Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
saltó al agua de cabeza.
English translation:
(and immediately he ) dived head first into the water
Spanish term
saltó al agua de cabeza.
This is part of someone's evidence in a civil case, so I am unable to provide more context. The translation of the last part of the sentence is causing me a lot of difficulty. I don't think that "diving into the water" is the correct term, also because it could affect the outcome of the action, although my own attempt (below) doesn't sound quite right either:
"I saw the man jump over the ropes and immediately jump headfirst into the water"
I'd appreciate your suggestions. I've selected the general law field but it's not really legalese. Also, it's from Mexican Spanish, if that's any help.
Non-PRO (2): Michele Fauble, patinba
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Proposed translations
(and immediately he ) dived head first into the water
Thank you, Patinaba. Will see what others think |
agree |
Michele Fauble
1 hr
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Thank you!
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agree |
Andrew Bramhall
1 hr
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Thank you!
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agree |
Richard Cadena
4 hrs
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Thank you!
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agree |
David Hollywood
: absolutely
5 hrs
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Thank you!
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agree |
Helena Chavarria
: and he immediately dived...
20 hrs
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Yes. Thank you!
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agree |
Saro Nova
2 days 14 mins
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he immediately jumped headfirst into the water
Thanks Eileen |
Given that this is for legal proceedings, and supposed to be translated word-for-word, of as close to the original as possible, it might just be the most suitable match |
agree |
Michele Fauble
23 mins
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Thank you very much Michele
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agree |
Richard Cadena
: Your emphasis on word order is why I like your answer the most, although I would prefer "dived" instead of "jumped".
38 mins
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Thank you very much Richard, I wouldn't use dived with "head first" but that's an option
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jump into the water headfirst
Creo que una búsqueda de imágenes puede sacarte de dudas
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Note added at 1 hr (2022-02-26 21:02:04 GMT)
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https://dle.rae.es/tirar
36. prnl. Arrojarse, dejarse caer.
Incluso sería recomendable incluir el verbo tirarse porque ya aparece saltar
Saltar en el drae
7. intr. Alzarse con impulso rápido, separándose de donde se está. U. t. en sent. fig. Saltar a la fama.
8. intr. Arrojarse desde una altura. Saltar desde un trampolín. Saltar en paracaídas.
a mí me parece un perfecto sinónimo
Quizá no lo usan, o sea, que en México no se debe escuchar mucho eso de tirarse en estos casos y se dice más saltar
https://dem.colmex.mx/ver/saltar
2 Echarse o tirarse una persona o un animal desde cierta altura: saltar en paracaídas, saltar de un tren, saltar de un árbol
Quitar se puede entender que cuando se dice saltar hay una altura que se gana y cuando se dice tirarse parece que no se presta tanta atención a que se levante o coja altura
Pero creo que no es el caso
Vamos que salta al agua
No es un salto de trampolín en el que toma altura
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Note added at 1 hr (2022-02-26 21:09:06 GMT)
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Y creo podrías poner jump o puedes poner también si lo prefieres dive
Tirarse a la piscina es lo que se dice, al menos por España, coloquialmente,
saltar sonaría más deportivo
parecen ser dos formas de decir lo mismo
Gracias Villarino. Creo que hay una diferencia entre saltar y tirarse, ¿no? "Saltar" es la palabra que me da problemas. Si fuera "tirar" lo habría traducido simplemente como "diving". No sé si lo he dejado claro |
dived headfirst into the water
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Note added at 1 hr (2022-02-26 20:59:18 GMT)
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Hi Jeanie. How about "threw himself headfirst into the water", then?
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Note added at 1 hr (2022-02-26 21:04:06 GMT)
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BTW, I also wanted to mention that I think it would be better it you replaced "immediately" with "then" or "quickly": ..."and then/quickly threw himself into the water".
Hope it helps.
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Note added at 1 hr (2022-02-26 21:14:24 GMT)
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I also thought of this at one point: "...quickly hopped into the water." I think that might reflect "saltar" better, and get rid of the connotation of forcefulness found with thrusting oneself/diving into the water. In this case, I don't think that "hopping" would be very controlled kind of movement at all, unlike what you find with "hopscotch".
