This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
se superponían
potencia de arena

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

generar sinergias interesantes

English translation:

lead to synergies that would be beneficial

Added to glossary by James A. Walsh
Apr 29, 2011 12:47
13 yrs ago
6 viewers *
Spanish term

generar sinergias interesantes

Spanish to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general) Business follow-up letter
This is from a follow-up letter for a Spanish company that supplies fresh produce (fruit & veg.) to supermarkets. The preceding paragraphs mention how the two companies had recently met, and bangs on about the benefits of using its services, etc.

I have absolutely no intention of using ‘generates interesting synergies’ here, as it simply doesn’t work in UK English, in my opinion. Anyone got any ‘interesting’ ideas about how I could render this here?

My current draft for ‘puede generar sinergias interesantes para la ejecución de nuevos proyectos’ is ‘could generate mutually beneficial new projects’ (‘mutually’ being synonymous with ‘synergy’ and ‘beneficial’ being my rendition of ‘interesting’ in a business scope), but I’m not particularly happy with this, so thought I’d put it out there.

Context:

“Según el perfil de cada proyecto, trabajamos con diferentes partners, los cuales son siempre empresas referentes en su sector. Tras las conversaciones mantenidas con ustedes, consideramos que una colaboración conjunta puede generar sinergias interesantes para la ejecución de nuevos proyectos. Con este propósito, disponemos de diversas formas de colaboración que podemos comentar en una próxima reunión.”

As mentioned, it’s going into UK English. Many thanks in advance.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 lead to synergies that would be beneficial
4 +3 create useful synergies
4 suggest synergies in potential projects
4 "would be interesting" /"could generate positive/ interesting synergies"
4 -1 create intriguing/interesting possibilities/options/ideas

Discussion

Altogringo Apr 29, 2011:
Jaime I think what you call localizing is part of what I consider the theater element in translating. You "take on" a character and develop a voice appropriate for the client to deliver the message to the people/audience targeted to receive it.
Jaime Hyland Apr 29, 2011:
FVS I take all sorts of work. Can't afford not to. But material intended for marketing purposes almost always involves lots of information gathering, expectation management and follow-up amendment (not to mention all the reformatting, proof-reading, chinese whispers with the final customer, debriefing and general customer education).
FVS (X) Apr 29, 2011:
Jaime Your comment is very acertado in my view. I pride myself on keeping clients happy with good translations and in 20 years of legal translation have only ever had 3 real run-ins with unhappy clients. Two of those really turned out to be sales documents to sell some stupid companies and they actually wanted some sort of sexy document which sounded good rather than accurately translate the content. If I ever sense that is what my client wants I just refuse the translation. Lawyers are not advertising copywriters and I don't claim or want to be one.
Jaime Hyland Apr 29, 2011:
@Altogringo I see where you're coming from. Certainly when 'translating' journalistic material for publication in the target language, very often what you're doing is not quite translating at all, but something a little more like localising (i.e. adapting a text to suit the culture of its audience -- and arguably to suit the purposes of the people who commissioned you). It's a related but slightly different discipline, imo. That's why nobody with any sense translates advertising material: simply and honestly translated it practically always sounds embarrassing.
Altogringo Apr 29, 2011:
@FVS and Jaime I have to fess up that I'm someone who came to translation from being a journalist/writer. Re assignments to non-native tongue, I might make exceptions for people with serious, dedicated language studies. But not me.
FVS (X) Apr 29, 2011:
I have to agree the definition given is naff, to say the least.

Altogringo- I agree about native language. Knowing what I know I would never commission a translation except into the translator's native language. What amazes me in the Span-Eng, Eng-Span forums here is the number of people translating into their non-native language. Client ignorance here I feel. I am happy to answer a few questions Eng-Span because I have a good recognition of various Spanish terms, but I would never ever accept work in that direction. Firstly it would take me too much time to be profitable, and secondly I could never write as fluently as a Spanish native speaker.
Altogringo Apr 29, 2011:
Point taken But so is communicating so that people in the target language can understand what is going on. After all, the general rule is to translate to your native tongue.
Jaime Hyland Apr 29, 2011:
but precise meaning is what us translators trade in. It's the added value we provide to the marketplace, so to speak. : o )

By the way, that definition from Roget's Thesaurus is dreadful, AllegroTrans. Synergy does not mean anything like collaboration or cooperation
Altogringo Apr 29, 2011:
@Jaime Hyland No offense taken, I only reacted because it was posted as a request for options sans synergy and I made it clear at the start it was from context and off-phrase. This kind of letter is not where the precise meaning is THAT important IMO and synergy is redundant to a certain degree, implied since joint collaboration is also there. I'm not entirely convinced they didn't just throw synergy in there because it is the buzzword to use these days, much like some variation of sustainable/sustainability seemed to be in every document 2 or 3 years ago. But I'm probably just being cynical there (Who, me?)
I don't have any argument with using synergy in other contexts, although I don't have the definition as precise as your discussion entry here, which is quite helpful, actually.
I will also freely admit that I often place greater value on phrasing and word flow than anything else, sometimes more than I should. And I also did misread projects as products at the end but that wouldn't have changed my suggestion.

