May 3, 2020 14:41
4 yrs ago
46 viewers *
Spanish term
United States
PhD Spanish, Certified Medical and Court
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: Spanish to English, Catalan to English, English to Spanish
"hacer el focus"
Spanish to English
Other
Government / Politics
torture/ prisons/ slang
I think this means "just do the basics" but want confirmation. The context is the boss of the prison guards (Nicaragua) comes in and says “A ella solo le haces el focus no le hagas nada más”. The report is detailing torture conditions in Nicaraguan prisons, so it could be in reference to a certain type of torture.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
9 hrs
Jorge Beteta
Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Native in Spanish
Specializes in field
Nicaragua
Technical and legal translations.
Native in: Spanish
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, Spanish, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Spanish term (edited):
\\\\\\\"hacer el focus\\\\\\\"
Selected
Hacer interrogatorio
Mira hacer el focus se podría equiparar a "hacerle el básico". Mi país esta en una crisis poítica aguda. En tiempos normales significar+ia algo como hacerle el ingreso a la prisión. Pero en el contexto actual donde muchos prisioneros son torturados presumiría que significa hacer interrogatorio + algún tipo de tortura. Lamentablemente esto es algo de contexto y no hay fuentes para determinar el significado exacto.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
AllegroTrans
: Question is SP->EN
27 mins
|
| agree |
Chema Nieto Castañón
: ¿Es esta expresión común en Nicaragua? ¿Se entiende así, como "lo básico" ("la rutina habitual")? No estoy seguro sobre interrogatorio pero podría tener sentido.
51 mins
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Having consulted with other NIcaraguans as well and learned that this expression is not used in Nicaragua, and may also be a typo. This is the best explanation we have for now."
+1
9 mins
AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Works in field
United Kingdom
Sensible solutions
Native in: English (Variant: Wessexois) 
Works in: French to English, English, English to French
Related KudoZ points
:
123
Spanish term (edited):
hacer el focus
just focus
..
Note from asker:
| I don't think that makes sense given the sentence structure. "Just do X to her and nothing else" IF you say "just focus on her" and don't do anything else to her? If you "just focus" on her, she gets more attention. It sounds like he is saying just do X and not all that other stuff we normally do. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
EirTranslations
17 mins
|
| neutral |
Muriel Vasconcellos
: Agree with asker.
7 hrs
|
| neutral |
Barbara Cochran, MFA
: Agree with asker and Muriel.
1 day 2 hrs
|
+2
7 hrs
Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Each translation a gem!
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English
Related KudoZ points
:
468
Spanish term (edited):
hacer el focus
keep an eye on her
This is my understanding. Don't do anything to her; just keep an eye on her. I think the text is saying *not* to torture her.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Chema Nieto Castañón
: Pues sí, también tiene sentido; "sólo vigilarla".
1 hr
|
|
Thank you, Chema!
|
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| agree |
Michael Grabczan-Grabowski
: Yes, that's an interesting angle. Without more context, however, it could very well mean various things.
2 hrs
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Thank you, Michael!
|
9 hrs
Chema Nieto Castañón
Spain
Spain
Native in Spanish
Spain
Psychologist & Emergency Physician
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Standard-Spain) 
Works in: English to Spanish
Related KudoZ points
:
16
take the close-ups
En el contexto dado, diría que podría referirse más bien a hacerle las fotos de detalle y nada más (marcas, tatus, etc., y en el contexto dado tal vez también otras rutinarias). "Hacer el focus" es expresión realmente extraña. Mi interpretación se base en el sentido fotográfico de focus en tanto que enfoque. Sigue siendo una suposición sin apenas fundamento. También podría tratarse de un error de interpretación o incluso de un typo, pero no hay ninguna pista que apunte a qué otra palabra podría sustituir a "focus" aquí.
Complicado...
Complicado...
1 day 2 hrs
Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Laudable Lady Linguist
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
23
monitor everything she does
...
Discussion
Question marks, quote marks, unnecessary capitalization and anything else that would not be found in a dictionary, should not be entered.
https://www.proz.com/siterules/kudoz_general/1.4#1.4
I did some digging, and nothing relevant comes up with "hacer el focus," except in the context of gaming, where they use the anglicism in that particular context (with the meaning of focusing on a particular target.)
There isn't anything particularly clear about what "focus" could be in this context of torture.
If I were you, I'd look at the overall context and decide whether it really just means "just do the basics." I would use this (admittedly approximate) option as well. Unless you could provide a bit more context (hacer el focus, as opposed to...?), then I think your suggestion probably works.