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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

El C. Mayor XXX

English translation:

Major XXX

    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2013-09-10 22:54:09 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Sep 7, 2013 18:40
10 yrs ago
11 viewers *
Spanish term

El C. Mayor XXX

Spanish to English Social Sciences Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs
La Escuela Militar XXX certifica:

Que el C. Mayor XXX Efectuó la carrera de Médico Cirujano Militar.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +6 Major XXX
3 The Senior Citizen, XXX

Discussion

Charles Davis Sep 7, 2013:
An interesting point Thanks for those thoughts, Pablo. It's not an exact analogy, of course, but I'm suddenly reminded of "Comrade" in the old Soviet Union: you would often, perhaps usually, include it in English, for not dissimilar reasons.
Pablo Julián Davis Sep 7, 2013:
The (almost always) untranslated Mexican "C." Yes, as Charles points out, this "C." is a standard anteposition before titles in Mexico. We are forever encountering documents that refer to "C. Senador Fulano", "C. Juez Mengano", "C. Doctor Zutano" and, yes, in the military context, "C. General Perengano". A heritage of the egalitarian ideology of the Mexican Revolution, with roots partially in the 19th Century Liberalism of Juárez et al.

The almost ironclad rule is not to translate it as it adds no meaning relevant to a diploma, divorce decree, etc. And, in fact, it is almost never translated. ............. The one reason to translate it, in my view, is if you need to convey historical-cultural idiosyncrasy, say in translating a novel, particularly if set in the early post-Revolution decades. But even in more recent settings, "C." could still be relevant to showing Mexico as a different culture--even if the "C." is (as many feel) a vestige of an earlier time with virtually no real meaning any longer.
Manolo18 (asker) Sep 7, 2013:
Just to make sure...I compared the guy's uniform insignia with a database, and indeed, that one star coincideds with the rank of Major. That pesky C. In every document is somewhat unnerving for me.
lorenab23 Sep 7, 2013:
Let's not forget cabo mayor...I agree with Phil, google the guy's name...
liz askew Sep 7, 2013:
or "Comandante Mayor"
philgoddard Sep 7, 2013:
I'm guessing it's "cirujano mayor," "surgeon major". If so, you could probably confirm this by Googling him.

Proposed translations

+6
2 hrs
Selected

Major XXX

Of course we can't be completely sure that "C." stands for "ciudadano" (I can't give this confidence 5), but assuming the document is from Mexico it seems to me overwhelmingly likely. Use of "el C." in this sense before names, with or without titles, is of course extremely common in Mexico, and it's also common before military ranks. So I believe "Mayor" is the person's rank, and "el C." stands for "el ciudadano", which will not be translated.

This is, after all, from a Military Academy. It would be normal for the person's rank to be given here.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this usage:

"11-Julio-2007. Solicita el permiso a que se refiere la fracción III, apartado c), del artículo 37 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, para que el C. Mayor de Fuerza Aérea Piloto Aviador DEMA Víctor Raúl Murrieta Perea, pueda aceptar y usar la medalla "Mención de la Fuerza Aérea", que le otorga el Departamento de la Fuerza Aérea de los Estados Unidos de América."
http://sitl.diputados.gob.mx/permisos.php?comt=53&edot=T&per...

"DOF: 15/08/2007
[....] Se concede permiso al ciudadano Mayor de Fuerza Aérea Piloto Aviador DEMA Víctor Raúl Murrieta Perea, para aceptar y usar la Medalla Mención de la Fuerza Aérea, que le otorga el Departamento de la Fuerza Aérea de los Estados Unidos de América."
http://dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=4996474&fecha=15/0...

Many more examples of "el C." + rank and name in the first of these documents and "el ciudadano" + rank and name in the second.

"-MODERADOR: Escuchemos al ciudadano Mayor de Infantería Diplomado de Estado Mayor, Gregorio Espinosa Toledo, quien interpretará el poema: “Sólo aquí”.
-MAYOR GREGORIO ESPINOSA TOLEDO: Sólo aquí.
En esta Escuela de la Guerra, sólo aquí en este templo del honor, infinitos e intrínsecos se encierran a raudales principios de un valor que no hay sitio ni tiempo en esta tierra en que exista jamás algo mejor. [...]"
http://calderon.presidencia.gob.mx/2007/04/diversas-interven...

And there are plenty more.
Peer comment(s):
agree Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez-Carrington
3 mins
Thank you, José Arnoldo :)
agree Pablo Julián Davis : Me parece que has dicho la mera verdad. I've posted a discussion note about the only possible reason to translate that 'C'.
42 mins
Many thanks, tocayo :) (Do you like that "poem" in the last text? It goes on for some time in that vein.)
agree philgoddard
1 hr
Thanks, Phil :)
agree Cristina Gonzalez
12 hrs
Thanks, Cristina :)
agree Yvonne Gallagher : how interesting...and thanks to Pablo for note on the "C"
21 hrs
Yes, I enjoyed Pablo's comments too. Thanks, gallagy :)
agree Lisa Russell
23 hrs
Thank you, Lisa :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
8 mins

The Senior Citizen, XXX

sic
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