ProZ.com translation contests »
9th ProZ.com Translation Contest: "Business" » English to Portuguese (BR)

Competition in this pair is now closed.

Source text in English

I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought, but it's been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought.

A businessman's conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are:

Have something to say.

Say it.

Stop talking.

Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a short cut to the second. I maintain a legal department here, and it costs a lot of money, but it's to keep me from going to law.

It's all right when you are calling on a girl or talking with friends after dinner to run a conversation like a Sunday-school excursion, with stops to pick flowers; but in the office your sentences should be the shortest distance possible between periods. Cut out the introduction and the peroration, and stop before you get to secondly. You've got to preach short sermons to catch sinners; and deacons won't believe they need long ones themselves. Give fools the first and women the last word. The meat's always in the middle of the sandwich. Of course, a light butter on either side of it doesn't do any harm if it's intended for a man who likes butter.

Remember, too, that it's easier to look wise than to talk wisdom. Say less than the other fellow and listen more than you talk; for when a man's listening he isn't telling on himself and he's flattering the fellow who is. Give most men a good listener and most women enough note-paper and they'll tell all they know. Money talks -- but not unless its owner has a loose tongue, and then its remarks are always offensive. Poverty talks, too, but nobody wants to hear what it has to say.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 22 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 6 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (22 total; 6 finalists) Expand all entries

Entry #10771
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
203 x44 x20
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.193.08 (12 ratings)3.30 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
+1
excursão da escola dominical
Flows well
Englxportuguese
+3
Lembre-se também de que é mais fácil parecer sábio do que falar com sabedoria
Flows well
Englxportuguese
Entry #10070
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
164 x400
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.563.54 (13 ratings)3.58 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 4 "like" tags
  • 7 users agreed with "likes" (11 total agrees)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
+6
1
menos numerosas e mais simples
Good term selection
José Henrique Lamensdorf
-1
+2
1
mas que me mantém longe dos tribunais.
Good term selection
Englxportuguese
-1
+1
ele não se compromete e ainda lisonjeia quem está com a palavra.
Good term selection
Englxportuguese
+2
e eles lhe dirão tudo o que sabem
Flows well
Englxportuguese
Entry #9580
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
152 x43 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.063.38 (13 ratings)2.73 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
+2
Elimine os preâmbulos e os "finalmentes", e pare antes que de começar a dizer "além disso"
Flows well
adapta a f​rase ao mo​do brasile​iro
Hilton F Santos
Entry #9409
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
122 x404 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.273.08 (13 ratings)3.45 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #10646
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
82 x400
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.343.47 (15 ratings)3.21 (14 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 8 users agreed with "likes" (8 total agrees)
+8
2
ser regulada por regras mais simples e menos numerosas
Flows well
Good solut​ion for th​e tricky "​fewer and ​simpler ru​les"
Andréa Mostaço
Entry #10735
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
1001 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.333.23 (13 ratings)3.42 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (5 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+2
Corte a introdução e a peroração e pare antes de chegar ao “em segundo lugar”
Flows well
Englxportuguese
+3
Lembre-se também que é muito mais fácil parecer sábio do que proferir sabedoria.
Flows well
Englxportuguese