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no espera desentrañar grandes asuntos

English translation: is not out to plumb the depths of any great mystery

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:no espera desentrañar grandes asuntos
English translation:is not out to plumb the depths of any great mystery
Entered by: Mónica Algazi

12:24 Apr 7, 2016
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism / Article about an artist
Spanish term or phrase: no espera desentrañar grandes asuntos
Context:

(I) El archivo

¿Qué más? […] Esta es la pregunta con la que [artist's name] nos inquiere cuando en medio de una charla de café se produce un breve silencio que urge a su impaciencia. En realidad * no espera desentrañar grandes asuntos *. Para escrutar en los intersticios de la vida cotidiana, espera ansiosamente el dato menor, la novedad que resulte interesante a su alerta archivo de memorias. El chimento, esa vocación de deleitarse con el detalle revelador, esa conversación interesada en las confidencias mundanas, logra en [artist's name] trascender la mediocridad del chisme —y del chusma— para convertirse en insumo imprescindible de sus prestidigitaciones intelectuales.

Busco una expresión "con vuelo" y no me sale. : ( Any ideas? TIA!
Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 22:02
is not out to plumb the depths of any great mystery
Explanation:
Comments:
1.
I think that "desentrañar" implies the kind of strenuous effort that goes beyond "answer."
2.
I do not think that the literal "unravel" works in this particular context.
3.
I see "esperar" here as reflecting the artist's intention rather than his hope or expectation.
4.
In my view, the intended sense of "desentrañar grandes asuntos" is "to delve deeply into matters of utmost importance" and I think that "plumb the depths of any great mystery" reflects this meaning in English that sounds natural.
5.
For the meaning of the expression "plumb the depths," see: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/plumb the depths
Selected response from:

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 21:02
Grading comment
Thank you! Where's the option "Give the 4 points to more than one?"
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5(s)he is not seeking to answer any big questions
philgoddard
3 +3(he is) not expecting to unravel major issues
Cecilia Gowar
3 +2is not out to plumb the depths of any great mystery
Robert Forstag
4is not expecting to expose great mysteries
Phoenix III
4doesn't expect to tease out any great profundity
David Ronder


  

Answers


35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
(s)he is not seeking to answer any big questions


Explanation:
Or "explore/figure out any matters of great import", or "solve any big puzzles", or anything along those lines. Desentrañar means to unravel.


    Reference: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=dese...
philgoddard
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 15
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, Phil!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  patinba: The right tone in the context.
7 mins
agree  Cecilia Gowar: I like "seeking to" :-)
56 mins
agree  Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
6 hrs
agree  Marcelo González: I think it would work nicely in the simple present as well...consistent with formal writing.
15 hrs
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
17 hrs
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35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
(he is) not expecting to unravel major issues


Explanation:
He is not, in fact, expecting to unravel major issues....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 mins (2016-04-07 13:01:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"These are only used to unravel major issues, which is what we could surely use right now. "
https://goo.gl/TCIiAe


Cecilia Gowar
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 68
Notes to answerer
Asker: ¡Gracias, Cecilia!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard
1 min
  -> Thanks Phil!
agree  Francois Boye
3 hrs
  -> Thanks Francois!
agree  Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
6 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
is not expecting to expose great mysteries


Explanation:
Another option...

Phoenix III
United States
Local time: 21:02
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, Phoenix III!

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
is not out to plumb the depths of any great mystery


Explanation:
Comments:
1.
I think that "desentrañar" implies the kind of strenuous effort that goes beyond "answer."
2.
I do not think that the literal "unravel" works in this particular context.
3.
I see "esperar" here as reflecting the artist's intention rather than his hope or expectation.
4.
In my view, the intended sense of "desentrañar grandes asuntos" is "to delve deeply into matters of utmost importance" and I think that "plumb the depths of any great mystery" reflects this meaning in English that sounds natural.
5.
For the meaning of the expression "plumb the depths," see: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/plumb the depths

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 21:02
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 87
Grading comment
Thank you! Where's the option "Give the 4 points to more than one?"
Notes to answerer
Asker: I like it! Thanks, Robert!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Hollywood: this is a real cutie ... perfecto
33 mins
  -> :D Thanks, David!
agree  Marcelo González: plumb the depths --- a nice option...certainly not evocative of entrañas/bowls ;-)
14 hrs
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12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
doesn't expect to tease out any great profundity


Explanation:
i.e. with her question '¿Qué más?'.

I think there are some good answers here, but this is how I would translate it - we tease things out with questions, and 'any great profundity ' strikes me as a natural English way of expressing the idea of 'grandes asuntos' in this context.

S/he's fishing for revealing mundanity, not great truths.j

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2016-04-08 00:37:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I don't know why I said *her* question - some unconscious assumption. Could be 'his'.

David Ronder
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:02
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: In fact, it's HE. Thank you, David!

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