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Spanish to English translations [PRO] Marketing - Advertising / Public Relations / Magazine Article
Spanish term or phrase:confort [in this context]
I'm struggling to find a suitable equivalent for this in English.
Context:
"A lo largo de casi un siglo de historia esta marca ha mantenido su liderazgo en el mercado ibérico incorporando a su portafolio todos los elementos necesarios para ser referentes en confort en el segmento de la calefacción y agua caliente sanitaria. Por ese motivo, el lema que hemos utilizado durante gran parte de nuestra trayectoria ha sido “Todo en Calefacción”. "
An idea I'm toying with regarding the sentence structure is:
"For the greater part of the next century, XXXXX continued to lead the Iberian market, building a portfolio that includes everything needed to make the brand synonymous with ______ in the heating and hot water sector...." ??
Can anyone suggest something to fill that blank in? I'm drawing a blank on this one...
This is for an upmarket UK magazine. Many thanks in advance.
In the end, I actually got to speak to someone (on the phone) from the Marketing dept. of the UK branch of this company (very helpful indeed!). This turned into more copy-writing, and the end result was this:
"For the best part of the next century, XXXX continued to front the Iberian market, building an extensive portfolio that served to position the brand at the forefront of excellence within the heating and hot water sector...."
This is a classic case of contact with the client and explaining that in advertising the exact words are vital, and maybe giving an example of an english phrase that sounds daft - or crude - in Spanish. If the advert will put people off, that is no good at all.
I see what you mean James, and agree that "confort" does have a convenience element in it. But I think you may find that your client complains of mistranslation if you use quality / superiority / excellence. They might claim that the original doesn't say any of that, and IMHO they would be right. Still, it's you who has to defend your translation at the end of the day, and you are clearly well equipped to do so after all the opinions that have been given here :)
Hi Emma, I’ve seriously discussed this in-depth with my native Spanish partner, as well as other Spanish colleagues here, and they all convey the literal translation — the message of Comfort (as in, oh I feel so comfortable because this bathroom is so thermally comfortable); and Convenience (as in, oh it’s just so easy and convenient to make my bathroom so thermally comfortable). So I understand the message perfectly in Spanish. However, this just doesn’t work for me in this context in the English. It’s obvious in the Spanish that they expect the reader to understand that they are referring to how good their products make THEM (the reader) feel; but in the English version, however, a literal translation is just too ambiguous, I believe. My problem with it is that you wouldn’t automatically connect comfort to how their products make you feel — you’d be left wondering what to connect it to, frankly. Which is the ambiguity. This is for an very upmarket UK magazine, and is an article about the world's leading producer of bathroom fittings & fixtures, so I’ve got to get it “just right” — no room for ambiguity here! :)
I've followed this interesting discussion, gone on thinking about it, and I reckon that the client may really want to convey "comfort" - as simply as that :) After all, most of the other words that have been suggested could readily have been used in the Spanish, but the client chose not to use them. My two cents...
"For the greater part of the next century, XXXX continued to lead the Iberian market, building a portfolio of everything needed to make the brand synonymous with excellence in the heating and hot water sector."
Just thinking out loud, so to speak. Ideally I'm looking for a one-word solution, as I find the text rather 'wordy' as it is...
The trouble is that the concept of confort just doesnt exist in English in this sense. I often put "heating and air conditioning", but in this case, quality sounds good. In advertising, exact translations are impossible ...
º_º That's my expression whenever I look at the word 'confort' in this text, hehe.
I think you're spot on with your observation, GIlla. And I can't for the life of me think of a way of putting it either...
I've been trying to word it based on the next sentence in the context somehow: "This is why we have used the motto “All things Heating” for a large part of our history."
“All things Heating” would fit the spot lovely, but then that would render the whole next sentence pretty much redundant... Sigh...
Evans (X)
15:23 Apr 28, 2010
having said "mod cons" sounds old fashioned to me, I can't for the life of me think what we would say instead. I think it has fallen into disuse because houses have these things as a matter of course and we would be disturbed to come across one without (in the wealthier parts of the world that is), so we don't boast about having "all mod cons". Perhpas you could say something like first-class facilities or quality fittings...
That's thrown a whole different angle on things. Makes perfect sense and is great food for thought. @Lucy, the company makes bathroom fittings: toilets, wash basins, heated towel rails, baths, etc. Hope that helps.
sorry to be dense, but what does the company actually make? boilers? it might help in finding a suitable translation.
without any more details, some ideas that occurred to me were 'luxury' 'peace of mind'... but I may be way off the mark here.
Evans (X)
15:02 Apr 28, 2010
James, I think this comes from the French expression "tout confort" which refers to all mod cons, i.e. modern conveniences, a now rather old-fashioned way of referring to the facilities in a house - heating, hot and cold water etc.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
3 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
comfort
Explanation: sounds fine to me in this context
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 6 mins (2010-04-28 15:01:19 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Claudia Perla United States Local time: 06:33 Specializes in field Native speaker of: Spanish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks you, Claudia :)
1 hr confidence:
thermal comfort
Explanation: Gilla's step across to French led me to "confort thermique" which exists in English as "thermal comfort" and is used in the definition of air conditioning amongst other things :
Air conditioning is the dehumidification of indoor air for thermal comfort. In a broader sense, the term can refer to any form of cooling, heating, ventilation, or disinfection that modifies the condition of air. (Wikipedia)
BTW - not sure how you get to "the geater part of the next century" from the text you provide, which translates as "over the course of almost a century" but you probably have more info.
patinba Argentina Local time: 07:33 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 40
Notes to answerer
Asker: A very interesting and viable suggestion, as ever - thank you! BTW, I came up with "the greater part of the next century" based on how it flows and fits in with the preceding paragraph...
Explanation: Ok, I know it doesn´t exactly say this but it sounds good anyway :) I also like your 'excellence' option. You could also use the word 'name' instead of 'brand' if it would work here.
Stamford Land Corporation Ltd - Chairman's Message Our Stamford **brand is synonymous with superiority** in every way - excellent prime locations, luxurious quality accommodation and top-notch service. ... stamfordland.listedcompany.com/chairman.html - Cached
Electric Radiant Floor Heating – the way to keep your floor warm 24 Sep 2009 ... Wouldn't you like to take bath in a bathroom with heated floors during winters? ... **Gucci: A Name that is Synonymous with Superiority*** ... www.articlebliss.com/.../Electric-Radiant-Floor-Heating-the...
Lisa McCarthy Spain Local time: 12:33 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 100
Notes to answerer
Asker: Cheers, Lisa. I had been tentatively going with 'excellence' up to now, but this is quite possibly 'superior'! Hehe. This is proving to be a Seriously tricky translation... :(
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