Procesiones vs pasos

[ROBINDESBOIS]

HOw can we say procesiones y pasos en inglés?
En las procesiones se llevan pasos. Son las procesiones de Semana Santa.

[pjt33]

Procession. Para "paso" mi diccionario dice "float", pero no estoy convencido. ¿Un paso es esto?

[ROBINDESBOIS]

what about religiuous parade. I heard it on TV the other day.

[Rusty]

A procession is a group of people moving along in an orderly, formal way. A religious procession more clearly defines the reason for the procession.

'Religious parade' is used, but I've not personally heard it.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

HOw can we say procesiones y pasos en inglés?
En las procesiones se llevan pasos. Son las procesiones de Semana Santa.

Procesiones = processions

Paso = passage

Although I have never heard of anything like this. Not even anything of that sort been done in Philadelphia, N.Y or Boston...

[María José]

Originally Posted by pjt33

Procession. Para "paso" mi diccionario dice "float", pero no estoy convencido. ¿Un paso es esto?

A paso is a float at least in American English: don't you remember the Sandra Bullock film Hope Floats? The title, if you know the plot, can be read in two different ways (it's about a woman in a small provincial town who back in her teen years was prom queen and at one point took part in a parade, hers being the most ornate float).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119313/plotsummary
Unless, of course, in Spanish paso is only used in the context of religious parades...

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by María José

A paso is a float at least in American English: don't you remember the Sandra Bullock film Hope Floats?

Never heard of it.

A "float" as a vehicle (usually a flat-bed lorry) decorated for a procession is common in en-gb too, but from context I didn't think this is what Robin meant by "paso". Hence my question (which no-one has answered yet).

[María José]

Yes. Un paso in a Spanish Easter procession is exactly what your picture reflects.

[pjt33]

No conozco una palabra inglesa. "At Easter they parade statues of saints through the city". "There are processions of people carrying statues of saints".

[chileno]

Originally Posted by María José

Yes. Un paso in a Spanish Easter procession is exactly what your picture reflects.

I see people "passing" and a "float"

Which represents "paso"?

People passing, the float or the whole picture?

[María José]

I have always thought that a paso is just the float... but I don't like Easter parades that much, so I'm no expert. Ever since I was a little girl I've found the capuchinos creepy (they remind me of the KKK)

[chileno]

Originally Posted by María José

I have always thought that a paso is just the float... but I don't like Easter parades that much, so I'm no expert. Ever since I was a little girl I found the capuchinos creepy (they remind me of the KKK)

I know....

[María José]

Originally Posted by chileno

I know....

So I'm not alone...
When reading the quote you included in your answer I noticed I had made a mistake. I've corrected it in the original message:
Ever since I was a little girl I've found...

[Here4good]

For me a float is for a carnival like this
http://i.thisis.co.uk/274156/gallery...66/1243253.jpg
as is parade.

A "Paso" is smth far more serious as posted on the first page of this thread, so I wouldn't use the word float.

[Ambarina]

A float, as far as I know, is like Pjt said, motorised, usually on a lorry. A paso isn't, it's carried. But it's the only translation for the word that I've seen so far.

[chileno]

Paso is the image and not the cart/float.

http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltCons...US=3&LEMA=paso (#22)

[María José]

Originally Posted by Ambarina

A float, as far as I know, is like Pjt said, motorised, usually on a lorry. A paso isn't, it's carried. But it's the only translation for the word that I've seen so far.

I agree with you, Ambarina.I think there isn't a better translation because we are talking about different realities...but sometimes we have to make do with approximations or near synonyms... That's why I hate translating....