hacer una frase

English translation: No pun intended

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:hacer una frase
English translation:No pun intended
Entered by: Debora Blake

15:50 Feb 4, 2020
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Spanish term or phrase: hacer una frase
This is from a text written about Argentine artist Juan del Prete in a popular collection of art books from the 1940s.

“Del Prete desde el comienzo trabaja con intensidad febril. No queremos hacer una frase si decimos que pese a su talante físico aparentemente frío, el artista, sin que se advierta, debe estar pintando con temperatura alta.
Trabaja mucho, de día y de noche, y rompe casi todo lo que produce. Es así que, en instantes de introspección, de autocrítica, destruye buena parte de su obra. Se salvan algunas pocas piezas que le fueron arrebatadas por manos afectivas, algunas de las cuales desde entonces figuran en museos de provincias y en inteligentes colecciones particulares”

Could it be like "mandarse la parte"...assert with an excess of confidence?
Wendy Gosselin
Argentina
Local time: 11:38
No pun intended
Explanation:
This is what we say in this case.
Selected response from:

Debora Blake
France
Local time: 15:38
Grading comment
thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5No pun intended
Debora Blake
5to create a metaphor
Yudith Madrazo
4 +1overstate the case/ come up with a phrase
Altogringo
3 +1exaggerate (here)
neilmac
3coin a phrase
ANA IVETTE DE BURGOS
2 +1to make/create a (type of) play on words
Marcelo González


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
coin a phrase


Explanation:
coin a phrase,
it means to invent a new saying or idiomatic expression that is new or unique.

Example sentence(s):
  • She was, to coin a phrase, as clever as fox.
ANA IVETTE DE BURGOS
El Salvador
Local time: 08:38
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alexandra Stephens
14 mins

neutral  bigedsenior: it doesn't fit the context
2 hrs

neutral  ormiston: But what follows is not a familiar locution at all! we
3 hrs

neutral  neilmac: I share the same misgivings as ormiston. It's not quite right for the context.
3 hrs

neutral  Lester Tattersall: Despite what some online sources may say "to coin a phrase" doesn't mean "to invent a new saying or idiomatic expression that is new or unique." It's an expression used in specific circumstances that are not present here.
4 hrs

disagree  Debora Blake: Totally inappropriate here. @Lester: In US English, "to coin a phrase" very much does mean to invent a new experession.
23 hrs

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: Not disagreeing as that would mean disagreeing with most others as well. In UK English "to coin a phrase" also means to invent a new expression and does not fit here
2 days 4 hrs
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
exaggerate (here)


Explanation:
Although not a literal translation, this could work, as it expresses the same notion.
"We are not exaggerating if we say that despite his apparently cold physical mood, the artist... must be painting at high temperature."
Or (pax Marcelo):
"If we say that despite his apparently cold physical expression, the artist, ...must be painting at high temperature, it is no mere wordplay.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2020-02-04 19:58:15 GMT)
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I'd have more trouble translating "sin que se advierta" and "talante" in that paragraph.

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:38
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 82

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
27 mins
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23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
No pun intended


Explanation:
This is what we say in this case.

Debora Blake
France
Local time: 15:38
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: nope, not about punning
1 day 5 hrs
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23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
to create a metaphor


Explanation:
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describe an object or action that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.


    https://www.thebalancecareers.com/create-your-own-metaphors-1277717
Yudith Madrazo
Cuba
Local time: 10:38
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: nope, not about metaphors
1 day 5 hrs
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1 day 23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
overstate the case/ come up with a phrase


Explanation:
It's all from context, and I would use overstate the case myself.
These options reference coin a phrase and exaggerate but are more subtle/subliminal to me.
Agree that coin a phrase does mean invent a new one.
Come up with a phrase is more finding the right one (and you can change phrase to term/word, description, metaphor or whatever fits best the hot/cold comparison the author sets up) so it doesn't have to be new.
Overstate the case means you're not going too far in asserting or using this analogy/comparison/whatever. It's one step pulled back from exaggerate.
I would use overstate the case, but a lot depends on your style and the tone you've established in your translation...

Example sentence(s):
  • It would not be overstating the case if we say that despite his... cold/hot
Altogringo
Spain
Local time: 15:38
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yvonne Gallagher: agree ONLY with "overstate the case". Fits perfectly
5 hrs
  -> Thanks Yvonne, I agree 100% with your comment for this context. Added come up with because I could see using that for hacer un phrase in another context. But not here...
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
to make/create a (type of) play on words


Explanation:
Describing his fever-pitch work pace with a cold disposition, and later using 'temperatura alta'

Possible translation:

"From the [very] beginning, Del Petro works feverishly. No play on words [or sort of pun] intended but despite his seemingly cold predisposition, the artist, without noticing, must have been painting while [quite literally] running a high temperature/fever"

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Note added at 3 hrs (2020-02-04 18:58:18 GMT)
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As for the suggestion of 'to coin,' I don't see what could be coined (o acuñado).

Rather than inventing a new phrase, s/he appears to be using/playing with contrasting terms (fever, cold, and high temperature) to describe the artist and his work ethic??

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Note added at 9 hrs (2020-02-05 00:56:19 GMT)
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Correction: 'must be painting' (and not 'must have been')

Another, more slightly literal option:

From the start, del Prete works at a fever pitch. If we say that, despite the artist's seemingly cold nature, he, without noticing, must be painting with a high temperature, we mean not to simply turn a phrase/create a sort of play on words. He works a lot, day and night, and tears up [destroys] almost everything he produces

at a fever pitch (idiom)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fever-pi...

sin que se advierta = without noticing
su talante físico aparentemente frío = his seemingly cold (physical) nature

hacer una frase = turn a phrase/create sort of a play on words

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Note added at 2 days 9 hrs (2020-02-07 01:16:12 GMT)
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Through the use of 'frio,' 'temperatura alta,' and 'intensidad febril,' with the latter easily rendered as 'feverishly' or 'at a fever pitch,' the author appears to be engaging in a sort of a play on words, as s/he very cleverly expresses a contrast between the artist's *cold* demeanor and the *feverish* intensity of his work habits, hence my suggestions.

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Note added at 2 days 9 hrs (2020-02-07 01:36:35 GMT)
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Perhaps the idiom 'to turn a phrase,' which I added at the 9-hour mark, may also be an especially good option.

"...we do not intend to (simply) turn a phrase..."

"turn a phrase" (idiom)
To express something in very adept, elegant, and clever terms.
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/turn a phrase

I hope this helps! Cheers from Vietnam :-)

Marcelo González
United States
Local time: 04:38
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  neilmac: "We are not just playing with words when we say that...."
1 hr
  -> Yes, or ending with 'wordplay' as you've suggested as well. Thanks, Neil

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: I don't see how "to make/create a (type of) play on words" fits in this sentence?
2 days 2 hrs
  -> Thanks for your opinion. >Through the use of 'frio,' 'temperatura alta,' and 'intensidad febril,' with the latter easily rendered as 'feverishly' or 'at a fever pitch,' the author appears to be engaging in a sort of a play on words.
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