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cámara de hendidura

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

botargas

English translation:

costumed characters

Added to glossary by Muriel Vasconcellos
Jul 11, 2015 09:25
8 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Spanish term

botargas

Spanish to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting art used in health education
I posted this question under 'health care', but it really applies to the arts, so I'm reposting it in a different category.

The entry for "botarga" in the Real Academia that seems to fit here is: "vestido ridículo de varios colores que se usa en mojigangas [masquerades] y en algunas representaciones teatrales." Do you think it means something like 'brightly colored costumes'? Or is it more specific?

Se presenciaron actividades educativas y de promoción de la salud que utilizaban técnicas pedagógicas, artísticas y lúdicas por medio de la metodología de “Arte como puente para la salud”, para fomentar el conocimiento de la enfermedad y la participación comunitaria: “batucada”, **muñecos representando frascos de ivermectina (botargas)** y moscos, poemas, canciones alusivas a la oncocercosis, juegos grupales, payasos, etc.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +2 mascots
3 disguise(ridiculous costume)
2 multi-coloured /motley / harlequin

Discussion

Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Jul 13, 2015:
Thanks, everyone! All your answers were helpful, and I particularly appreciate the excellent history of the word provided by Charles. In the end, I decided on 'costumed character', as we don't know much more than that for sure. I just loved the cute little guy that Juan Jacob gave us the link to.
Charles Davis Jul 12, 2015:
So I don't think there's any reason to assume that "muñeco" refers elsewhere to an animated costume character like this. It might, in particular cases, but I wouldn't assume it did without some contextual indication. By default it would simply mean a figure or effigy. Puppet might be the right word, but to me it would depend partly on how it was being used and partly on the size; I'm not sure I would use that word for a life-size figure.
Charles Davis Jul 12, 2015:
@Muriel In general terms, "muñeco" normally means a doll, figure or effigy: any kind of 3-D representation of a human figure (taking "human" very broadly: any character, including for example an animal character or a cartoon character). It can be a puppet; if it is manipulated in some way to tell a story, however rudimentary, that's what it is.

It doesn't normally imply a person wearing a costume. My feeling is that they have added "botargas" here to make it clear that these particular "muñecos", anthropomorphic figures of medicine bottles, are not just models, as you would assume if they were simply referred to as "muñecos", but costume characters: people dressed up. For the purposes of this health campaign that's a great advantage, because it makes it much more fun: the characters are animated and can interact with the audience. But if they had just called them "muñecos" I don't think you would assume they were like this; you would assume they were simply effigies.
Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Jul 12, 2015:
@Charles Thanks for your learnéd contributions, Charles. Much appreciated. One more question: You say "muñecos" in this case doesn't refer to puppets? This isn't the first time I've seen the word used in connection with health promotion, and I'm wondering if I (and others) have been translating "muñecos" wrong all along. It does seem more likely (and easier) for people to dress up in character costumes than to mount a puppet stage. What are your thoughts on that?
Charles Davis Jul 12, 2015:
History of this word Botarga was a food word first (DRAE meaning 4). On the one hand, for centuries it has meant a kind of Mediterranean caviar: salted, cured fish roe, called botargo in English and bottarga in Italian. This comes from Byzantine Greek ᾠοτάριχον (lit. pickled egg) via Arabic buṭarḫah بطارخة . Clearly, the commedia dell'arte actor's stage name referred to this. At the same time, "botarga" already meant a pork sausage in Spanish by the early seventeenth century (when the actor Bottarga was still alive). That's the only meaning of the word in Covarrubias (1611). Minsheu (1617) translates it as "A sausedge, or pudding made of hog's flesh".

All the other meanings, related to types of costume and people who wear them, are derived from the actor's stage name. As I said before, he was very popular and well known in Spain.

What is interesting, in view of the modern Latin American meaning we're dealing with here, is that by 1726 botarga had acquired a particular meaning in Aragon: "la figura que se compone de un pellejo u odre, vestido de soldado, y con una carátula, y sirve de gracejo en las fiestas de toros, que comunmente se dice Dominguillo de toros".
Juan Jacob Jul 12, 2015:
Don't forget that... botarga.

(De Stefanello Bottarga, apodo de un actor italiano que usaba estos calzones, este del it. bottarga, especie de caviar, y este del gr. ἁβροτάριχον, de ἁβρός, delicado, y τάριχον, pescado o carne en salazón).

1. f. En las mojigangas y en algunas representaciones teatrales, vestido ridículo de varios colores.