AllegroTrans Apr 29, 2011:
One can always look in the Thesaurus Main Entry: synergy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: collaboration, cooperation
Synonyms: alliance, coaction, combined effort, harmony, symbiosis, synergism, team effort, teaming, teamwork, union, unity, working together
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2011 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Main Entry: cooperation
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: mutual effort
Synonyms: aid, alliance, assistance, cahoots, coaction, coadjuvancy, coalition, collaboration, combination, combined effort, communion, company, concert, concurrence, confederacy, confederation, confunction, conspiracy, doing business with, esprit de corps, federation, fusion, give-and-take, harmony, help, helpfulness, logrolling, participation, partisanship, partnership, playing ball, reciprocity, responsiveness, service, society, symbiosis, synergism, synergy, teaming, teamwork, unanimity, union, unity
Jaime Hyland Apr 29, 2011:
@altogringo I'm sorry if my disagreement with your suggestion appeared rude. I can assure you it was just that: an honest expression of disagreement. I appreciate the asker didn't want to use the term "synergy". I simply don't think your translation expresses the meaning of the source phrase adequately, for reasons expressed in this discussion.
philgoddard Apr 29, 2011:
Yes, it's a useful word - it means the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
Jaime Hyland Apr 29, 2011:
For what it's worth, I think the term synergy, unlike a lot of buzzwords in business language, is quite an elegant way of expressing the simple concept of how the right two organisations coming together might have the effect of cancelling out each other's weaknesses by the application of each other's strengths. Now, I have a tendency to be wordy, but "synergy" does everything my long explanatory clause above does and more, and manages at the same to sound positive.

Imo, "synergy" is a very useful word!
James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 29, 2011:
Funny, indeed... How we perceive words differently. You didn't come across as rude at all earlier, by the way; on the contrary, I appreciated you taking the time to express your opinion! Cheers.
FVS (X) Apr 29, 2011:
Hi Sorry if I appeared a bit rude in my comment. I didn't notice who the asker was. But I have to disagree with your perception of the word synergy. It seems to have been very much a buzz-term in business writing for a decade or so. I keep coming across it in both languages. Personally I would only really associate it with mainly organizations and not with health, fitness, etc. It's funny sometimes how different people have varying perceptions of a particular word. I guess otherwise we would be all out of business and leave it to Google translator.
James A. Walsh (asker) Apr 29, 2011:
My problem with ‘synergy’ Is that I’ve always felt it's an ineffectual term in UK business English, at least. I read it and think: what a load of old cobblers, frankly! And I think it has this effect on your average reader too (it goes over their heads), so I’ve always tried to avoid it for that reason. Dunno, it just seems out of context, somehow… I associate it more to health, fitness and well-being (mind and body ‘synergy’, if you like; yoga etc.), than to business processes.

But going on the opinions expressed here, it would seem that’s not the case!

Thanks for your help all :)
FVS (X) Apr 29, 2011:
Sorry asker, I don't like your proposed translation which does not convey the meaning. The word synergies is key here and to try and get round it would be incorrect.

Proposed translations

+1
2 hrs
Selected

lead to synergies that would be beneficial

may lead to synergies that would be beneficial to implementing new projects

Nothing wrong with "synergies" in UK
Peer comment(s):
agree FVS (X) : I think on balance I much prefer your suggestion.
3 hrs
Thanks FVS
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks Robert, and everyone else for your valuable help with this term. Much appreciated! Cheers."
+3
9 mins

create useful synergies

i'm not a fan of management speak either, but Spanish managementspeak probably needs to be translated into English managementspeak.
Reference:

http://www.brusselsstrasbourgstudy.eu/resources/Strasbourg+after+the+Parliament+discussion+paper+140411.pdf

http://www.boettcher.de/englisch/Gruppe-engl/Industrie-engl.htm

Peer comment(s):
agree Constantinos Faridis (X)
3 mins
Thanks Constantinos
agree FVS (X) : Yes, this is fine but on balance I would go with Robert.
6 hrs
Thanks FVS. There is certainly an argument for using the verb "to lead to", rather than "to create", but I'm a little doubtful about the "...that would be ...". Why not just "lead to beneficial synergies"? And even then "useful" seems less tautological
agree philgoddard : You could also say "attractive".
7 hrs
Thanks Phil
Something went wrong...
23 mins

suggest synergies in potential projects

Basically for the whole phrase "puede generar sinergias interesantes para la ejecución de nuevos proyectos"
Something went wrong...
1 hr

"would be interesting" /"could generate positive/ interesting synergies"

MY INTERPRETATION
Depending on the profile of each project, we work with different partners, who are always the most representative of their sector. Following our talks, we think that a mutual collaboration between us would be interesting/ could generate positive /interesting synergies with a view to future projects. With this aim, we have in mind different ways of collaboration that we could discuss at a future meeting.



Something went wrong...
-1
1 hr

create intriguing/interesting possibilities/options/ideas

I'm with you--synergies and food products don't mix. So I'm going off phrase as usual to translate to context and cut away the verbiage. I would say:
"a joint collaboration could create intriguing possibilities for developing new products."
That seems to be the core idea in plainspeak and you can adapt the phrasing a gusto.
Peer comment(s):
disagree Jaime Hyland : "synergies" is a key word with a meaning going far beyond possibilities, options or ideas
3 hrs
First, I said I was going offphrase. Second, IMO, synergies are a logical byproduct of joint ventures/collaborations IN THIS CONTEXT, a basic follow-up letter saying let's work together. Finally, James didn't want to use synergy. So I gave him an option.
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search