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    Default A little confusion

    I'm translating an article about George W. Bush and have run into a problem. I just don't think I am capturing the meaning of the following passage correctly:

    "Bush firmaba ayer libros a ritmo desenfrenado. Con una primera tirada de 1,5 millones de ejemplares los beneficios serán cuantiosos, pero la CIA ya no le pregunta. Ahora puede cambiar su historia, pero sus decisiones ya no cambiarán la nuestra."

    Here's my attempt:

    "Yesterday Bush signed books at a hectic pace. With a first printing of 1.5 million copies there will be many benefits, but the CIA does not yet ask him. Now he can change his history, but his decisions have not yet changed ours."

    Any suggestions/advice?

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    Default Re: A little confusion

    "Bush was signing books like crazy yesterday. With a first printing of 1.5 million copies there will be plenty of benefits, but the CIA does not ask questions to him any more. Now, he can change his history, but his decisions will not change ours any longer."

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    Default Re: A little confusion

    ...but the CIA does not ask him questions anymore...

    (Quita "to" y pon el objeto indirecto justo después del verbo, "anymore" es una sola palabra)

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    Default Re: A little confusion

    Thanks mariaklec

    Anymore yes! one word ...absolutely... I had written any longer at first, then edited it so not to have two any longers too close together, and changed the first longer for more and left it separated by mistake (blushing).

    Delete the to by all means.

    Although to can be used to place indirect objects after direct objects, it usually applies to action verbs.

    Therefore:
    "Bush was signing books like crazy yesterday. With a first printing of 1.5 million copies there will be plenty of benefits, but the CIA does not ask him questions anymore. Now, he can change his history, but his decisions will not change ours any longer."

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    Default Re: A little confusion

    That reads very well, but since the tone is a bit intellectual, I’m going to suggest more like J05EPHL’s original that “like crazy” be “at a frenetic (or frenzied) pace”. Frenetic implies crazy and would be more anti-Bush in keeping with the original.
    Last edited by gernt; 11-15-2010 at 10:50 PM.

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    Default Re: A little confusion

    I thought about it for a bit before I decided to change frenetic. Keep in mind that even when the tone is a bit intellectual, writing in English is more relaxed than Spanish.

    I still think frenetic/frenzied is too heavy for the action of signing a book. Frenetic suggest exagerated movement, emotional disturbance, etc. But then again like crazy is not that much better either. I would probably think hard and come up with something else, maybe hectic, not sure.

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    Default Re: A little confusion

    Thank you for all the assistance! It really helped. If you want to check out the article, it will be on the website watchingamerica.com The name of the article is "Bush and History" and it should appear in the next couple of days.

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