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arpón (as an insult)
programa analitico

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Fiebre de oro

English translation:

gold rush

Added to glossary by Kate Major Patience
Aug 1, 2012 20:26
11 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term

Fiebre de oro

Spanish to English Marketing Marketing / Market Research Mobile technology
Context: This is from a marketing brochure for a business that develops mobile solutions for companies

Los medios de comunicación han contribuido a difundir la idea de del mercado de las aplicaciones móviles como una nueva **** “Fiebre del Oro” ****, donde, con poco más que una pala y un plato, puede hacerse rico. No se puede negar que se han dado algunos casos de aplicaciones, relativamente simples, que han conseguido una cuota de mercado importante. Pero a medida que el sector madura, los usuarios se están haciendo mucho más selectivos.

I don't know whether "gold rush" or "gold fever" will work here, or whether I should use something else. I thought about the goose that lays golden eggs, too, but in the end I'm a bit stuck. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

UK Eng.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +13 gold rush
4 +1 gold mine
4 Gold fever

Discussion

Kate Major Patience (asker) Aug 2, 2012:
I think I'm with Charles on this one. I think that "gold rush" best describes the apps phenomenon, and that Klondike would not be immediately understood by many people - only by those that know about US history, and I think a large section of my target readership (not necessarily always native English speakers) would not understand the reference with ease. I'm not looking to educate them: just get the idea across well, so that it is immediately understood as in the original. This is about marketing to business people, and I don't think referring to the Klondike would work at all; in contrast, everyone will understand "gold rush". Interesting discussion!
David Ronder Aug 2, 2012:
@ Charles with you on 'en que'/'in which' being preferable to 'donde'/'where' if you use gold rush, and also agree that the latter would not be wrong. But for me market is definitely a place, if metaphorical in this case. It may stand for a complex of transactions and not be physically locatable, but it functions conceptually and grammatically as a place - and that's why I think the original reads a little clumsily. It doesn't respect this fact.
Charles Davis Aug 2, 2012:
@ David I understand the point you're making, but actually I don't agree. "Mercado" can suggest a place, but this kind of market (a financial market in technology) is not a place but a complex of transactions that are often not precisely located or locatable. So it's more like a process or phenomenon (such as a gold rush) than a place (such as Klondike).

"En que" would have been better than "donde", I think, but "donde" is quite often applied to processes rather than places in Spanish, just as people sometimes say "a process where" in English, though "a process in which" is certainly better expressed (I think), and I would put "in which" in the translation here.
David Ronder Aug 2, 2012:
I can see why you first hesitated over using "gold rush", Kate. It is the direct translation of the term, but is clumsily used in the context. Both 'mercado'and the use of 'donde' (rather than, say, 'en que') suggest place, and a gold rush is not a place, it's a mass phenomenon. I think that's what Jenni intuits, too, in her answer. You might think about using Klondike, which is both a real and a metaphorical place, and collocates very closely with gold rush. The apps market as a new Klondike.

Proposed translations

+13
3 mins
Selected

gold rush

It's the standard equivalent, and I think it works fine here. Anything else will require quite a major change, because the "pala y plato" reference only works in relation to the Gold Rush metaphor.

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Note added at 5 mins (2012-08-01 20:31:52 GMT)
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It's the idea of the gold just sitting there waiting to be found, that all you have to do is go out to California (or wherever) and get rich quick. Similarly, the idea is that anyone can make a fortune out of apps.

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Note added at 10 mins (2012-08-01 20:36:32 GMT)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_rush


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Note added at 16 mins (2012-08-01 20:42:32 GMT)
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Cheers, Kate. By the way, I think "plato" must mean a pan, which you use to pan for gold, like a sieve.

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Note added at 17 mins (2012-08-01 20:44:01 GMT)
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Yes, I know people like that too. And a lot of people didn't get rich in the gold rushes either!
Note from asker:
Ah! Thanks for that explanation Charles - I evidently wasn't thinking ahead in the sentence, either. That's a great, concise, helpful answer right there!
I don't know why I was hesitating! Perhaps the fear of the obvious. Of course - the idea is that anyone can go out with a pickaxe and a plate and get rich quick - which is exactly the case with apps: I know a dozen techies who were desperate to get an app out there that would make them super-rich. None of them have given up the dayjob thus far. Thanks Charles.
Of course! *Slaps forehead* It's a pan - I knew what I meant, but no-one else would. Double thanks.
Peer comment(s):
agree RSI EN-ES (AA) : Bingo.
3 mins
Many thanks, Double A :)
agree Hartley Moorhouse : Gold rush works for me. It's a fairly common metaphor in these contexts, when businesses want to grab some profits before it's too late.
17 mins
Exactly. Thanks, Hartley!
agree Joel Schaefer : take it from a Californian :)
18 mins
Thanks a lot, Joel :) The Californian dream, from Sutter's Mill to Silicon Valley!
agree Marian Vieyra
36 mins
Thanks, Marian!
agree philgoddard
39 mins
Thanks, Phil!
agree Edward Tully : spot on!
45 mins
Many thanks, Edward ;)
agree Alicia Orfalian
1 hr
Thanks, Alicia!
agree teju : Saludos Charles :)
6 hrs
Gracias y saludos, teju :)
agree Salloz : Seguro.
7 hrs
Muchas gracias, Salloz
agree Luis Rey Ballesteros (Luiroi)
9 hrs
¡Gracias, Luis!
agree James A. Walsh
12 hrs
Thanks, James :)
agree Yvonne Gallagher : interesting discussion. David makes good point too but "Klondike" might not be recognisable to all
15 hrs
Thanks, gallagy! I agree, and David almost always makes good points, which I for one very much appreciate.
agree Triston Goodwin : ^_^
15 hrs
Thanks, Triston :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks everyone - especially Charles... And David: some very interesting discussion with some helpful input and ideas that got me reading online all afternoon! :) Cheers everyone."
5 mins

Gold fever

This is a classic reference from the days of the Klondoke the gld rush and so on. The reference follows throughwith "con poco más que una pala y un plato". A classic analogy

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Note added at 8 mins (2012-08-01 20:34:40 GMT)
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Sorry about the typos!

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Note added at 9 mins (2012-08-01 20:36:18 GMT)
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/gold/
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+1
12 mins

gold mine

This sounds a more natural to me than "rush rush," given the context. A variation could be "they think they've struck gold" or "they think they've discovered/ come across a gold mine."
Peer comment(s):
agree Margit Schlosser
1 hr
Thanks, MalincheMx.
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