Feb 5, 2021 08:54
3 yrs ago
42 viewers *
Spanish term

todo parece poco

Spanish to English Other Religion
Struggling to come up with something for this as I'm not really sure of its meaning. Something along the lines of 'everything else seems insignificant' or a totally different meaning?

Si entregamos amor, el Tiempo parece no haber transcurrido y todo parece poco; y por otro lado, si no hay amor, el Tiempo transcurrido representa una larga y tediosa pérdida.

No existe un Tiempo igual para quien sabe de amor.

Todos los momentos son siempre diferentes porque dependen de cómo se viva cada uno de ellos; de la intensidad de la emoción y las sensaciones vividas, del interés puesto en expresar la realidad personal o de cómo uno se abra a la atención de quien tiene a su lado.

Discussion

Wendy Streitparth Feb 8, 2021:
I would go along with the meaning "time seems insignificant".
Toni Castano Feb 5, 2021:
Could it be referring to “Time”? The Spanish source is quite ambiguous, but my suspicion is that “todo” is actually a reference to “tiempo”, so an alternative version to the original could be: “Si entregamos amor, el Tiempo (capitalized!, perhaps just stressing the relevance of the factor “time”) parece no haber transcurrido y todo el tiempo parece poco (all time seems to be limited/scarce to give love)”.
Domini Lucas Feb 5, 2021:
effort? Just wondering whether it has to do with effort expended i.e. when love is present, nothing seems too much effort, whereas when love is not, it seems like a huge waste of time and effort (this is not meant to be a translation. Just an exploration of an extra nuance - It think there could might a sense of heaviness that hasn´t quite been quite in the options offered so far ' though fleeting does suggest lightness). Is there any chance of a little more context? e.g. what religion, why Time is capitalised, any other tidbits that can be shared...
matt robinson Feb 5, 2021:
I guess they want a positive spin. I would invert it and use something like "nothing seems unsurmountable".
"everything seems possible" would be another take, according to my understanding of the sentence.
neilmac Feb 5, 2021:
Your own take I think "everything (else) seems insignificant" more or less does the trick. Nevertheless, I'll throw my hat into the ring...

Proposed translations

+2
4 mins
Selected

everything seems fleeting

"Fleeting" seems to capture the nuances of the source text (rather you than me on this one, BTW).

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Note added at 5 mins (2021-02-05 08:59:58 GMT)
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In other words, when you're in love, (or however you happen to be translating "entregamos amor") time seems to fly, otherwise everything seems a drag.

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Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2021-02-06 10:18:53 GMT)
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"Time seems not to have passed and everything appears fleeting" works for me. Like in the movie the Time Machine, where time does pass for the protagonist, but everything around him seems fleeting (motion speeded up in the film) as he moves into the future...



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Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2021-02-06 10:20:34 GMT)
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PS: I'm thinking about the 1960 version of the Time Machine, with Rod Taylor, not the (in my opinion inferior) remake from 2002.

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Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2021-02-06 10:21:09 GMT)
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Correction: "where time does NOT pass for the protagonist, ..."
Example sentence:

Everything seems fleeting and insubstantial....

Note from asker:
Thanks, Neil, I like that option. You'd want to see (or not) the rest of the text ;-)
What is throwing me off here is 'Tiempo parece no haber transcurrido', so it's the opposite to 'time seems to fly'.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Andrew Bramhall : I don't see any direct reference to 'escurridizo'; it's more the idea of no longer being aware of time, of time standing still;
33 mins
"In the country of the blind" ....
agree Liliana Garfunkel : Nice. Fleeting, as in "efímero" or "fugaz" I understand it as: "El tiempo se detiene y todo es fugaz, todo lo demás pasa rápidamente". It's poetic.
5 hrs
Thanks for your support :)
agree Julie Thurston
13 hrs
Cheers, JT:)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
-1
19 mins

everything pales into insignificance

"Tiempo parece no haber transcurrido" = 'Time seems to have stood still'.
Peer comment(s):

disagree Steven Huddleston : The author does not imply insignificance, but amount. I fear you are reading too much into this. // Really? It seems linguistically sound to me. I do not see where the author implied significance. That would be "nada" not "poco."
4 hrs
And you aren't reading enough into it; // er, "amounts" can be 'significant', or 'insignificant'. Your disagree can be summed up in 2 words: 1) Spite 2) Ignorance.
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-1
4 hrs

everything seems little

I would go the simple route. The author went that way and I find the English equivalent conveys and implies exactly the same meaning and elicits the same imagery. Also, it is not all about grammar or syntax, especially with this kind of prose. There is something to be said about the impact that brief, short words have on the mind of the reader.
Peer comment(s):

disagree Andrew Bramhall : That relates to physical size; that is not the context here.//Yes, I've reconsidered, and it's still wrong. "Everything seems little", standing alone refers only to physical size; if you qualify ' little' with an adjective, that's something else;
4 mins
With all due respect, Oliver, but you are wrong. It relates to amount. Otherwise the opposite "much" would also be limited to size. It may take a little effort, but if you take a little time, you might reconsider. // These are nouns, sir.
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+1
5 hrs

everything (else) seems trivial

www.goodreads.com › quotes › 8401006-everything-s...
16 May 2017 — Joyce Rachelle — 'Everything seems so small, so trivial, when you're on the right altitude.'

davidmcelroy.org › ...
31 Dec 2014 — I went over to his house for him to take a look and give me an unofficial opinion. ... Everything else other than love seems fairly trivial. I've talked ...
Peer comment(s):

agree Pablo Waldman
45 mins
thanks!
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+1
8 hrs

leaves you wanting more /hankering for more/ nothing seems enough/leaves you feeling dissatisfied

As I read it.
Peer comment(s):

agree P Forgas
2 hrs
Thanks!
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15 hrs

you never tire of loving/giving

Hi Lisa, although I do not meet the target language requirement, I would just like to explain the meaning of the Spanish expression, in case it helps.

It is a positive feeling: you want to go on loving/giving because it makes you feel good, happy etc.
'Todo parece poco' means that you never get too much of it.

Something along the lines of 'When you give love, time seems to come to a standstill and you never tire of giving/loving'

The same would apply to any work or activity that we really enjoy; we would say 'todo me parece poco` or 'me sabe a poco' no matter the effort.


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Note added at 1 day 10 hrs (2021-02-06 19:02:47 GMT)
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Another version of the same idea:
'When you give love, time seems to come to a standstill and you want to keep giving more'
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12 days

time is not enough

If "todo" refers to time, then there is never sufficient time, but this is not necessarily negative. It just means that love's value cannot be quantified or qualified.
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