# desencuentro



## WandaWolf

Does anybody know how I should translate the word "desencuentro"? Thanks


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## ~PiCHi~

Can you give us some context please?


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## WandaWolf

Yes, desencuentro as a fail meeting between two persons


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## ~PiCHi~

WandaWolf said:
			
		

> Yes, desencuentro as a fail meeting between two persons


 
You mean like for example. I told a friend to meet me at 6 at the coffee house, but he didn't show up?
Como plantado?


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## francis.burdett

WandaWolf said:
			
		

> Yes, desencuentro as a fail meeting between two persons



It translates literally as an unsuccessful or disappointing meeting


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## WandaWolf

Yes, or also "una larga historia de encuentros y desencuentros"


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## WandaWolf

So...the word doesn't exist in English....


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## Badcell

I believe "desencuentro" has two meanings: 
-A failed meeting (for which I cannot think of a single english word), and 
- A difference of opinios (for which I would say "disagreement")
Hope this helps!


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## ~PiCHi~

WandaWolf said:
			
		

> Yes, or also "una larga historia de encuentros y desencuentros"


 
I don't think there's a literal translation for that word..
But being a title of a book (I think) I think you should look for the english version of it, if you can. I can help you if you want.


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## francis.burdett

encuentro also means 'match', as in football, so do you think we might be talking about 'a long history of football matches both won and lost' ?


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## francis.burdett

'NABiotecnologia - una larga historia de encuentros y desencuentros' - Emilio Munoz - Cambridge University Press November 2003. It might be a scientific term or reference - no Eng. translation of that book title available. Ask CUP themselves?


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## Badcell

> Yes, or also "una larga historia de encuentros y desencuentros"


I would say this is the same as "Una larga historia de acuerdos y desacuerdos"
so maybe it could be translated as
"A long story of accords and discords"
"A long story of agreements and disagreements"


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## francis.burdett

Real Academia Espana gives desacuerdo (= disagreement) as an alternative to desencuentro


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## Carlos Martínez Riera

francis.burdett said:
			
		

> Real Academia Espana gives desacuerdo (= disagreement) as an alternative to desencuentro


 
A mí me gusta *agreements and misunderstandings*, ya que la confrontación de los antónimos de la misma palabra (agreement/disagreement;understanding/misunderstanding) no parece funcionar igual que en español.

Pero esto es rizar el rizo. Cualquiera de las propuestas hace pasar la idea sin más problemas.

Carlos


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## josep

He encontrado la siguiente referencia original:

Rustom Bharucha, _Encounters and disencounters : a personal journey
 through many Latin American and U.S. Latin art worlds _

Existiendo 'encounter' en inglés, creo que no es ningún atropello usar los sufijos y conseguir 'disencounter'. Creo que tiene otro significado que 'desacuerdo'. Me viene a la cabeza la película de Woody Allen, _Acordes y desacuerdos._


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## painkil

Para mi misunderstanding sería más bien un malentendido, la verdad es que no sé muy bien qué sentido darle a disencounter. A lo mejor, acordándome de la película 'Encuentros en la tercera fase', sí que comporta un desencuentro entre dos personas más o menos cercanas que momentáneamente pierden la sintonía. Creo que en inglés se habla de que dos personas están 'in tune' por lo que supongo que también se contemplará la posibilidad inversa. Se me ocurre que quizás la palabra mismatch, desajuste, pudiera también servir.


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## Aristoteles

Badcell said:


> I believe "desencuentro" has two meanings:
> -A failed meeting (for which I cannot think of a single english word), and
> - A difference of opinios (for which I would say "disagreement")
> Hope this helps!


