Radotages d’un Traducteur

Source: El País Online

In the article entitled El año que el AVE sedujo a los españoles, I came accross the expression “una puntualidad británica”.

Ha habido algún accidente, algún intento de atentado, pero nadie ha resultado herido en el AVE en estos 15 años, en los que Renfe puede alardear de una puntualidad británica

Initially, I couldn´t quite believe what I was reading. You see, “puntualidad británica” supposedly means:

British punctuality, to arrive on time

To the british reader, this just simply does not make sense. In fact, I had to go back several times and check that my eyes hadn´t deceived me. What the Spanish are doing is comparing their increasingly punctual trains to the apparently “exemplar” running of british railways. Since when has Britain been a good example? Our railways are a nightmare and the majority of trains certainly do not arrive on time. I think the expression should be changed to something more realistic, how about “puntualidad francesa, alemana, suiza o japonesa”. Any of these four would be much more appropriate and would clear up any doubts on the matter!

As for the overall translation:

There´s been the odd accident or attempted terrorist attack, but nobody has been injured in the AVE in the last 15 years - during which Renfe can boast about its “British punctuality”.

Source: El Paìs Online

In the article entitled Amnistía Internacional denuncia el “espectacular” aumento en el número de ejecuciones en Irak, I came across the expression “poner de relieve”.

La organización pone de relieve que, desde la restitución de la pena de muerte a mediados de 2004, más de 270 personas han sido condenadas a la pena máxima y al menos un centenar han sido ejecutadas.

“Poner de relieve” means:

To underline, to highlight

Hence we can translate the above phrase as:

The organization highlights that, since the restitution of the death penalty in the middle of 2004, more than 270 people have been condemned to the maximum penalty and at least 100 have been executed.