Y para prueba, un botón.

English translation: One need look no further than...

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:Y para prueba, un botón.
English translation:One need look no further than...
Entered by: Thomas Walker

23:02 May 8, 2017
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Government / Politics / Current events
Spanish term or phrase: Y para prueba, un botón.
This is from an op-ed piece in a Mexican newspaper. The broad subject is U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America.
I feel like I kind of almost have a feel for what this phrase conveys, but I'm uncertain, & I can't really nail down a good English equivalent. "Para prueba", probably "for/as proof". But, "as proof, a button"? I hadn't run across this phrase before, but it seems to be pretty common - a Bing search got 7,000+ hits. None that I looked at helped me understand what it means, though...
Here's the paragraph:

Luego de las últimas acciones de Trump en Siria y Afganistán, muchos siguen creyendo que la política exterior estadunidense con América Latina será de segundo orden en las prioridades del Pentágono. Pero no. Ni mucho menos. ***Y para prueba, un botón.*** En su reporte anual al Congreso, el almirante Kurt Tidd, actual comandante del Comando Sur, declaró abiertamente: Planteado de manera simple, los desafíos para la seguridad en la región (América Latina) probablemente se transformen en desafíos al interior de la frontera de Estados Unidos. Dicho de otro modo, en clave militar, se da una vuelta de tuerca más a la nunca abandonada doctrina monroista. En virtud de un planteamiento geopolítico de largo plazo para América Latina, el actual gobierno estadunidense actualiza la noción de patio trasero.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Thomas Walker
United States
Local time: 14:58
One need look no further than...
Explanation:
One need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...

Those interested in X need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2017-05-08 23:11:31 GMT)
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It's a common phrase here in Colombia, and universally, I believe. Here, it's "para la prueba, un botón."

Another option I've just thought of: "To give but one example,..."

However, I prefer my first suggestion.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2017-05-08 23:31:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

*My mistake- here, and in many other countries, it's "Para la muestra, un botón."
Selected response from:

12316323 (X)
Local time: 16:58
Grading comment
Thanks for your thoughtful response & discussion, Kathryn. Although Robert's & Michael's answers were I think correct, I thought yours worked better in the context - & I used it in my translation.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +9One need look no further than...
12316323 (X)
4 +2For instance...
Robert Carter
4And for/as evidence, an example.
Michael Powers (PhD)
Summary of reference entries provided
Prueba vs muestra
neilmac

Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
For instance...


Explanation:
botón
como botón de muestra — (just) to give you an idea
es un irresponsable: como botón de muestra ayer perdió las llaves — he's totally irresponsible: just to give you an example / for instance, only yesterday he lost the keys

https://es.oxforddictionaries.com/traducir/espanol-ingles/bo...

Robert Carter
Mexico
Local time: 15:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 100

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michael Powers (PhD): Oxford is usually a very reliable reference. Mike :)
13 mins
  -> Thanks, Mike.

agree  Wilsonn Perez Reyes: also, For example:
19 mins
  -> Thanks, Wilsonn.
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
And for/as evidence, an example.


Explanation:
"un botón" could be interpreted in this context as a shortened form of "un botón de prueba" meaning an example. Note the source cited below uses "example" for botón de muestra with "prueba" in parentheses).

(informal) on button n
botón de muestra loc nom m (ejemplo, señal, prueba) example n

Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
Local time: 17:58
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 365
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +9
One need look no further than...


Explanation:
One need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...

Those interested in X need look no further than Admiral Kurt Tidd's annual report to Congress...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2017-05-08 23:11:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It's a common phrase here in Colombia, and universally, I believe. Here, it's "para la prueba, un botón."

Another option I've just thought of: "To give but one example,..."

However, I prefer my first suggestion.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2017-05-08 23:31:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

*My mistake- here, and in many other countries, it's "Para la muestra, un botón."

12316323 (X)
Local time: 16:58
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks for your thoughtful response & discussion, Kathryn. Although Robert's & Michael's answers were I think correct, I thought yours worked better in the context - & I used it in my translation.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Robert Carter: That too... :-)
0 min
  -> Thanks, Robert :)

agree  Michael Powers (PhD): Nicely worded, Kathryn. Mike :)
14 mins
  -> Thank you, Mike!

agree  Muriel Vasconcellos: You seem to have a nice sense for finding the "mot juste".
30 mins
  -> Thank you, Muriel. That's kind of you to say.

agree  Christian [email protected]: I also like your second option.
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Christian! I value your bilingual judgment.

agree  franglish
8 hrs
  -> Thank you, franglish.

agree  neilmac: Usually seen as "De muestra un botón/Como muestra un botón" over here...
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, Neil. Interesting.

agree  Yvonne Gallagher
12 hrs
  -> Thanks, Gallagy.

agree  Andy Watkinson: I'm stealing this if you don't mind...
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, Andy. You are welcome to it. This phrase wouldn't have occurred to me if the Spanish had appeared all by itself... it was the context.

agree  Marcelo González
1 day 23 hrs
  -> Thanks, Marcelo.
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Reference comments


8 hrs
Reference: Prueba vs muestra

Reference information:
There are several variants of the phrase depending on where it appears. In Spain, the form is more likely to be "de/como/para muestra un botón", and it is notoriously hard to translate, as there are so many possibilities.
https://eleredeliris.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/para-muestra-u...
http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=5927...


    https://plaza.podemos.info/debates/610
    https://ar.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111013065052AABCEOK
neilmac
Spain
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 200
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