 
I am totally agree with you. Now we have reach the same point (idea), so we have encountered to each other, we have meet the same point, we coincide at this point.
"Encuentro" is when two things (persons, lines, ideas, etc.) reach the same point; for example, when two people reach the same point they have met to each other; or when two ideas concile or arrive to an accord there is an agreement; or when line A cross line B they have found and intersecction, the point where they are meeting.
Then "desencuentro" is the opposite of "encuentro". When there is no encounter, meeting, agreement, coincidence at the same point. So, I think english words for "desencuentro" would be: disencounter, failed meeting, disagreement, no coincidence at the same point; depending of the context.
I am trying to translate "amor en los desencuentros". Find this discussion brought to me a better concept of the word "desencuentro" in this context; and I am going to translate it as "love in the dissapointments" because I understand that the feelings did not reach a common place to have harmony. One lover was expecting to find in the other the same feeling he/she was having, but was not the same, so he/she got dissapointed ("fue no correspondido" or "no encontrado = desencontrado")
Thank you very much for all quotations of everyone. You helped me to understand better about this word.


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## painkil

Why not ..loving in mismatch settings


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## Aristoteles

painkil said:


> Why not ..loving in mismatch settings


 
I think you are right. But it is a little bit complex. I prefer to use more a day by day language. I think also that your proposal fits better for a lover's relationship. And exactly the paragraph tries to encourage to have a positive attitude. This is the complete paragraph in spanish:


Ser feliz es encontrar la fuerza en el perdon, la esperanza en la batalla, la seguridad en el palco del miedo, el amor en los desencuentros.
Ser feliz no es solo valorizar la sonrisa, sino tambien reflexionar sobre la tristeza.

Be happy is finding the force in forgiveness, hope in the battles, security in the stage of fear, love in the disappointments. 
Be happy is not only valuate the smiling, but also reflect about the unhappiness.

Thank you so much for your idea.​​


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## radiolibre

alienation.

I think the misunderstanding comes from thinking that "desencuentro" can be translated as the opposite of the translation of "encuentro." I think it's better to look at "encuentro/desencuentro" as a "meeting," "connection" or an "interweaving" of ideas (encuentro) and a "sense of alienation" on the other (desencuentro).


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## gibby

Would the word "avoidance" be an acceptable translation of the word "desencuentro" as used below:

"...una comedia romántica de encuentros y desencuentros, del valor de la amistad y de las sorpresas en el amor que la vida nos tiene guardados donde uno menos se lo espera."

"...a romantic comedy about encounters and avoidance, of the the value of friendship and the surprise of love that life unexpectedly hides."


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## painkil

Hola, la palabra desencuentro no tiene una traducción directa en inglés, tiene varios matices dependiendo de en qué contexto se use. En un forum antiguo en el que participé http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=14578
se hablaba de misunderstanding, disappointment, disagreement e incluso disencounter (palabra que no he encontrado en la 7º edición del Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary y que, por lo tanto, doy por hecho que no existe). Para mí mismatch es el término que más se acerca a desencuentros amorosos pero no sé muy bien cómo aplicarla a tu frase.
'... A romantic comedy about loving agreements and disappointments (mismatch), of the value of frienship and the surprise of love that life offers us at the least expected moment."


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## aaronmaus

WandaWolf said:


> Yes, desencuentro as a fail meeting between two persons



In this case, "un desencuentro" would be "a missed connection."  See craigslist.com personals section for examples.


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## painkil

Totalmente de acuerdo, además tiene en común el mis(match) al que me refería. Ahora bien, ¿Crees que en inglés existe el verbo to missconnect?. Algo así como I misconnected with that gorgeus blonde I had talked you about..


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## aaronmaus

painkil said:


> Totalmente de acuerdo, además tiene en común el mis(match) al que me refería. Ahora bien, ¿Crees que en inglés existe el verbo to missconnect?. Algo así como I misconnected with that gorgeus blonde I had talked you about..



No se.  Lo que entiendo de tu frase "I misconnected with that gorgeous blonde..." es que habia una cita o un encuentro y salio mal.  En este caso, no se usaria misconnect.  Misconnect no es sinonimo con mismatch.  Diriamos "It *didn't work out *with that gorgeous blonde.  We just *weren't compatible/we didn't connect*."  Ademas, no creo que exista la palabra "misconnect".  Se dice "to not connect."  Si no trata de una cita que salio mal sino una oportunidad perdida de conocerse y intercambiar numeros etc, entonces se diria, "We had a missed connection.  She left before I could ask her for her phone number" por ejemplo.     

