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"Cliff" vs. "pit"?

 

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  #1
Old December 20, 2012, 12:55 PM
rstinejr rstinejr is offline
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"Cliff" vs. "pit"?

I noticed the following headline on a Hispanic newspaper:

Abismo fiscal: golpe a latinos


Is 'abismo' really the word a Spanish speaker would use for cliff?

In English, an abyss is the really deep hole, but I don't believe we think of it including the edge of the hole.
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  #2
Old December 20, 2012, 01:55 PM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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Right. One could say "acantilado" or "precipicio" more properly, but it wouldn't sound as interesting in the media... when translating some expressions, commercial success must be taken into account.
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Old December 21, 2012, 07:29 AM
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English and Spanish in these cases have the same definitions:

Abyss = abismo

Cliff = acantilado

Pit = hoyo/fosa
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Old December 21, 2012, 11:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno View Post
English and Spanish in these cases have the same definitions:

Abyss = abismo

Cliff = acantilado

Pit = hoyo/fosa
Of course. Except when different sets of people who speak different languages come up with their own names for the same phenomenon. The names of the phenomenon in each languare ("Fiscal Cliff" and "Abismo Fiscal") are translation equivalents, even if their word-for-word translations are not.
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Old December 21, 2012, 03:23 PM
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Yes, I see.
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