking about it again, surely tópico needs to be in the noun form rather than the adjective form here, therefore discounting trite/not newsworthy/a dead letter/pointless talk?

Charles Davis

Spain

17:05 Dec 22, 2010

I thought about "trite but true, or true but trite?", but I don't like it enough to post it.

GGruia

16:48 Dec 22, 2010

It might be " a real (true) topic or a certain topic".

Answers

17 mins confidence:

truth or myth

Explanation:
...

Andres Pacheco
Local time: 20:23
Does not meet criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

47 mins confidence:

Newsworthy or not worthy?

Explanation:
Just an idea

lorenab23
United States
Local time: 16:23
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 8

34 mins confidence:

Life pre AVE and life after AVE - is it really such a difference?

Explanation:
...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 51 mins (2010-12-22 16:37:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, would read better as - "is there really such a difference?"

Neil Ashby
Spain
Local time: 01:23
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

1 hr confidence:

chalk and cheese, or two sides of the same coin?

Explanation:
'Un tópico cierto' could be described as a 'truth/fact', but I am not convinced that 'un cierto tópico' can be described as a 'myth/fiction'.

One definition of 'tópico' is 'trite', which could be expressed as 'a dead letter/hot air', but I can not see how it could ever mean 'still in play/hot topic'.

I do not think the interviewer was trying to use wordplay to oppose the phrases. Instead they seem to be asking if the difference in life is an accepted fact or if it is still open for debate.

As such I would say that Dr Neil has the best approach so far since the question seems to accept that there is a difference but asks the extent to shich it is felt.

This solution essentially keeps the meanings but changes the logical mechanism of the question from wordplay to a contrast of idioms. If it doesn't seem right then making a slight alteration to Dr Neil's answer is probably the best solution.

Patrick Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:23
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

a talking point - or all pointless talk?

Explanation:
I think that's the idea

David Ronder
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:23
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

Robert Forstag: A clever idea here. But, in American English at least, "talking points" often refer to the "script" or "spiel" that politicians or representatives of powerful lobbying groups recite--and which may therefore be more "pointless" than substantial. Best. :)

8 mins

-> Interesting - I've never come across it used like that. I'm hoping Lisa needs British English, though, in which it definitely means 'hot topic' or similar.

agree

Charles Davis: I think this works, and it's the only one so far that keeps the original structure (AB BA). // Robert: I don't think it means that in British English; it just means "a topic that invites discussion or argument" (Oxford). And Lisa says "for a UK audience".

10 mins

-> Thanks, Charles. Could be an ABBA lyric, too, couldn't it?

agree

Neil Ashby: Sounds brilliant to me "a talking point - or pointless talk" - I don't see why the 'all' is necessary??

37 mins

-> Yes, of course - snappier. Thanks, Doc.

1 hr confidence:

a topic for discussion or a discussion topic?

Explanation:
another option

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 00:23
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

a hot topic or (all) hot air?

Explanation:
another option!

Edward Tully
Local time: 01:23
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 110

Grading comment

Thanks, Edward! Close call between this and David's suggestion. Just preferred the sound of this one :)

2 hrs confidence:

a matter of fact, or a matter for discussion?

Explanation:
Hopefully one of the many suggestions will be suitable for you!

Patrick Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:23
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

7 hrs confidence:

a real issue, or just media hype

Explanation:
More than enough answers already, but I didn't want to feel left out. I can't think of any better ideas for a tricksy wordplay kind of solution than those already suggested. But even these, though very clever and even inspired in some cases, are not entirely unforced. Fair enough; the Spanish original is very forced, I think. Anyway, I though I'd try out the opposite approach, forget all about a clever formulation and try to capture what (to my mind) the interviewer is really trying to say, in the most natural way I can think of. So there you are -- and we're into double figures!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2010-12-22 22:58:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

After all that, I forgot the question mark!
A real issue, or just media hype?

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 01:23
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 119

6 hrs confidence:

un tópico cierto, o un cierto tópico? any real clout? Or is it just hearsay?

Explanation:
Based on the research I’ve done about high-speed rail in Spain, this is my suggestion. You’ve already got some great suggestions, but I couldn’t construct any sort of coherent, natural-sounding question out of them in English, so added ‘effect’ to be able to understand the whole question (and not just that part of it).

From the link below, scroll down to the article entitled: “Talgo: at the forefront of high-speed railway technology”, where you can read the beginning of the article for free. Here’s the opening paragraph:

“The effect of implementing a high-speed network in Spain has been incredibly positive and it has created a ‘before and an after’ effect in the Spanish railway sector. Not long ago, trains were competing against cars, but nowadays trains are in competition with planes and this radical change shows the technological jump that the railway sector is going through thanks to high-speed worldwide.”

Cheers.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2010-12-23 22:08:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Just a note to say, I also considered the part of the interviewee's response when he/she says: "Cualquier infraestructura importante, y el AVE lo es, supone un antes y un después." Hence the inclusion of 'effect'. Happy Christmas :-)

Example sentence(s):

¿Lo del antes y el después del AVE es <u>un tópico cierto, o un cierto tópico?</u>
Does the AVE’s ‘before and after’ effect have <u>any real clout? Or is it just hearsay?</u>

Reference: http://www.europeanrailwayreview.com/tag/high-speed-rail/pag...

James A. Walsh
Spain
Local time: 01:23
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 43

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English translation: a hot topic or (all) hot air?

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English translation: a hot topic or (all) hot air?

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