De Wikipedia: _A *Missed connection* is an occurrence where two or more people are unable to exchange contact information or the information that is exchanged is lost. These missed connections are generally associated with romance, but they may also be business-related or otherwise. 

_Espero que te ayude.


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## radiolibre

incompatibilities? Si estos son los unicos desencuentros que hay, tu y yo no somos el uno para el otro....


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## painkil

Creo que queda claro que lo más parecido a desencuentro amoroso es miss connection.No obstante, en español hay un matiz de decepción y pena inherente al término que intuyo no se da en inglés. Gracias por tu aportación.


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## radiolibre

Si, quedó claro que un desencuentro puede ser un 'missed connection' en_ algunos contextos, _pues en otros contextos el termino queda sin poder ser traducido.


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## painkil

Si, miss connection es algo muy práctico, muy funcional, no se llegó a establecer la conexión o se interrumpió inesperadamente. Desencuentro es algo intangible, no está específicamente ligado al amor pero tiene un componente emocional claro. Está teñido de decepción aunque sea por un hecho banal.


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## radiolibre

Si, exactamente. De lo que yo sepa, el desencuentro es algo vinculado con la soledad, el aislamiento y el engaño, aunque sea de forma <espiritual> o percebido de ese tipo de desilusion que nace de un "missed connection."


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## painkil

No sólo se da en los desengaños también hay un punto de perplejidad en el que, por motivos que no se acierta a entender, se fue al traste la relación sin que hay terceros.


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## jkellymap

I think another way to translate "desencuentro" in some contexts is "disconnect", in this word's recent (and still informal) use as a noun (not just as a verb, as before.)


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## cirrus

I thinking falling out is a good way of translating it.


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## painkil

La verdad es que disconnect se parece bastante a missed connection; sigo sin apreciar ese componente de perplejidad, extrañeza y dolor que lleva asociado el término desencuentro en español y que radiolibre captaba perfectamente en sus 'threads'.


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## painkil

Por cierto, no tengo la menor idea de si falling out transmite el sentido de desencuentro del que hablamos; insisto en que no está circunscrito a la esfera amorosa-sexual: entre amigos, padres e hijos, jefes y subalternos, ..etc. se pueden dar, y se dan, desencuentros.


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## jkellymap

De acuerdo, y gracias...en muchos contextos, se necesita traducir "desencuentro" con una palabra que expresa emoción...pero en otros contextos, una palabra "neutra" como "disconnect" es mejor; por ejemplo, cuando se trata de algo legal:

"Planteamos la existencia de un desencuentro entre la normatividad existente y las prácticas locales vigentes"
-- (de un capítulo del libro _Gestión y Cultura del Agua_)

Y sí, "falling out" implica que una relacíon de amistad o de amor ha terminado bajo circonstancias tristes.  (También de usa la frase en contextos profesionales, pero no es el uso principal.)


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## cirrus

jkellymap said:


> De acuerdo, y gracias...en muchos contextos, se necesita traducir "desencuentro" con una palabra que expresa emoción...pero en otros contextos, una palabra "neutra" como "disconnect" es mejor; por ejemplo, cuando se trata de algo legal:
> 
> "Planteamos la existencia de un desencuentro entre la normatividad existente y las prácticas locales vigentes"
> -- (de un capítulo del libro _Gestión y Cultura del Agua_)
> 
> Y sí, "falling out" implica que una relacíon de amistad o de amor ha terminado bajo circonstancias tristes.  (También de usa la frase en contextos profesionales, pero no es el uso principal.)


Disconnect seems a good way to go.

I have misgivings about references further up the thread to missed connections. A missed connection is to might make sense to a Spanish speaker but for native BE speakers missed connections are more about travel not going smoothly. Imagine flying from Aberdeen to Cairo via Paris and because of fog at Charles de Gaulle airport you miss your connection. 

Whilst falling out might in many cases involve love, it isn't by any means limited to that - Merkel and Sarkozy might fall out over the euro but that doesn't mean they ever had anything other than a purely professional relationship.


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## jkellymap

Good points, Cirrus.  "Missed connection" absolutely implies "interrupted travel plans" for most English speakers.  

