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Spanish translation: "Los (un colectivo) se están alborotando" o "Los ánimos (o el ambiente) se están calentando"

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:The natives are restless
Spanish translation:"Los (un colectivo) se están alborotando" o "Los ánimos (o el ambiente) se están calentando"
Entered by: L de M

19:57 Dec 28, 2007
English to Spanish translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Music
English term or phrase: The natives are restless
Hola a todos:

La frase "The natives are restless" (literalmente, "los nativos están intranquilos"), tiene un significado propio que deriva del uso (103.000 resultados en Google).

¿Alguien podría indicarme en qué casos se emplea y cómo la traduciría, siendo fiel a su significado?

Os agradeceré vuestra ayuda.
L de M
Local time: 07:43
se avecina una tormenta / hay problemas en camino
Explanation:
Todo depende del CONTEXTO, obviamente, quizá haya situaciones en las que sí cabe una traducción literal, pero el sentido es este: "there's trouble brewing".

Algunas refs:

http://restlessnatives.net/faq.htm
Q: What's the origin of the "restless natives" name?

A: As far as we can tell, the "natives are restless" phrase was first used in The Island of Lost Souls, a 1933 film based on the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. It's a classic horror film, one of the best ever made, and puts later Moreau movies to shame. Upon hearing the jungle resounding with the drums and growls of his beast-men subjects, the not-so-good doctor comments, "The natives are restless tonight." Bingo, instant cliche. Why do we use the name? That's just the sort of thing we do around here.



www.carmenbutcher.com/carmenbutcher/Carmen_files/51204 Hand...
Look, for example, at the old prejudice lingering in the phrase, ‘the natives are restless.’ The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes that this phrase can be intended in a ‘humorous fashion’ to mean ‘trouble is brewing’, but is, the OED immediately clarifies, ‘[n]ow used to convey any collective hostility or disgruntlement, [and] the phrase is sometimes associated with supposed attitudes of colonial or imperial rule [emphasis added].’ The first recorded entry for this phrase is in the title of a popular jazz song played by Marty Paich and the Jazz City Workshop in the 1950s. As recorded in a 2004 Jimmy Buffett cover of this song, the lyrics jar the modern ear with their colonial Weltanschauung:

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Note added at 52 mins (2007-12-28 20:50:55 GMT)
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Mi punto es que es una frase hecha, un cliché, y no necesariamente se traduce de manera literal.

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stype477.htm

More to the point, this is a reformulation of the age-old claim that "the Natives are restless." Euro-Americans used this as a polite way of saying Indians were causing trouble, going on the warpath, or exhibiting other signs of wildness or savagery. It was a precursor to phrases like "the blacks are getting uppity" and a prelude to putting the Indians in their place.

The phrase hides or distorts what was really going on. The Indians were living on land they had inhabited for centuries, land they owned through treaties. While they stood by, hordes of white men—prospectors, troops, and settlers—invaded their domain. It wasn't the Indians who were restless but rather the Euro-Americans, who were never satisfied with what they had. They were the ones who kept craving and lusting for more.

The phrase was a psychological ploy used by the Euro-Americans—a way of shifting the blame from themselves to others. If they acknowledged that they were restless, they'd have to acknowledge why they were restless and thus address their un-Christian covetousness. By defining Natives as the problem, they eliminated the need to consider themselves the problem.
Selected response from:

María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Panama
Local time: 00:43
Grading comment
Es una frase que no debe traducirse literalmente casi nunca. Con "nativos" se está refiriendo a un grupo de personas que en cada caso será distinto y esto se tiene que reflejar en la traducción a no ser que se prefiera hacer una referencia genérica a la situación (el ambiente, los ánimos, etc.).
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5la población nativa está inquieta/ está en ascuas
Sandra Rodriguez
4la población está inquieta / ansiosa
Globalnomadron
3 +1se avecina una tormenta / hay problemas en camino
María Teresa Taylor Oliver
3los nativos están inquietos
Fabio Descalzi


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
the natives are restless
la población está inquieta / ansiosa


Explanation:
the natives= used to identify the people of an area or country...and restless....well.....is restless....or it could be taken as anxious .... now, this can be said in a socio-political sense.....or in as if expecting something to happen.....Not so terribly politically correct to use in English.....

