Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

first new suit

Spanish translation:

primer traje nuevo

Added to glossary by Ion Zubizarreta
Feb 23, 2015 11:12
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

first new suit

English to Spanish Other History
Esto es lo que dice un historiador sobre Chicago (no tengo más contexto):

“The history of Chicago is quite amazing. This is where planning of the Civil War took place. Where Abraham Lincoln got his first new suit”.

Podría traducir “Where Abraham Lincoln got his first new suit” simplemente como “Donde Abraham Lincoln se compró/recibió su primer traje”, pero puede que “first new suit” al hablar de un presidente estadounidense pueda tener otro significado, ¿es así o me estoy complicando la vida? :)

Gracias.

Discussion

DLyons Feb 23, 2015:
Chicago was the setting for "No one who saw him can forget his personal appearance at that time. Tall, angular and awkward, he had on a short-waisted, thin swallow-tail coat, a short vest of the same material, thin pantaloons, scarcely coming to his ankles, a straw hat and a pair of brogans with woolen socks." https://books.google.ie/books?id=SPEiBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 That was in 1847.

His first new suit apparently was bought in 1834 when he was elected to the legislature (in Vandalia, Illinois) "he had not a dollar. But here, again, his reputation was his capital. He went to a friend and said, " I want to make a decent appearance in the legislature. Lend me some money to buy some clothes, won't you? you know I'll pay you, some day."

Out of the two hundred dollars his friend had loaned him, he bought a suit of decent clothes. They were not elegant — not "purple and fine linen"; they were what w r as known as " blue jeans " — the workman's best dress of that simple and homely western country."

His first legal suit was Hawthorn vs. Woodridge, in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. Not Chicago, and one wouldn't say a "new suit" in that context.

Proposed translations

+6
6 mins
Selected

primer traje nuevo

I think the point is that he would have "hand me downs" until then. This was his first suit that had never been owned by someone else - father, brother, ...
Peer comment(s):

agree Sandra Cirera-García
0 min
Gracias Sandra.
agree JaneTranslates : I haven't done any research on it (and I'm from Illinois), but this is how I would interpret it. This cat has only 4 legs. // 8-) My six sisters-in-law had a similar practice; don't know if they had a similar saying!
1 hr
Thanks Jane. An uncle of mine was from a large family of boys who had a saying "First up, best dressed".
agree Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
2 hrs
Gracias Beatriz.
agree JohnMcDove
7 hrs
Thanks John.
agree Jaime Oriard
8 hrs
Gracias Jaime.
agree esthercano
15 hrs
Thanks Ester.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks!"
+1
6 hrs

"su primer traje nuevo con motivo de su primer discurso como candidato presidencial"

http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/inside.asp?ID=1&subjectID...

COMENTARIO
Ion, tras echar un vistazo al enlace que te adjunto, y de ver otras informaciones relativas a Lincoln, interpreto que se trata del traje que se compró para dar su primer discurso como candidato a la presidencia. Parece ser que Lincoln vestía usualmente de forma desaliñada, pero en esa ocasión debía enfrentarse a una audiencia sofisticada y este quería impresionarla, además de con sus palabras, con un impecable aspecto, razón por la que se compró un elegante traje negro.
En consecuencia, creo que este hecho se ha de reflejar, ya que no se trata de comprarse un primer traje nuevo, sino un traje nuevo determinado, para una circunstancia concreta y con un claro objetivo.

PROPUESTA
[…]. Aquí es donde Abraham Lincoln se compró su primer traje nuevo con motivo de su primer discurso como candidato a la presidencia.

Peer comment(s):

agree JohnMcDove : Buena apreciación/matización...
40 mins
Gracias, John.
neutral DLyons : Yes, there are various types of suits (see above). Black, formal is very plausible - but your ref is for Springfield, not Chicago?
2 hrs
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