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partida arancelaria
Nov 16, 2007 22:47
16 yrs ago
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Spanish term

delirante

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature medicine
Quién era xxx? Un loco, un delirante, un impostor ...

I would appreciate any and all ideas on "delirante" as opposed to "loco". Thanks in advance
Proposed translations (English)
4 an idiot/fool
5 +7 dreamer
5 +3 hallucinating / delirious
4 +3 a madman, mentally deranged, an impostor
4 +1 delirious
4 +1 lunatic
4 +1 delusional
4 a/an hysteric
4 idealist

Discussion

Austinterpret Nov 17, 2007:
in that case & as long as ET doesn´t become as delusional as we have,delirante(in context) is not a dreamer by any stretch of the imagination,xxx is a deluded & feared misfit, might have been a dreamer in ther past but not any longer.good luck:-)
David Hollywood (asker) Nov 17, 2007:
"delirante" is definitely negative in this context ... and "xxx" could be an extraterrestrial visitor to Earth ...
Austinterpret Nov 17, 2007:
can we please have more of the context,thanks
David Hollywood (asker) Nov 16, 2007:
How about "delusional figure"?
David Hollywood (asker) Nov 16, 2007:
I´m using "madman" for "loco"
Jennifer Levey Nov 16, 2007:
To be sure of being suitably 'opposed to' loco, perhaps you could tell us how you plan to translate 'loco'?

Proposed translations

38 mins
Selected

an idiot/fool

I think the meaning is a "deluded", or a "misguided" fool. But the use of more than 1 word would upset the rhythm of the text.

...a madman, a fool, or an imposter...

It could also mean "raving" or a maniac, but you clearly need to avoid anything that is simply synonymous with "madman".

Unlike mediamatrix, I would consider using an adjective: ...a madman, an imposter, or merely deluded...

Grammatical transposition is a perfectly valid technique for translation as long as it is justified - ie, compensates for some other loss that would otherwise occur (eg, semantic, loss of rhythm, etc, etc...)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks to everyone for their valuable contributions ... I finally went with "delusional figure" "
+3
8 mins

hallucinating / delirious

de uso frecuente
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jennifer Levey : Asker is looking for a noun, not an adjective.
4 mins
You are so right! Ok, "lunatic" does it - but I did like David's "delusional figure" .
agree Maria523
1 hr
Gracias!
agree Mónica Algazi
2 hrs
Gracias!
agree Monica Alves
11 hrs
Gracias!
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+1
10 mins

delirious

frenzied, raving, light-headed
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jennifer Levey : Asker is looking for a noun, not an adjective.
2 mins
Then I guess I don't get it, for me delirante opposet to loco, means he is looking for adjectives
agree Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez-Carrington : I think it would go well in this context.
2 hrs
Thanks Jose:-)
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+1
17 mins

lunatic

as in someone affected by lunacy: "insanity interrupted by lucid intervals that was formerly supposed to be influenced by the changes of the moon" (so sometimes delirious, sometimes not ...

but I agree with Mediamatrix, how are you translating "loco"?
Peer comment(s):
agree Mapi : I like this option too, pending of course the "loco" part
1 hr
thanks, Mapi!
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+7
18 mins

dreamer

Larousse: delirio = 1. ...persistencia de ideas en oposición manifiesta con la realidad o el buen sentido...
Webster's: dreamer = 3. a person who has ideas or schemes considered impractical
"daydreamer" has a "pleasant" connotation which "delirio" does not have
Tegards!
Peer comment(s):
agree Jennifer Levey : That was my 'hunch' pending askers answer to my question about 'loco'.
2 mins
agree Donald Scott Alexander : Yes, and "dreamer" and "madman" go together well, as they both have Anglo-Saxon (rather than Latinate) roots.
5 mins
agree Mapi : works weel, together with lunatic if not used for "loco"
1 hr
agree Salloz
1 hr
agree Maria Elena Martinez
1 hr
agree Katarina Peters
4 hrs
agree Cristina Santos
1 day 14 hrs
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50 mins

a/an hysteric

Un loco - a lunatic
Un delirante - a hysteric. Merriam Webster: hysteria 1: a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability... 2: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess -- hysteric n.
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+1
26 mins

delusional

hope it helps, dreamers aren´t delusional are they:-)?

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Note added at 51 mins (2007-11-16 23:39:06 GMT)
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as per mediamatrix ,delusional is out,maybe more of a literal translation(ok for glossary) in context maybe "lost soul" or something else rather than "dreamer"(also means visionary in english),delirante(in this context) in spanish has a negative conotation however in english dreamer(for me :-) does not.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jennifer Levey : Asker is looking for a noun, not an adjective. And you ain't seen my dreams! // Actually, we've no idea who we're talking about! Asker hasn't said who 'xxx' is!
3 mins
fair enough,but we´re not talking about someone dreaming, maybe we´re talking about someone who could be a bit of a "lost soul"(I´m not religious by the way)//not that there´s anything wrong with that:-)
agree Bubo Coroman (X) : yes, this is one of the unfortunate symptoms of mental illness
16 hrs
Thanks Deborah
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54 mins

idealist

As long as we don't know who 'xxx' is, these epithets could refer to any of a dozen or more characteristics of the person in question. And 'delirante' could be something 'positive', something 'creative' - just as easily as it could be something 'negative' as assumed by all other answerers so far ...
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+3
7 hrs

a madman, mentally deranged, an impostor

I think "delirante" refers to a mental state of derangement

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 hrs (2007-11-17 15:35:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or you can bundle "loco" and "delirante" together and put "a raving lunatic", because "delirante" actually means "raving" (mentally unbalanced)
Peer comment(s):
agree Austinterpret
8 hrs
thanks, have a nice weekend :-) Deborah
agree Sp-EnTranslator : I'd go for the bundle solution. English allows for it here.
12 hrs
Thank you Clo, bundle it is. Enjoy your weekend :-) Deborah
agree Marian Martin (X)
1 day 16 hrs
muchas gracias Marian, un abrazo :-) Deborah
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