Globalnomadron
Local time: 01:43
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the natives are restless
los nativos están inquietos


Explanation:
"Inquietos" es más genérico

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2007-12-28 20:05:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Según el DRAE:
inquieto, ta.
(Del lat. inquiētus).
1. adj. Que no está quieto, o es de índole bulliciosa.
2. adj. Propenso a promover o efectuar cambios.
3. adj. Desasosegado por una agitación del ánimo.
4. adj. Se dice de aquellas cosas en que no se ha tenido o gozado quietud. Pasar una noche inquieta.

En cambio, mira:
intranquilo, la.
1. adj. Falto de tranquilidad.

Fabio Descalzi
Uruguay
Local time: 02:43
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 12
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
the natives are restless
la población nativa está inquieta/ está en ascuas


Explanation:
Una combinación más.

Sandra Rodriguez
Puerto Rico
Local time: 01:43
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 9
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
the natives are restless
se avecina una tormenta / hay problemas en camino


Explanation:
Todo depende del CONTEXTO, obviamente, quizá haya situaciones en las que sí cabe una traducción literal, pero el sentido es este: "there's trouble brewing".

Algunas refs:

http://restlessnatives.net/faq.htm
Q: What's the origin of the "restless natives" name?

A: As far as we can tell, the "natives are restless" phrase was first used in The Island of Lost Souls, a 1933 film based on the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. It's a classic horror film, one of the best ever made, and puts later Moreau movies to shame. Upon hearing the jungle resounding with the drums and growls of his beast-men subjects, the not-so-good doctor comments, "The natives are restless tonight." Bingo, instant cliche. Why do we use the name? That's just the sort of thing we do around here.



www.carmenbutcher.com/carmenbutcher/Carmen_files/51204 Hand...
Look, for example, at the old prejudice lingering in the phrase, ‘the natives are restless.’ The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes that this phrase can be intended in a ‘humorous fashion’ to mean ‘trouble is brewing’, but is, the OED immediately clarifies, ‘[n]ow used to convey any collective hostility or disgruntlement, [and] the phrase is sometimes associated with supposed attitudes of colonial or imperial rule [emphasis added].’ The first recorded entry for this phrase is in the title of a popular jazz song played by Marty Paich and the Jazz City Workshop in the 1950s. As recorded in a 2004 Jimmy Buffett cover of this song, the lyrics jar the modern ear with their colonial Weltanschauung:

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 52 mins (2007-12-28 20:50:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Mi punto es que es una frase hecha, un cliché, y no necesariamente se traduce de manera literal.

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/stype477.htm

More to the point, this is a reformulation of the age-old claim that "the Natives are restless." Euro-Americans used this as a polite way of saying Indians were causing trouble, going on the warpath, or exhibiting other signs of wildness or savagery. It was a precursor to phrases like "the blacks are getting uppity" and a prelude to putting the Indians in their place.

The phrase hides or distorts what was really going on. The Indians were living on land they had inhabited for centuries, land they owned through treaties. While they stood by, hordes of white men—prospectors, troops, and settlers—invaded their domain. It wasn't the Indians who were restless but rather the Euro-Americans, who were never satisfied with what they had. They were the ones who kept craving and lusting for more.

The phrase was a psychological ploy used by the Euro-Americans—a way of shifting the blame from themselves to others. If they acknowledged that they were restless, they'd have to acknowledge why they were restless and thus address their un-Christian covetousness. By defining Natives as the problem, they eliminated the need to consider themselves the problem.

María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Panama
Local time: 00:43
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 30
Grading comment
Es una frase que no debe traducirse literalmente casi nunca. Con "nativos" se está refiriendo a un grupo de personas que en cada caso será distinto y esto se tiene que reflejar en la traducción a no ser que se prefiera hacer una referencia genérica a la situación (el ambiente, los ánimos, etc.).
Notes to answerer
Asker: Mis más sinceras gracias por esta útil colaboración.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Cecilia Welsh: "trouble is brewing"
4 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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