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Glossary entry

Portuguese term or phrase:

trem da alegria

English translation:

political godfathering

Added to glossary by Oliver Simões
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere
Dec 21, 2022 19:24
1 yr ago
26 viewers *
Portuguese term

trem da alegria

Portuguese to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings dictionary of idioms proj
Trem da alegria, COLOQ: nomeação por critérios políticos de um grande número de pessoas não concursadas, para ocupar cargos nas esferas federal, estadual e municipal. -- https://michaelis.uol.com.br/moderno-portugues/busca/portugu...

I've seen "trem da alegria" translated as "gravy train", as in this example: https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=pt&text=The top execu...

However, "gravy train" is not quite the same thing:

gravy train: a position in which a person or group receives excessive and unjustified money or advantages with little or no effort. (Dictionary.com)

to be on a gravy train: ganhar dinheiro fácil (?)

So for this particular term ("trem da alegria"), is there a meaning different from the one above? If so, please provide the reference.

How would you translate the term based on the given definition? To me, it sounds more like nepotism, favoritism, etc. Is there an idiom for this?

L2: EN_US
Register: idiomatic
Proposed translations (English)
3 joy(-)ride
3 Rank-pulling ( based on nepotism)
References
Eu penso que o sentido da frase é que lh...
Change log

Dec 22, 2022 15:58: Oliver Simões Created KOG entry

Discussion

philgoddard Dec 23, 2022:
Oliver 1. Portuguese is one of my working languages. You haven't read my profile properly.

2. Nigerian English is not inferior to other forms of the language. But that doesn't mean you can write your translations in it.

3. A lot of the contributions in this language pair are by non-native speakers of English. That's fine, but it rankles to be told that a term is correct English when it's not, and that this is "a wonderful opportunity to learn something new." The same goes for "play showboating".
Oliver Simões (asker) Dec 22, 2022:
Political godfathering Phil, Nigeria is an English-speaking country, as well. I'm sure English speakers will understand -- if they want to. There's no reason to think that the English spoken in Africa is any inferior to other varieties of English. From a sociolinguistic standpoint, there is no such thing as a "better language" or a "better expression". As long as the meaning is communicated, that's all that matters. Apparently, you ignored the use of "political godfathering" by Roderic Ai Camp, an American academic, in this book: http://mpt.ninja/hmSl (about him: http://mpt.ninja/YmDb ) Other native speakers may have used it too. (I would need to do a more thorough investigation, but that's beyond the point.) If other speakers don't know what political godfathering is, that's a wonderful opportunity for them to learn something new. :-)
PS: I don't understand why you are participating in this discussion if PT is not one of your working languages! This is not an English-only question.
philgoddard Dec 22, 2022:
Almost all the hits for "political godfathering" are from Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. The Boston Herald article is by someone with an African-sounding name.

And yes, "patronage" does have two meanings, but native speakers should be able to distinguish between them based on the context.
Oliver Simões (asker) Dec 22, 2022:
Patronage vs. Godfathering In response to Phil's comment: "political godfathering" works for me. It's more precise, unambiguous, and there are plenty of examples online, including my quote from the Boston Herald: https://www.google.com/search?q="political godfathering"

It would be unwise to repeat "patronage" in the same sentence! Besides, it has double meaning:

patronage
1. the support given by a patron: "the arts could no longer depend on private patronage"
2. the power to control appointments to office or the right to privileges.

In the following sentence, "patronage" is definitely not the same as "trem da alegria", it translates as "apoio, patrocínio".

"In 2001, Monica jumpstarted her patronage to the GOP, serving as manager for the 'Devine for County Legislator' campaign..."
philgoddard Dec 22, 2022:
I've never seen "godfathering" used in this way. "Patronage" would work.
Oliver Simões (asker) Dec 22, 2022:
José Patrício, De fato, o sentido parece ser nepotismo mesmo, como eu havia mencionado em minha própria pergunta. Vou encerrar sem pontuar porque já encontrei a resposta.
José Patrício Dec 22, 2022:
'Political godfathering' era a minha ideia, que é um sinónimo de 'nepotismo' e por cá, embora aconteça, é sancionado.
Oliver Simões (asker) Dec 21, 2022:
Political godfathering (?) I think I found a translation that best fits in. Example: "Pressed about the role legislators played in the scheme, she said the solons showed plenty of political godfathering of candidates for jobs, but that patronage by itself is not illegal" (John Zaremba). (Pressionada sobre o papel que os legisladores desempenharam no esquema, ela disse que os sábios legisladores demonstraram [que houve] um trem da alegria de candidatos a empregos, mas que o patrocínio por si não é ilegal.)

Proposed translations

43 mins

joy(-)ride

- rather than the stolen-car scenario.

Gravy train, though, does not seem wholly incongruous in the context.

Hopefully, this explanation is too short for anyone unprofessionally to plagiarise again.
Example sentence:

dozens of other federal agents, prosecutors, informants and in some cases cartel smugglers themselves were all in on the three-continent joyride known as “Team America” that chose cities for money laundering pick-ups...

Reference:

http://iportal.riphah.edu.pk/newspaper/joyride-or-journey/

Note from asker:
The meaning of the PT idiom does not seem to match the definition of "joy ride", which is "a ride for enjoyment in a vehicle or aircraft", "a fast and dangerous ride in a stolen vehicle". This has nothing to do with the term phrase, but thanks for trying. "kids stealing cars for a Saturday night joyride"
Something went wrong...
1 hr

Rank-pulling ( based on nepotism)

i.e, occupying unmerited positions, based on who you know, rather than what you know.
Note from asker:
Thank you. The PT term refers to political practice. I thought of "political godfathering". I wanted to post a reference, but the DB is not letting me to.
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

29 mins
Reference:

Eu penso que o sentido da frase é que lhe há-de da a tradução já que tem um sentido metafórico.
Para além dos mencionados por si encontrei nepotismo.
A palavra nepotismo significa favorecer as pessoas de família para um cargo. Por exemplo o Napoleão fazia dos irmãos reis de países da Europa.
Portanto há aqui favorecimento com certeza cujo termo há-de surgir do assunto que deve ressaltar do texto.
trem da alegria - nepotismo - https://www.online-translator.com/tradução/português-inglês/...



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 43 minutos (2022-12-21 20:08:38 GMT)
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gravy train in American English - a position in which a person or group receives excessive and unjustified money or advantages with little or no effort
The top executives were on the gravy train with their huge bonuses - https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gravy-t...


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Note added at 51 minutos (2022-12-21 20:16:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

to be on or ride the gravy train ter achado uma mina - https://woerterbuch.reverso.net/englisch-portugiesisch/gravy
Note from asker:
De fato, é o contexto que determina a tradução. Porém, neste caso, preciso de uma tradução para o verbete do dicionário idiomático. Penso que encontrei uma, mas não consigo adicionar um comentário no DB. Obrigado pela referência e comentários.
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