2. f. Persona que lleva este vestido.

3. f. Armazón de ballenas o de alambre, revestida de tela, que usan los actores debajo de los trajes para deformar la figura.

4. f. Especie de embuchado.

5. f. Especie de calzón ancho y largo que se usaba antiguamente.

6. f. Ar. Persona adusta y retraída.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

Ver también "abotargado"... persona con cuerpo fofo, deforme, nada agradable. Saludo.
Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Jul 11, 2015:
@Juan Jacob He's really cute! I'd go his pharmacy any day.

I think this may be more of a cultural thing. Here in the U.S. we have sign-spinners and blown-up tubes that gyrate in the wind.
Charles Davis Jul 11, 2015:
@Muriel I think you have a point, and that you were right to question my first suggestion. Best regards.
Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Jul 11, 2015:
@Charles I like 'costumed character' much better. I think 'mascot' is confusing because it has so many meanings. I always try to follow General Theory of Terminology (GTT), which says to avoid terms with multiple meanings whenever possible.
Juan Jacob Jul 11, 2015:
Algo así... ...existe en México para promocionar una farmacia: http://orig14.deviantart.net/b7ad/f/2013/328/f/4/dr_simi_bot...
Charles Davis Jul 11, 2015:
@Muriel I think this is a particular use of M-W definition 2(a): an emblem or symbol. What they have here is people dressed up in a costume in which takes the form of a medicine bottle. I think we could say, using the term somewhat loosely, perhaps, that this medicine bottle "character" serves the function of a mascot in the context of this activity, in much the same way as a team or other group might have a character dressed up in the costume of a lion or whatever their mascot is.

But perhaps for the US what you want is "costumed character":

"A costumed character wears a costume that usually (but not always) covers the performer's face. These range from theme park "walk-around" or "meetable" characters, the mascots of corporations, schools, or sports teams to novelty act performers. [...] Costumed characters are intended to add to the fantasy experience by enabling visitors to encounter and interact with fictional characters, such as mascots for a company or organization. The characters are portrayed by employees in costume."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costumed_character
Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Jul 11, 2015:
@Charles - definition of 'mascot' Our (American) Webster's International Dictionary gives the following definition of 'mascot":
Main Entry:mas£cot
Function:noun
Inflected Form:-s
Etymology:French mascotte, from Proven*al mascoto charm, sorcery, from masco witch, from Medieval Latin masca, mascha witch, specter

1 : a person or thing held to bring good luck; specifically : AMULET *mascots made of coral, jade T, and silver were worn— Diana Hawthorne* — compare HOODOO
2 a : something regarded as a cherished emblem or symbol (as of a group or institution) *had a mountain lion as a mascot* *their mascot was a gamecock— F.V.W.Mason* b chiefly Britain : a radiator ornament on an automobile *made him adopt a fireman and his hose as a mascot for his T car— David Masters*
3 a : a girl or other person usually enjoying general favor or affection adopted by a team, regiment, or other group as a cherished symbolic figure *chosen mascot of the T football team for two years— Amarillo (Texas) Sunday News-Globe* b : a small boy chosen to accompany a team to its contests, typically wearing its uniform, and usually obliged to perform such chores as tending bats or fetching water.
matt robinson Jul 11, 2015:
I have only heard botarga refer to a type of mask, usually made from odds and ends, often on a wooden base (Central Spain)

E.g. https://www.google.es/search?q=botarga mascara&client=ubuntu...

Proposed translations

+2
25 mins
Selected

mascots

Or it might mean "mascot costumes". It can be either the costume or the person who wears it.

I think this is the nearest we can get. This seems to be what they mean by the term "botarga" in Mexico and other Latin American countries nowadays. It's fascinating to me, as a (former) theatre historian, to see how this term, originally derived from a very popular sixteenth-century Italian commedia dell'arte actor who settled in Spain (Abagaro Francesco Baldi, whose stage name was Stefanello Bottarga) has evolved over the centuries.

A botarga both a costume and the person who wears it. It is like the Mickey Mouse costumes they wear at Disneyland, for example. They can be for entertainment or for promotional purposes. In this context they're really related to the latter: figures wearing a costume (in the form of bottles of ivermectin) to get a message across.

The best way to get a sense of this is just to look at the images you get when you look for "botarga":
https://www.google.es/search?q="botarga"&num=100&tbm=isch&im...

Here's a "botarga" whose getting involved in a Mexican electoral campaign:
http://www.adnpolitico.com/2012/2011/12/14/es-carlos-navarre...

