Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
se les caiga un mito
English translation:
their idol has feet of clay
Added to glossary by
Eugenio Llorente
Jan 28, 2015 00:56
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term
Spain
High quality translations
Native in: Spanish
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English
se les caiga un mito
Spanish to English
Marketing
Advertising / Public Relations
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Context: the team of a consulting firm writing about their dreams, and here is on of the dreams:
"Me gustaría que mis hijos me vieran como un héroe, hasta que a los 16 años me pregunten por la integral de la tangente hiperbólica del seno de alfa y se les caiga un mito."
This is how I see it:
"I want my children to see me as a hero, knowing that when they turn 16 and ask me about the hyperbolic tangent of the alpha sine, I'll be relegated to the ranks of a fallen myth."
"Me gustaría que mis hijos me vieran como un héroe, hasta que a los 16 años me pregunten por la integral de la tangente hiperbólica del seno de alfa y se les caiga un mito."
This is how I see it:
"I want my children to see me as a hero, knowing that when they turn 16 and ask me about the hyperbolic tangent of the alpha sine, I'll be relegated to the ranks of a fallen myth."
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+5
6 hrs
Selected
they'll find that their idol has feet of clay
I really like your own translation and Francois's variant on it, but the trouble is that in English this use of "myth" is not idiomatic. Although the word myth can in principle mean a figure of mythic status, in ordinary speech it is always used to refer to something that people wrongly believe to be true: applied to a person, it would imply that he or she is not a real person but fictional, an invention. And although this text is saying that the heroic image they had of their father comes to seem false to them, referring to him as a myth doesn't express this. It just sounds wrong.
As an alternative, I suggest the expression "feet of clay", a set phrase that expresses exactly what the passage is referring to. It comes (like so many expressions) from the Bible: the book of Daniel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feet_of_clay
"feet of clay
a weakness or hidden flaw in the character of a greatly admired or respected person:
He was disillusioned to find that even Lincoln had feet of clay."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/feet of clay
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Note added at 6 hrs (2015-01-28 07:51:46 GMT)
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Where Spanish refers to someone as a "mito" (for example "Kate Moss es un mito en el mundo de la moda"), you can quite often call them a "legend" or a "legendary figure" in English, but not a "myth".
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Note added at 6 hrs (2015-01-28 07:54:37 GMT)
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Francois's suggestion, "the myth collapses", is idiomatic, but it changes the meaning; it means that their false idea of their father collapses, but in the Spanish text "mito" refers to the father himself as a hero, not to the falsity of their idea of him.
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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2015-01-29 07:56:40 GMT)
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Of course, depending on how you do the whole sentence, it could be "until [...] they find that [...]".
As an alternative, I suggest the expression "feet of clay", a set phrase that expresses exactly what the passage is referring to. It comes (like so many expressions) from the Bible: the book of Daniel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feet_of_clay
"feet of clay
a weakness or hidden flaw in the character of a greatly admired or respected person:
He was disillusioned to find that even Lincoln had feet of clay."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/feet of clay
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Note added at 6 hrs (2015-01-28 07:51:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Where Spanish refers to someone as a "mito" (for example "Kate Moss es un mito en el mundo de la moda"), you can quite often call them a "legend" or a "legendary figure" in English, but not a "myth".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2015-01-28 07:54:37 GMT)
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Francois's suggestion, "the myth collapses", is idiomatic, but it changes the meaning; it means that their false idea of their father collapses, but in the Spanish text "mito" refers to the father himself as a hero, not to the falsity of their idea of him.
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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2015-01-29 07:56:40 GMT)
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Of course, depending on how you do the whole sentence, it could be "until [...] they find that [...]".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
neilmac
: Classic :)
41 mins
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Cheers Neil ;)
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| agree |
Rachael West
: I agree that the word myth just doesn't work in the same way in English as it does in Spanish. So "feet of clay" or, "they will witness the defeat of their idol" perhaps, would avoid that.
1 hr
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Thanks, Rachael :)
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| agree |
franglish
2 hrs
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Thanks, franglish :)
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
10 hrs
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Thanks, Carol :)
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| agree |
David Ronder
: Yes, this works well. Agree that 'myth' can't be used in the same way in English; also think 'fallen myth' is a rather awkward collocation.
23 hrs
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Thanks, David. Yes, I think so too; fallen idol would be better
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I've learned a lot from all of you!
Thank you very much."
1 hr
Francois Boye
United States
United States
United States
An economic geek with social skills
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
(and until) ....the myth collapses before their eyes
The myth of the hero father collapses before their eyes because Dad does not it all; he is not knowledgeable about trigonometry
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-01-28 02:46:48 GMT)
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"before their eyes" seems to me better than "on them", which is the literal meaning of "les caiga"
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-01-28 02:46:48 GMT)
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"before their eyes" seems to me better than "on them", which is the literal meaning of "les caiga"
+1
7 hrs
Marian Vieyra
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
WorldWideWords
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, Portuguese to English
Related KudoZ points
:
32
the myth would be well and truly debunked
I do like your own suggestion, Eugenio, but what Charles says about the word myth is true. 'Feet of clay' is a very common idiom and expresses loss of status very well. If you want to retain the idea of a myth, you can play around with my suggestion.
Another expression you may not know, also from the Bible, is "the scales fell from their eyes".
Another expression you may not know, also from the Bible, is "the scales fell from their eyes".
Reference:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/the-scales-fall-from-someone%27s-eyes
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: These two also work! I actually don't see any problem with "myth" here, but also like the "scales" suggestion
10 hrs
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Thanks, Carol
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7 hrs
- how are the mighty fallen!
"How are the mighty fallen"
Meaning -> The previously powerful are now reduced.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2015-01-28 08:35:50 GMT)
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Your own suggestion isn't bad either...
Meaning -> The previously powerful are now reduced.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2015-01-28 08:35:50 GMT)
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Your own suggestion isn't bad either...
Discussion