# si no, nos queda corta



## xenoglaux

Hola,

Estoy buscando una traducción al inglés de la frase "nos queda corta". El contexto de la frase es el siguiente:

*Si no vemos la atención sanitaria como un acto solidario, tarde o temprano nos queda corta la medicina.*

Quiere decir que la medicina va a perder sentido...? Medicine will become less meaningful, will not be fulfilling? Esos son mis intentos... la verdad que no sé!

Gracias!


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## Chasint

My attempt

"sooner or later medicine will fail us."

Other opinions?


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## xenoglaux

Hmm eso también puede ser... gracias Biffo!


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## srb62

Not sure,
I wondered if it could have meant, "...sooner or later we'll run out of medicine", but I'm not sure if that makes sense.


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## Milton Sand

Hi,
I think it means one of these: 
"...medicine is not being / won't be enough solution (for us)."
"...eventually, medicine is not going to develope according to our needs."
"...medicine is coming to a standstill for us."

Maybe some more context—previous to the sentence—could help.

The use of present indicative in "nos queda corta" brings a sense of inminence/determination/unavoidability depending on the context. Here, it would be inminence.

Regards,


P.S. : I think I'm taking this thread to the vocabulary forum. Let's wait a while.


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## xenoglaux

Thanks srb62 and Milton - I think Miilton's guesses come pretty close to the meaning of the phrase. Perhaps "medicine won't be able to meet our needs" is the most appropriate translation. It will stop being useful if it cannot provide what people really need, which the person is saying is a certain level of solidarity/care/humanity.


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## Milton Sand

xenoglaux said:


> Hola*:*
> 
> Estoy buscando una traducción al inglés de la frase "nos queda corta". El contexto de la frase es el siguiente:
> 
> *Si no vemos la atención sanitaria como un acto solidario, tarde o temprano nos queda corta la medicina.*
> 
> *¿*Quiere decir que la medicina va a perder sentido...? *"*Medicine will become less meaningful, will not be fulfilling*"*? Esos son mis intentos... *¡*La verdad que no sé!
> 
> Gracias!





xenoglaux said:


> (...) M*i*lton's (...) Perhaps "medicine won't be able to meet our needs"


I agree! That fits perfect.


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## craig10

'medicine is not going to be enough'


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## srb62

xenoglaux said:


> Thanks srb62 and Milton - I think Miilton's guesses come pretty close to the meaning of the phrase. Perhaps "medicine won't be able to meet our needs" is the most appropriate translation. It will stop being useful if it cannot provide what people really need, which the person is saying is a certain level of solidarity/care/humanity.



yes, I agree - my post was not a good translation - I failed to think about the context and what the meaning was.
Having said that, it's a tricky one to put into natural English -when I try to come up with something in my head,  the English seems to be either too formal or too colloquial-sounding.


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## horsewishr

craig10 said:


> 'medicine is not going to be enough'


This sounds the most natural to me, too.  (And neither too formal nor colloquial.)


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## FromPA

Biffo said:


> My attempt
> 
> "sooner or later medicine will fail us."
> 
> Other opinions?




I think this option makes the most sense, with "medicine" referring to the health care system.  
 If we don't view health care as a community concern, sooner or later the health care system will fail all of us.


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## Milton Sand

Hi,
"La medicina" could refer to medicaments too (which are included in "health care system"), so the sentence could also mean, "...sooner or later (we'll get ill and) there would not be enough medicines." A synecdoche?


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## horsewishr

Milton Sand said:


> Hi,
> "La medicina" could refer to medicaments too (which are included in "health care system"), so the sentence could also mean, "...sooner or later (we'll get ill and) there would not be enough medicines." A synecdoche?



Even in that case, I would say "not enough medicine" (singular).  "Not enough medicines" could possibly mean different types of medicine--for example, antibiotics, analgesics, and antipyretics--but it still doesn't sound natural to me.   

I was going to correct your entry, Milton, because I thought that "medicaments" was an improper translation for "medication."  Fortunately I looked it up first, and I see that it's really a word.  I just don't know where it's used.  I've never heard it here in my part of the world.


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## srb62

FromPA said:


> I think this option makes the most sense, with "medicine" referring to the health care system.
> If we don't view health care as a community concern, sooner or later the health care system will fail all of us.



I agree -  if this is the meaning of the phrase, then this sounds the most natural to me -to use 'medicine' just sounds too abstract or academic or something.

Perhaps you could even put simply "sooner or later, health care will fail us all" - or even the passive might sound more natural here, in English?


