Sergio Kot Nov 8, 2018:

@Alba I initially thought of "you're not worth a damn". Verónica missed that one... :-)

Verónica Gauna Kroeger Nov 8, 2018:

@Alba Here are some other ones: You are worthless, you are useless, you are not worth a dime, you mean nothing, you are a waste of breath, imbecile

Alba Rivas (asker) Nov 8, 2018:

Thank you, everyone, for your important and very useful comments. I do agree with Dariusz in that a certified translation must convey as much as possible the literal meaning of the original. The problem with vulgar language is that the meaning of words - or rather the intent of the insult - may change from country to country. In this case, the story was written by a person born in Mexico. My research gave me several options of the meaning in that particular country but I thought the one I selected was the most accurate. The other factor to consider is how the selected translation is understood in the target language and country (the USA). In this respect, I welcome any suggestions you may have as to a better translation of "no vales madre" spoken by a Mexican but understood by an American citizen.

Verónica Gauna Kroeger Nov 8, 2018:

@Sergio I reckon that it was just an example and that Alba didn´t want to write the other, more obvious and strong vulgar words. "No vales madre" doesn´t sound too bad to me to translate it like that ("you aren´t worth sh*"). As to the other words in the text, everyone strongly suggested keeping the same coarse language. Depending on the words, as in the example given ("no vales madre"), there are always options to choose from.

Sergio Kot Nov 8, 2018:

Still, would anyone please enlighten me on how "no vales madre" MUST be translated as "you are not worth sh*"?

AllegroTrans Nov 7, 2018:

@ Veronica I strongly disagree with your suggested approach. We are talking here about a certified translation of official documents. The translation MUST contain an accurate rendering of the source text, not allusions to it. Think about it.

Sergio Kot Nov 7, 2018:

@No vales I agree with Veronica: I do not believe that a literal and faithful translation of "no vales madre" necessarily calls for "sh*".

Darius Saczuk Nov 7, 2018:

As a rule, certified translations should pretty much convey the literal meaning of the original.

Verónica Gauna Kroeger Nov 7, 2018:

What about writing something less vulgar and more general ("no vales nada"), followed by an asterisk so as to place a translator comment at the end of the text (vulgar words were omitted for the purpose of this document)? Just an idea. I suppose asking the client is what I would do first. HIH!