Thanks Barbara, as I already wrote to Villarino, my problem with translating this as "dive" is because the word "saltar" is used instead of "tirarse" |
Thanks Barbara. Again I think "threw himself" is closer to "tirarse" than saltar. As for "diving", it seems to me that it's more of a controlled movement, compared to "jumping" |
agree |
Wyoming (X)
1 hr
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Thanks, Wyoming.
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agree |
Richard Cadena
: The only thing missing is the adverb "immediately", either before the verb or after the object of a preposition in the complement.
4 hrs
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Thank you, Richard. But like I mentioned above, I would shy away from using "Immediately" in the translation."
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agree |
David Hollywood
: "immediately" in asker's text but "dived headfirst etc." perfect in term asked if literal but "ojo" "jump headfirst/head-first " if not...and hence the quandary...
5 hrs
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Thank you, David. But like I mentioned above, I would shy away from using "Immediately" in the translation.
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agree |
neilmac
: A search for "dived headfirst" gets 99,000 results...
14 hrs
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Thank you, neilmac.
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pitched himself headfirst into the water
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Note added at 2 hrs (2022-02-26 21:54:04 GMT)
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and straightaway pitched himself headfirst into the water.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2022-02-26 21:59:40 GMT)
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Immediately = straightaway: https://www.audioenglish.org/dictionary/straightaway.htm
Thanks Wyoming. Sounds good. |
plunged headfirst into the water
plunge
/plʌn(d)ʒ/
Learn to pronounce
See definitions in:
all
1.
jump or dive quickly and energetically.
"our little daughters whooped as they plunged into the sea"
h
Similar:
jump
dive
hurl oneself
throw oneself
fling oneself
launch oneself
catapult oneself
cast oneself
pitch oneself
fall suddenly and uncontrollably.
"a car swerved to avoid a bus and plunged into a ravine"
Similar:
crash
plummet
pitch
drop
fall
fall headlong
tumble
nosedive
take a nosedive
crash-dive
descend
embark impetuously on a speech or course of action.
"he came to a decision, and plunged on before he had time to reconsider it"
suffer a rapid decrease in value.
"shares in the company plunged 18p on news that profits had fallen"
h
Similar:
fall steeply/sharply
plummet
drop rapidly
go down
tumble
sink
slump
crash
nosedive
take a nosedive
(of a ship) pitch.
"the ship plunged through the 20-foot seas"
h
Similar:
lurch
pitch
roll
reel
toss about
keel
list
wallow
labour
flounder
make heavy weather
pitchpole
(of a horse) rear violently.
"the frightened horse plunged and bolted"
2.
push or thrust quickly.
"he plunged his hands into his pockets"
h
Similar:
thrust
stick
ram
drive
jab
stab
push
shove
force
sink
quickly immerse in liquid.
"to peel fruit, cover with boiling water and then plunge them into iced water"
h
Similar:
immerse
submerge
sink
dip
dunk
douse
duck
suddenly bring into a specified condition or state.
"for a moment the scene was illuminated, then it was plunged back into darkness"
h
Similar:
throw
cast
pitch
sink (a pot containing a plant) in the ground.
"pot up and plunge spring-flowering bulbs"
noun
noun: plunge; plural noun: plunges
an act of jumping or diving into water.
"fanatics went straight from the hot room to take a cold plunge"
Thanks AllegroTrans |
agree |
neilmac
: Nice get-out... :-)
8 hrs
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Thanks
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agree |
ormiston
: As per my comment above! But I didn't post it as an answer, so my bad!
10 hrs
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I am so sorry, but I genuinely had not seen your comment in dBox when I posted this answer
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agree |
Michele Fauble
1 day 15 hrs
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thanks
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Discussion
To "dive" headfirst into the water or "plunge", both sound perfect to me but is this really accurate? Or is it the case that the direct translation "jump" is a better fit? In the same way that a direct translation of "plunge" is "zambullir".
Or have I spent too many hours on the computer tonight? haaaaaaaaa
He plunged headfirst into the water