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## Milton Sand

horsewishr said:


> Even in that case, I would say "not enough medicine" (singular).  "Not enough medicines" could possibly mean different types of medicine--for example, antibiotics, analgesics, and antipyretics--but it still doesn't sound natural to me.


Is it just like in Spanish where sometimes the certain generic singular noun works as a collective noun? (_Voy al mercado, que se terminó la fruta; ha llegado la mercancía nueva; al abuelo le recetaron mucho medicamento; etc._)


horsewishr said:


> I was going to correct your entry, Milton, because I thought that "medicaments" was an improper translation for "medication."  Fortunately I looked it up first, and I see that it's really a word.  I just don't know where it's used.  I've never heard it here in my part of the world.


Ha, ha, ha! Now I see it does sound like a loan translation from Spanish (which, in practice, it was). I didn't even look it up in the dictionary, just took the risk.


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## k-in-sc

"Medicine" is more of a figurative term. A statement about health-care policy would not be likely to use it to mean "drugs."  
"Medicaments" sounds archaic or humorous.


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## horsewishr

Milton Sand said:


> Is it just like in Spanish where sometimes the certain generic singular noun works as a collective noun? (_Voy al mercado, que se terminó la fruta; ha llegado la mercancía nueva; al abuelo le recetaron mucho medicamento; etc._)


Tal cual (que yo sepa). 




Milton Sand said:


> Ha, ha, ha! Now I see it does sound like a loan translation from Spanish (which, in practice, it was). I didn't even look it up in the dictionary, just took the risk.


   Sabes que practico mi español con un joven colombiano (por Skype).  Siempre que dice "medicament" le corrijo. Yo suponía que era un calco. Ahora voy a tener que pedir disculpas!!


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## juandiego

Hello.
How about the following construction based on an idea closer to the Spanish original?:_ ... the Health Care System will fall short of its goals_.
Thanks in advance.


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## horsewishr

juandiego said:


> Hello.
> How about the following construction based on an idea closer to the Spanish original?:_ ... the Health Care System will fall short of its goals_.
> Thanks in advance.



Todavía me quedo con "medicine" que para mí es una traducción mejor.  "The healthcare system" es _el sistema de salud o el sistema sanitario (depende del país). _


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## k-in-sc

horsewishr said:


> Sabes que practico mi español con un joven colombiano (por Skype).  Siempre que dice "medicament" le corrijo. Yo suponía que era un calco. Ahora voy a tener que pedir disculpas!!


The word exists, but that doesn't mean it's the right one to use in conversation.


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## Milton Sand

juandiego said:


> Hello.
> How about the following construction based on an idea closer to the Spanish original?:_ ... the Health Care System will fall short of its goals_.
> Thanks in advance.


Oye, eso de "fall short" me parece muy interesante. ¿Qué opinan los demás?


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## horsewishr

k-in-sc said:


> The word exists, but that doesn't mean it's the right one to use in conversation.


Sí. Lo sé.  Pero me pregunto si se usa en otros países de habla inglesa.


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## horsewishr

A clarification on "medicine" vs. "the healthcare system":

In my opinion, "medicine" refers to the science that is practiced by healthcare professionals.

"The healthcare system" is the bureaucracy that manages the health of a country.


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## horsewishr

Milton Sand said:


> Oye, eso de "fall short" me parece muy interesante. ¿Qué opinan los demás?



I like _fall short_, too.  But I'd just say "medicine will fall short." Not _the Health Care System will fall short of its goals_.  I think this translation adds ideas that aren't expressed in the original phrase.


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## k-in-sc

Yes, "the health-care system" definitely emphasizes the administrative or delivery aspects as opposed to the scientific ones.


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## juandiego

horsewishr said:


> I like _fall short_, too.  But I'd just say "medicine will fall short." Not _the Health Care System will fall short of its goals_.  I think this translation adds ideas that aren't expressed in the original phrase.


Thanks for yours answers, horsewishr and Milton.

Actually I added the _"of it goals"_ phrase just to make its sense clearer, but if you say that it's not necessary to convey the original idea, even better. However, my interpretation of the original somehow includes that bit; I think it means that it won't be able of satisfying its current objective of for everyone.


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## k-in-sc

Universal health care is not a universal goal. It should be, but it's not.


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## juandiego

k-in-sc said:


> Universal health care is not a universal goal. It should be, but it's not.


Hi, K-in-sc.
It is here and in many European countries. I assumed it was about Spain; this is an ongoing debate here nowadays because of the crisis: health budget cuts.


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