Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

hacer hueco en la inteligencia humana

English translation:

lodging itself in / making a deep impression on the human mind

Added to glossary by Charles Davis
Jul 1, 2018 17:58
5 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Spanish term

hacer hueco en la inteligencia humana

Spanish to English Other Poetry & Literature
Hey fellow translators. I have stumbled upon what I think is an unnesecarily convoluted paragraph in the novel I am translating. i'm only posting one term to comply with the proz rules, but there are so many phrases in this excerpt that it would be tedious to post each and every one separately. So extra points to anyone who can help me with the paragraph. I truly love all of you:


Apenas podía creerlo, después de cinco días preso, todo se había resuelto.
Era increíble la coartada que el destino le había jugado. Que hubiese otro Yoel Enrique De Santa Ana, con la misma fecha de nacimiento, procedente del mismo país, era algo difícil de creer. Aunque a veces el azar juega de forma caprichosa con las circunstancias, haciendo hueco en la inteligencia humana que pierde el estribo para nunca más comprender ni las coincidencias, ni las circunstancias, y mucho menos, las casualidades que se agrupan un mismo día, en un mismo lugar, con un mismo objetivo.
Change log

Jul 15, 2018 04:16: Charles Davis Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

+2
3 hrs
Selected

lodging itself in / making a deep impression on the human mind

Of maybe even "carving out a place for itself in...". And of course you could do it literally as "human intellligences", but like Barbara and Cecilia I think "mind" sounds more natural here.

The main point it what "hacer hueco" means. I think it has its usual meaning, as a variant of "hacer un hueco", defined in the DLE:

"hacer un hueco
1. loc. verb. Desplazar cosas o desplazarse personas para que algo o alguien tenga sitio."
http://dle.rae.es/?id=Kknu99C

In other words, "hueco" really means a space, and "hacer hueco" means making a space for itself (it's quite often pronominal: "hacerse hueco", and think that's implied here).

A couple of examples, illustrating this meaning:

"Objetivo de comunicación: recordar la marca, haciendo hueco en la mente del consumidor."
http://littlestoriesofcommunicationdp.blogspot.com/2012/03/a...

"Javier Fernández “Bicho”
Una de las jóvenes promesas en las que el deportivismo tiene puestas sus miradas es este joven sadense de diecisiete años que a pasos agigantados se está haciendo hueco en la mente de los entrenadores del Fabril y del primer equipo."
https://somosdepor.com/bicho-la-joya-sube-un-peldano/
Peer comment(s):

agree Robert Forstag
6 hrs
Many thanks, Robert!
agree franglish
11 hrs
Many thanks, franglish :-)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
25 mins

forming gaps of intelligence in the human mind

That is how I interpret it.

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Note added at 26 mins (2018-07-01 18:25:18 GMT)
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"intellectual deficits"
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51 mins

finding a loophole/blind spot in the human mind

The writer seems to have a peculiar way to use certain expressions. For instance, it is not "el destino juega coartadas" but "cartas", or "malas pasadas."
Regarding the published phrase, I suppose the meaning is the one expressed in my suggestion above.
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1 hr

gap, human knowledge

Presenting a gap in human knowledge
Peer comment(s):

neutral neilmac : "Hacerse hueco" means to make/find a place/space for itself... like a cuckoo in the nest.
19 hrs
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+1
20 hrs

insinuating itself into human intelligence

I think "insinuating" evokes the sneakiness implicit in the original.
Example sentence:

The spirit of scholastic erudition insinuated itself into Italian literature...

Google docs has insinuated itself into my machine and I want it out!

Peer comment(s):

agree Carol Gullidge : or... in the human mindset
4 hrs
Mindset is probably a better choice, yes :)
Something went wrong...
1 day 15 hrs

burrows into our brain/mind

My shot at it...!
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