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  3. Poetry & Literature

sobrevida

English translation: Continued existence

22:40 Mar 6, 2021
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Spanish term or phrase: sobrevida
I am trying to capture the difference between sobrevida and sobrevivencia in this very literary text about an Argentine painter.
No existen muchos objetos que enhebren la historia de las relaciones humanas con el mundo de manera tan misteriosa como esta piedra: su nacimiento fantástico bajo tierra en una fábrica química que desde hace millones de años trabaja a temperaturas infernales y bajo una presión colosal con grandes tuberías volcánicas que eructan el material hacia la superficie y, siglos más tarde, su extracción de la mina y su inesperada sobrevida en la superficie terrestre facetada por las desigualdades, las avaricias, los amores y los sueños humanos

SObrevida is not in the RAE.
Thanks
Wendy Gosselin
Argentina
Local time: 10:05
English translation:Continued existence
Explanation:
This could express the idea too.

continued existence Noun
continued existence, the ~ (survival)
Selected response from:

ormiston
Local time: 15:05
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2unexpected survival
Barbara Cochran, MFA
3 +3Continued existence
ormiston
4 +1afterlife
neilmac
4revival
Katarina Peters
3 +1permanence
David Hollywood
4persistence
Thomas Walker
3continuity in life
Liliana Garfunkel
3self-perpetuation
Adrian MM.
3second life
Amanda Foy
2chance resurgence
Orkoyen (X)


  

Answers


20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
revival


Explanation:
if you don't want to use survival

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Note added at 25 mins (2021-03-06 23:05:59 GMT)
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or: resurgence

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 09:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
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20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
unexpected survival


Explanation:
https://context.reverso.net/translation/spanish-english/sobr...

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Note added at 39 mins (2021-03-06 23:20:25 GMT)
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"continues to survive"

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Note added at 41 mins (2021-03-06 23:22:10 GMT)
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"even though it was not expected or foreseen that it would"

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 09:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 103

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: yes, that's the right idea though not what I'd use
17 hrs
agree  Carol Gullidge: actually, Ithink "survival" is the simplest and most obvious solution here!
1 day 11 hrs
  -> Thanks.
agree  Orkoyen (X)
3 days 15 hrs
  -> Thank you, Orkoyen.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
permanence


Explanation:
might work

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Note added at 1 hr (2021-03-06 23:55:34 GMT)
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permanence:

The state or quality of lasting or remaining unchanged indefinitely.

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Note added at 1 hr (2021-03-06 23:56:56 GMT)
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"durability" might be another viable option

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Note added at 1 hr (2021-03-07 00:00:17 GMT)
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although "durability" is generally used in an engineering construction context so....

David Hollywood
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 136

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Carol Gullidge: I think "durability" is perfect here, in the sense of anything (not necessarily connected with engineering!) long-lasting...
1 day 10 hrs
  -> thanks Carol
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Continued existence


Explanation:
This could express the idea too.

continued existence Noun
continued existence, the ~ (survival)


ormiston
Local time: 15:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 34
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Shilpa Baliga
1 hr
agree  Yvonne Gallagher: yes, that is bluntly what it is.
9 hrs
agree  Thayenga: I like it and it fits.
2 days 5 hrs
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
continuity in life


Explanation:
...and its unexpected continuity in life on Earth...

Liliana Garfunkel
Argentina
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 8
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
self-perpetuation


Explanation:
- as an anodyne version of an 'existential resurrection'.

As students of macro- or micro-economics might grasp, the Scottish economist Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' is IMO an example of a 'self-perpetuating' mechanism of the economy.

Example sentence(s):
  • Self-perpetuation, the capability of something to cause itself to continue to exist, is one of the main characteristics of life. Organisms' capability of reproduction leads to self-perpetuation of the species, if not to the individual.

    Reference: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish-to-english/medical/420755-...
    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-perpetuation
Adrian MM.
Austria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: I think this is reading too much into the term; this stone has survived over the centuries, but hasn't self perpetuated/Really? You jest of course!
19 hrs
  -> This asker usually chooses my answer, but possibly doesn't want to upset the other respondents.
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20 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
persistence


Explanation:
"Survival" doesn't seem to me to be quite le mot juste here, either in the context of the geologic history, or in terms of the references to life on earth. And I think "unexpected persistence" works pretty well for "su inesperada sobrevida" in the ST.

Thomas Walker
United States
Local time: 06:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
afterlife


Explanation:
The metaphoric "afterlife" of the diamond or precious gemstone once above ground...

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Note added at 11 hrs (2021-03-07 10:39:55 GMT)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife

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Note added at 1 day 10 hrs (2021-03-08 08:45:41 GMT)
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"Diamonds are Forever"...

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Note added at 1 day 10 hrs (2021-03-08 08:48:09 GMT)
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"... ... in terms of some form of continued existence or afterlife"...
"..a belief in a religion that promises a continued existence, or afterlife."
"...but in a way that relates to a continued existence or afterlife."

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 155

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  patinba: That's it.
2 hrs
  -> Cheers, P :-)
neutral  ormiston: Small quibble = sounds like it had died which is not the case. Oh dear, now I'm hurt too!
2 hrs
  -> I was about to agree with your post, but I'm miffed at the small quibble now :)
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3 days 17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
second life


Explanation:
I initially thought "afterlife" as well, but "second life" is a common phrasing that would flow well in the text and avoid perhaps irrelevant connotations of "afterlife, revival," and other options - though the "Second Life" game is adding connotations, I suppose.

Amanda Foy
United States
Local time: 09:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
chance resurgence


Explanation:
Has come back out of the blue.

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Note added at 23 hrs (2021-03-07 22:39:23 GMT)
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Alternate answer: Reanimation

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Note added at 1 day 12 hrs (2021-03-08 11:36:09 GMT)
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Other suggestion: “new pulse”. I think this fits well with surreal description.

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Note added at 4 days (2021-03-11 10:10:15 GMT)
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This challenge has many lives! Could you perhaps try a different approach, like "defy oblivion"? That has the feel of having endured a cataclysmic struggle and revealed itself.

Orkoyen (X)
United States
Local time: 09:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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