luxury of detail

English translation: wealth of detail

15:45 Jul 9, 2004

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting / Works of art

English term or phrase: luxury of detail

This is a description of a work of art. It has been translated into English as "with luxury of detail, one can observe the elaborate array..."
Do you use "luxury of detail" in English?
Thanks in advance

Rocío Aguilar Otsu KudoZ activity Questions: 229 (9 open) (2 without valid answers) (13 closed without grading) Answers: 89
Local time: 03:44

Selected answer:wealth of detail

Explanation:
Me parece un feo calco del inglés... lo que sucede con frecuencia, desafortunadamente :(

Going back and forth on the Collins dictionary:

con todo lujo de detalles = with a wealth of detail

the wonderful detail of the painting = la maravillosa minuciosidad del cuadro

Espero te sirva :)

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Note added at 6 mins (2004-07-09 15:52:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Quise decir que \"luxury of detail\" es un feo calco del inglés... No me suena a inglés la frase.

Selected response from:

María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Panama
Local time: 03:44

Grading comment

Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +10

wealth of detail

María Teresa Taylor Oliver

5 +5

with great detail

Ltemes

4 +3

precision/precise

Christopher Crockett

with full/complete detail

Clauwolf

3 +2

a bundance

Gavin Bruce

4 +1

all the details / every detail

Sol

embellishments of detail

Paul Dixon

Discussion entries: 5

Answers

2 mins confidence:

with full/complete detail

Explanation:
:)

Clauwolf
Local time: 05:44
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

6 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

with great detail

Explanation:
Probably a literal translation of the Spanish: "con todo lujo de detalles". I would translate it as " with great details"

good luck!

Ltemes
United States
Local time: 01:44
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 4

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +10

wealth of detail

María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Panama
Local time: 03:44
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Christopher Crockett: It is hard to tell without the end of your sentence, but I certainly like "wealth of" better than "luxury of" --one can speak of "the luxurous detail", however, in the same sense that Maria uses "wonderful".

15 mins

agree

RHELLER

25 mins

agree

Aisha Maniar

26 mins

agree

Laurel Porter (X): This is the one... "Luxury of detail" just doesn't sound like an English phrase, although it isn't incorrect.

2 hrs

agree

Elena Petelos

6 hrs

agree

Sarah Downing

7 hrs

agree

humbird: Wealth of detail sounds right for an art work, no matter what is the source language. We are talking about English. Like Laurel, "luxury of detail" is too literal to the source language and not a good usage.

9 hrs

agree

Eva Karpouzi

10 hrs

agree

Jörgen Slet

14 hrs

agree

Alfa Trans (X)

2 days 21 hrs

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

a bundance

Explanation:
I don't think I have ever heard this phrase before, but it seems to me that the author is saying that there is a great abundance of detail in the work of art - so much that it is a luxury or decadent. I am reading the first clause as attributive to what follows, i.e. "With so many details, it is possible to observe..." But did you say this is a translation?

Gavin Bruce
United States
Local time: 04:44
Native speaker of: English

50 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

all the details / every detail

Explanation:
In Spanish, "con lujo de detalles" just means "every detail", it has nothing to do with "luxury".

I would change the word order to:
It is possible to observe all the (intricate) details of the elaborate array...

Sol
United States
Local time: 04:44
Native speaker of:

Spanish

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

precision/precise

Explanation:
I'm having trouble finishing your sentence, "...with luxury of detail, one can observe the elaborate array..."

Is the sense "because of the precise detail, we can see the elaborate array..." ?

Perhaps following the original, there may be an attempt to pair "luxury" with "elaborate" in the two phrases, but what is intended is the level of "precision" in the painted detail, it seems to me. It is this precision which allows us to see the array of whatever it is we are seeing the array of.

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Note added at 1 hr 8 mins (2004-07-09 16:54:20 GMT)
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Thanks for the clarification, Rocío.

\"luxury of details\" just sounds somewhat awkward, in English.

However, one can say \"the luxurous details allow us to observe the elaborate array and attire of these personages in the
course of their ritual ceremonies\".

Note also that there is a problem with \"array\", which, in English apparently means, in this context,

\"11. a. Outfit, attire, dress. Now only poetetic.\"

according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

I\'ve never heard the word used in that sense, ever, and the OED\'s instances of use end in 1877.

So I\'d say \"...the elaborate costumes and attire of these personages...\", just to avoid confusion.

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Note added at 1 hr 16 mins (2004-07-09 17:02:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Please note that I am just speaking of what the English should sound like, according to what I take to be the sense of the sentence, not working from the Spanish original.
I actually failed Spanish in High School --not once, but twice.
So I don\'t feel particularly qualified to translate from that language.

On the Other hand, my English skills are pretty good and I know a bit about Art History.

It is somewhat unusual to have such precise detail on a painted pot.

Christopher Crockett
Local time: 04:44
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 11

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Catherine Bolton: Same thing struck me when I read the sentence. The way it's structured, it sounds like "luxury (or wealth or whatever) of detail" refers to the subject of the sentence ("one") and not the artwork.

4 mins

-> Yes, it simply isn't clear. "...with *the* wealth of detail [present/visible in the painting], one can make out the....." Seems like that's what is meant. Thanks, cb.

agree

Elena Petelos

5 hrs

-> Thanks, elena.

agree

Jörgen Slet: I agree with comments on "array"

14 hrs

-> Yes. See Sol's note at the top of the page. Technically, you *can* say "elaborate array of these personages", but virtually no contemporary Anglophone will understand the archaic meaning of "array" in that usage. Thanks, Jörgen.

2 days 2 hrs confidence:

embellishments of detail

Explanation:
Embellishments - refers to the finishing touches on a sculpture, or in Gothic handwriting, for example. Seems to fit in well here.

Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 05:44
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese

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