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dispone de los bienes

English translation: controls all the assets

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:dispone de los bienes
English translation:controls all the assets
Entered by: William Pairman

19:39 Dec 8, 2008
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - History
Spanish term or phrase: dispone de los bienes
From a text talkinbg about daily life in Al Andalus and comparing it to life in Morocco today

A pesar de que el marido ejerce de jefe de familia y él es quien dispone de todos los bienes, en al-Andalus, como en el Magreb, la casa constituía el domino privilegiado de la esposa

Whats a snappy way of saying it? Brevity is key here, it's going to be a subtitle.

I was thinking of "controlling the purse strings", can anyone do better?
William Pairman
Spain
Local time: 22:42
controls all the assets
Explanation:
disponer = dispose of in the sense of sell, give away, assign, etc... If I recall correctly, married women were not allowed to own assets... everything belonged to the husband....
Selected response from:

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 16:42
Grading comment
Thanks Marian, and thanks everyone for their input
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2controls all family property
patinba
4controls all the assets
Marian Greenfield
5 -1all assets are in his name
Alison Imms
4dispenses [or 'disburses'] the assets
Chris Lovelace
3holds the (household) reins
Barbara Cochran, MFA
1calls the shots
andres-larsen


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5
calls the shots


Explanation:
Although the husband as head of the family **calls the shots**, in al-Andalus, as in the Maghreb, the house was the privileged domain (reserve) of the wife

andres-larsen
Venezuela
Local time: 16:42
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
controls all the assets


Explanation:
disponer = dispose of in the sense of sell, give away, assign, etc... If I recall correctly, married women were not allowed to own assets... everything belonged to the husband....

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 16:42
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 31
Grading comment
Thanks Marian, and thanks everyone for their input

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  alidalc: I'm a bit uneasy about translating "disponer" as "dispose of", which means to throw away or get rid of. "Disponer de" basically means "to have", although you did get the right definition in your translation suggestion.
53 mins
  -> In legalese, "disponer" is dispose... I was explaining the concept, not suggesting the asker use "dispose" in this context...
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40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
controls all family property


Explanation:
another option

patinba
Argentina
Local time: 17:42
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 105

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Bubo Coroman (X)
13 hrs
agree  Sam Cogdell
1 day 8 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
all assets are in his name


Explanation:
Another option.

Depite the fact that....... and that all assets are in his name, etc.

Sounds smoother to me.

Good luck!

Alison Imms
Works in field
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Marian Greenfield: this is not what the Spanish says
6 mins
  -> Ok, but I do maintain it. "Disponer" here means "to have" all the assets or to have rights over all of them. And that means that they are all in his name. Since it is a history text it is not meant to focus on all the exact legal language, in my opinion.
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
holds the (household) reins


Explanation:
In other words, controls all the property and financial activity that goes on in the household.

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 16:42
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
dispenses [or 'disburses'] the assets


Explanation:
"'Controls' the assets" is also OK, but I think that this translates 'dispone' better. 'Controls the assets' would probably be 'se encarga de los bienes.'

Chris Lovelace
Argentina
Local time: 14:42
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
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