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envió la metrópoli 145 féretros

English translation: 145 Britons were returned to their homeland in caskets

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:envió la metrópoli (británico) 145 féretros
English translation:145 Britons were returned to their homeland in caskets
Entered by: Jenni Lukac (X)

20:15 Sep 12, 2009
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Journalism / War
Spanish term or phrase: envió la metrópoli 145 féretros
In an article about the war on Iraq there is the following sentence: "Los británicos han enviado la metrópoli 145 féretros". I'm having trouble translating "metrópoli" because it doesn't seem to refer to a city since the only references before this sentence are as general as Iraq and the U.S. Does it just mean 'country' in this context? Does the overall phrase simply mean that 145 British troops have died in Iraq or does anyone know of an equivalent way we might say it that involves coffins? Thank you very much!
Kerry Taylor
Spain
Local time: 16:33
145 Britons were returned to their homeland in caskets
Explanation:
Looking at an interactive graphic of British war deaths in Iraq in the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/43... as of September 2009 the number stands at 179, so I assume the figure was 145 at the time this article was written. I've chosen "homeland" but the use of "metrópoli" in the original text was used to imply a colonialist attitude on the part of the British. (for example, see word reference definition of metrópoli: Estado,respecto de sus colonias: se estableció un comercio fluido con la metrópoli. http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/metrópoli. More prosaically, There have been 145 British combat casualities in Iraq as of the writing of the article.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-09-12 22:51:37 GMT)
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Coffin could be used as well as casket.
Selected response from:

Jenni Lukac (X)
Local time: 16:33
Grading comment
Thank you so much, an excellent translation!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1145 caskets were sent to the city
Emilio Schulder
4145 Britons were returned to their homeland in caskets
Jenni Lukac (X)
3145 British troops have been sent back home / back to the capital
HugoSteckel


  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
145 British troops have been sent back home / back to the capital


Explanation:
This is what immediately jumped out at me when I read the question. As for a phrasing involving coffins, I'm not sure, you could say "the bodies of 145 British dead", for instance.

Or I could just have the wrong end of the stick :-)

HugoSteckel
Switzerland
Local time: 16:33
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

36 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
145 caskets were sent to the city


Explanation:
I don´t see any possibility other than "city". (BTW, the word is "metrópolis")

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-09-12 21:24:51 GMT)
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Sorry, I meant coffins, not caskets

Emilio Schulder
Chile
Local time: 10:33
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lydia De Jorge
53 mins
  -> Thx
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
145 Britons were returned to their homeland in caskets


Explanation:
Looking at an interactive graphic of British war deaths in Iraq in the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/43... as of September 2009 the number stands at 179, so I assume the figure was 145 at the time this article was written. I've chosen "homeland" but the use of "metrópoli" in the original text was used to imply a colonialist attitude on the part of the British. (for example, see word reference definition of metrópoli: Estado,respecto de sus colonias: se estableció un comercio fluido con la metrópoli. http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/metrópoli. More prosaically, There have been 145 British combat casualities in Iraq as of the writing of the article.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2009-09-12 22:51:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Coffin could be used as well as casket.

Jenni Lukac (X)
Local time: 16:33
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 56
Grading comment
Thank you so much, an excellent translation!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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