This website supplies them, and is very enlightening:

"¿Qué es una botarga?
Una botarga es una herramienta de comunicación, mercadotecnia y ventas que muchas empresas utilizan hoy en día a nivel mundial, ya sea con fines comerciales y de promoción, o bien con la intención de llevar diversión y entretenimiento a los espectadores, ya sea a través de un espectáculo en vivo o a través de una transmisión televisiva. Hay quienes consideran que es solo un disfraz, pero para nosotros en GRUPO ARCO, es la posibilidad de transformar un diseño o una idea en un ser vivo, lo traemos desde el universo de la fantasía y creatividad hasta nuestro mundo."
http://www.grupoarco.com.mx/que-es-una-botarga/

See the Wikipedia pages for "mascot" and "mascota", and the accompanying illustrations: I think it's just right for your context:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascota_(símbolo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascot

We had a previous question, and I think moken's answer was right:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish_to_english/marketing_marke...

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Note added at 28 mins (2015-07-11 09:53:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A couple of typos in the above, through haste:
Paragraph 3: "A botarga IS both a costume and the person who wears it" (which I already said at the beginning anyway).
Paragraph 5: "A botarga WHO'S getting involved..."

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Note added at 3 hrs (2015-07-11 12:54:33 GMT)
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Well, I think Mickey Mouse might well be called the mascot of the Disney Corporation, in practice if not officially — the nearest there is to one, anyway.

I've suggested "costumed character" in the discussion, and I think you could call these "costumed mascots". But if you don't want to use "mascot", fair enough.

It is very common practice to have a human being dressed in the costume of a mascot, for example at sports events. Here's a good example:
http://newsroom.uhcl.edu/news/university-of-houston-clear-la...

They're not puppets, they're people wearing costumes.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2015-07-11 12:57:05 GMT)
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The word "botarga" certainly has various meanings (including a dish based on fish roe), but I am sure this is the one meant here.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2015-07-11 13:27:34 GMT)
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Here (to take one of a number of US examples) is a company in Texas supplying "costume character mascots". I'm not sure the "characters" (various kinds of food, by the look of them) are strictly "mascots", but they seem to call them that anyway.
http://www.cowancostumes.com/unique.html

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Note added at 4 hrs (2015-07-11 13:31:12 GMT)
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On the other hand, these people are in Ohio, and they refer to "costume characters". They have a couple of people here dressed as a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush respectively. I think this is just the sort of thing your text is referring to (though the purpose there is "edutainment" rather than brand promotion):
http://mpg-events.com/tag/costume-characters/

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Note added at 4 days (2015-07-16 08:07:21 GMT) Post-grading
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Thank you, Muriel; as I said before, I completely agree with your choice, for any audience, not just an American one, and if I had done the glossary entry I would have done the same as you. In fact, I would have changed my answer to "costume(d) characters", if I could have edited it. Thank you for making me sharpen up my act!
Note from asker:
Thanks for your very helpful answer, Charles. I'm not sure we use 'mascot' in the same sense in US English (it's used mainly to refer to sports teams, and they are usually live animals). Aren't they talking about puppets here? Or is it an alternative to the puppet?
For example, we wouldn't usually call Mickey Mouse a mascot.
Thanks, Charles. I went with 'costumed character' in the end, but I learned a lot from you in the meantime. Thanks for all the excellent information.
Peer comment(s):
agree Billh : I can't imagine we will get a more authoritative answer...
26 mins
Many thanks, Bill :)
agree philgoddard : It's a shame you went to all this trouble when we've had this question before.
7 hrs
Well, I suppose it is in a way. If I'd found the question at the start I might not have bothered, but I'd already done the research by then. Anyway, thanks, Phil :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, Charles, for all your excellent contributions (I thought I closed this question earlier). I settled on 'costumed characters' because of the ambiguity of 'mascots', at least in the U.S."
9 mins

multi-coloured /motley / harlequin

Something along those lines.

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Note added at 8 hrs (2015-07-11 18:19:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

One of the definitions of botarga on word reference is:
Vestido ridículo de varios colores, usado en algunas representaciones teatrales

while Wikipedia quotes two definitions which could apply:

botarga (vestuario): un armazón que se usa bajo los trajes actorales para deformarles.
botarga (personaje): personajes grotescamente ataviados que participan en ciertas celebraciones (mojigangas, carnavales etc.) típicas de varias regiones de España.
Something went wrong...
1 day 13 hrs

disguise(ridiculous costume)

Something went wrong...
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