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  3. Government / Politics

rifirrafe

English translation: squabbling

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:rifirrafe
English translation:squabbling
Entered by: Lydia De Jorge

14:31 Jun 20, 2009
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Government / Politics
Spanish term or phrase: rifirrafe
El despilfarro y la austeridad se han convertido en dos de los argumentos centrales del **rifirrafe** político ante la dramática situación que atraviesa la economía, hasta el punto de haber protagonizado parte de los mensajes de las últimas campañas electorales.

tit for tat???
TIA
Lydia De Jorge
United States
Local time: 07:42
squabbling
Explanation:
This would correspond to the RAE definition:
"Contienda o bulla ligera y sin trascendencia."
It would also fit the context of your sentence.
However, "squabbling" is a bit of a value judgement. If you wanted to be more neutral, you could go for "quarreling".
Selected response from:

DonM
Ireland
Local time: 13:42
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6brouhaha
Henry Hinds
4 +2squabbling
DonM
4blah, blah, blah...
Enrique Huber (X)
4commotion
Barbara Cochran, MFA
4hooha
bcsantos


  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
brouhaha


Explanation:
No sé si tiene que ver con el inglés "riff-raff" (chusma), pero al parecer el significado es otro. Puede haber muchos equivalentes aparte del señalado.

http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/rifirrafe

Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 06:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 661

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  MPGS: excelente sugerencia :)
2 mins
  -> Gracias, MPGS.
agree  Michael Powers (PhD): nicely done, Henry - Mike :)
3 mins
  -> Gracias, Mike.
agree  Beatriz Ramírez de Haro: Yep!
13 mins
  -> Gracias, Beatriz.
agree  Fiona Kirton: great word!
24 mins
  -> Gracias, Fkirton.
agree  Christine Walsh
1 hr
  -> Gracias, Chris.
agree  Louise Souter (X)
1 hr
  -> Gracias, Louise.
disagree  Stephen McCann: I don't think they mean the same thing
6 hrs
  -> Not all think alike.
agree  Richard McDorman: This is an excellent suggestion. As an aside, as far as precision in translation goes, this is definitely not a term for which there will be a definitive, 100% certain analog in most other languges (unless there are close cognates involved).
8 hrs
  -> Gracias, Richard.
neutral  DonM: Brouhaha generally implies an overblown reaction to a relatively unserious situation. But the financial crisis is serious ("dramática situación que atraviesa la economía").
21 hrs
  -> But maybe the dispute itself is petty in nature.
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
squabbling


Explanation:
This would correspond to the RAE definition:
"Contienda o bulla ligera y sin trascendencia."
It would also fit the context of your sentence.
However, "squabbling" is a bit of a value judgement. If you wanted to be more neutral, you could go for "quarreling".


DonM
Ireland
Local time: 13:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Christine Walsh
1 hr
  -> Thanks Chris.
agree  Stephen McCann: Squabble - to engage in a petty quarrel. I don't think the text is very neutral to start with. Quarrel is a stronger word.
6 hrs
  -> Thanks Stephen. Quarrel is indeed stronger. What I meant about the value judgement was: Quarreling can be an appropriate response to a serious situation, whereas squabbling implies a petty, inappropriate response.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
blah, blah, blah...


Explanation:
mi opción para Lydia. Espero te ayude..

Enrique Huber (X)
Mexico
Local time: 07:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
commotion


Explanation:
HTH

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 08:42
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 23
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
hooha


Explanation:
UK English=political hooha

Loans inquiry is hoo-ha, says Campbell | Politics | guardian.co.uk 7 Apr 2006 ... Campbell today pre-emptively dismissed the police investigation into the 'loans-for-peerages' affair as a 'passing political hoo-ha'.

14th August 2008 Mr Bossano's criticism of DSS “No Information ... 14 Aug 2008 ... Mr Bossano's analogy just shows his customary shenanigan by converting normal Social Security work into a political hoo-ha in order to serve ...
www.gibraltar.gi/locals/news.php?action=view_article... - Cached - Similar

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Note added at 5 hrs (2009-06-20 20:11:12 GMT)
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www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/apr/07/partyfunding.uk

bcsantos
Gibraltar
Local time: 14:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 34
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