Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Jun 9, 2004 00:48
19 yrs ago
English term
not one
May offend
English to Spanish
Social Sciences
Government / Politics
logic
"The president of the United States has not ordered any conduct that would violate the Constitution of the United States, that would violate **not one** of the laws enacted by the Congress, or that would violate any of the various treaties."
Is this odd construction a clever and deliberate double negative, which would suggest that an apparent denial is really not a denial, or is this native speaker just a grammatical illiterate? If someone has "not ordered" any conduct that would violate "not one" of the laws, does logic require the real meaning to be that he has in fact violated one of the laws? I tried to post this translation question on onr of the forums, but the moderator censored it, mistakenly believing it to be political.
This is an actual quote from John Ashcroft testifying before the Congress of the United States.
Is this odd construction a clever and deliberate double negative, which would suggest that an apparent denial is really not a denial, or is this native speaker just a grammatical illiterate? If someone has "not ordered" any conduct that would violate "not one" of the laws, does logic require the real meaning to be that he has in fact violated one of the laws? I tried to post this translation question on onr of the forums, but the moderator censored it, mistakenly believing it to be political.
This is an actual quote from John Ashcroft testifying before the Congress of the United States.
Proposed translations
(Spanish)
| 5 +3 | ni una sola |
Xenia Wong
|
| 5 +1 | ....ni una de... |
Juan Jacob
|
| 5 | no... una sola |
Jorge Alonso Ruiz
|
| 4 | ninguna/ni una sola |
Mario La Gatto
|
Proposed translations
+3
8 mins
Xenia Wong
Native in English
&
Spanish
Works in field
Excellence-promptness-guarantee-20 yrs.
Native in: Spanish 
, English
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English
Related KudoZ points
:
36
Selected
ni una sola
Mi opción.
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Note added at 30 mins (2004-06-09 01:18:21 GMT)
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Okay, entonces si piensas que está equivocado el escrito puedes decir:
...\"alguna de las....\"
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Note added at 30 mins (2004-06-09 01:18:21 GMT)
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Okay, entonces si piensas que está equivocado el escrito puedes decir:
...\"alguna de las....\"
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Henry Hinds
: Right, and either this native speaker or a reporter IS just a grammatical illiterate.
10 mins
|
|
Gracias Henry.
|
|
| agree |
ingridbram
: exacto
11 mins
|
|
Ingridbram, gracias.
|
|
| agree |
teju
1 hr
|
|
Teju, gracias.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you all."
+1
2 mins
Juan Jacob
Mexico
Mexico
Native in Spanish
Mexico
Literatura, historia, subtitulaje
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Mexican, Latin American) , French (Variants: Belgian, Standard-France)
Works in: French to Spanish, Spanish to French, French, and 5 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
21
....ni una de...
Not offensive.
Luck.
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Note added at 3 mins (2004-06-09 00:51:55 GMT)
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Or ...ninguna de las leyes...
Luck.
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Note added at 3 mins (2004-06-09 00:51:55 GMT)
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Or ...ninguna de las leyes...
39 mins
Mario La Gatto
Brazil
Brazil
Native in Spanish
Brazil
Your Reliable Translation Partner
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Argentine) , Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: English to Portuguese, English to Spanish, Portuguese to Spanish, and 3 more.
ninguna/ni una sola
In reality, this question posted by Ruth is not a translation issue, but one of a writing nature. The main question here is not how to translate it, which Ruth probably know very well, but what the real meaning of the sentence is.
7 hrs
Jorge Alonso Ruiz
Spain
Spain
Native in Spanish
Specializes in field
Spain
BusinessTranslator
Native in: Spanish
Works in: English to Spanish, German to Spanish, French to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
no... una sola
...jamás ha ordenado/promovido/impuesto conductas que puedan faltar a la Constitución de los Estados Unidos, o infringir una sola ley aprobada...
This construction, I believe, also allows for a possible double meaning, being however perfectly correct in Spanish.
By the way, I prefer "infringir la ley" to "violar la ley" which, although valid - is rather a gallicism.
...El señor F no está acusado
de violar una sola ley, sino varias....
http://www.senado.es/pdf/legis6/congreso/ds/CO0235.PDF
By the way, I prefer "infringir la ley" to "violar la ley" which is rather a gallicism.
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Note added at 7 hrs 46 mins (2004-06-09 08:34:42 GMT)
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In fact, I think this is the most correct construction, grammatically, as it avoids the double negation \"no... ni una \", \"no... ninguna\" which although commonly used to emphasize the negation (or becaused \"no... alguna\" sounds too refined or literary (?), is not correct and should be avoided whenever possible.
This construction, I believe, also allows for a possible double meaning, being however perfectly correct in Spanish.
By the way, I prefer "infringir la ley" to "violar la ley" which, although valid - is rather a gallicism.
...El señor F no está acusado
de violar una sola ley, sino varias....
http://www.senado.es/pdf/legis6/congreso/ds/CO0235.PDF
By the way, I prefer "infringir la ley" to "violar la ley" which is rather a gallicism.
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Note added at 7 hrs 46 mins (2004-06-09 08:34:42 GMT)
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In fact, I think this is the most correct construction, grammatically, as it avoids the double negation \"no... ni una \", \"no... ninguna\" which although commonly used to emphasize the negation (or becaused \"no... alguna\" sounds too refined or literary (?), is not correct and should be avoided whenever possible.
Discussion