I again caution Spanish-speaking readers of this thread that "disconnect" as a noun is not (yet) standard, formal English, so it should not be used thus in the most formal contexts.


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## painkil

Por lo que veo habéis llegado a un cierto consenso:1) disconnect se usaría como desencuentro (sustantivo usado de manera informal) en su acepción práctica y "fría"; 2) falling out se acercaría bastante al sentido que comentaba llevando incorporado un componente emocional.


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## Smitch18

It seems that there are many possible translations here depending on context.  The original context posted in the question was of a failed meeting; that also depends on context. If the meeting didn't happen because one party did not attend then you would probably just say 'X didn't turn up', if both parties went but didn't coincide you would probably say 'We missed each other'.

In other contexts 'desencuentro' sounds like it could be 'mismatch' as in a sporting mismatch, though I'm not sure if that if 'desencuentro deportivo' exists in Spanish.  'Un desencuntro amoroso' sounds like it would be 'disappointed in love'.  Meanwhile, 'Tuve un desencuentro con él' does indeed sound like either a disagreement or misunderstanding, depending on context; perhaps it is intentionally ambiguous in Spanish in order to avoid setting things off again.

One last possible translation of 'encuentros y desencuentros' (apart from the perfectly valid-sounding 'encounters and disencounters') might be the more informal 'hit and miss', as in 'Ha sido un año de encuentros y desencuentros' - 'It's been a hit and miss year'.


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## MRA555

Me gusta mas traducir "una larga historia de encuentros y desencuentros" como "a long story of going back and forth". Aunque no es traducción directa del significado, me parece que conserva mas el sentido de la frase (cono yo la interpreto).


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## cirrus

Smitch18 said:


> One last possible translation of 'encuentros y desencuentros' (apart from the perfectly valid-sounding 'encounters and disencounters') might be the more informal 'hit and miss', as in 'Ha sido un año de encuentros y desencuentros' - 'It's been a hit and miss year'.



You've hit the nail on the head with it all being about context. I like your idea about hit and miss, though I have to confess I am stumped at what makes you think _encounters and disencounters_ sounds valid in English - to me it sounds horrendous, like something spat out of a google translation.  Is this just because I am sat here in the UK or am I alone on this one?


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## painkil

Muy bueno..quizás mejor usar desajuste deportivo en lugar de desencuentro, ¿qué opinan los versados en el tema?.


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## Justham

cirrus said:


> You've hit the nail on the head with it all being about context. I like your idea about hit and miss, though I have to confess I am stumped at what makes you think _encounters and disencounters_ sounds valid in English - to me it sounds horrendous, like something spat out of a google translation. Is this just because I am sat here in the UK or am I alone on this one?


 
Does the word "_disencounters_" even exist in English? I can't find in the dictionaries I have and have *never* heard it or seen it.


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## Justham

En todo el debate, ¿se ha fijado alguien en trabajos ya hechos?


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## Smitch18

cirrus said:


> You've hit the nail on the head with it all being about context. I like your idea about hit and miss, though I have to confess I am stumped at what makes you think _encounters and disencounters_ sounds valid in English - to me it sounds horrendous, like something spat out of a google translation.  Is this just because I am sat here in the UK or am I alone on this one?



It could be too many years away from an English speaking country.  Not that I don't hear a lot of English in films, radio, etc.  The problem is rather that poor, literal translations gradually begin to sound OK as your ear becomes less tuned, and suddenly trying to decide whether something sounds normal or not becomes like trying to write out a word too many times when you're not sure of the spelling.


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## cirrus

Smitch18 said:


> The problem is rather that poor, literal translations gradually begin to sound OK as your ear becomes less tuned, and suddenly trying to decide whether something sounds normal or not becomes like trying to write out a word too many times when you're not sure of the spelling.


I thought that might be the case and know where you are coming from. 

In the eighties I spent five years not really speaking English, by the time I came back I'd set my mates giggling because my English had started to sound like my second language. 

Looking back the warning signs were already there - I went for  an interview at a school of English and was asked by an American where had I'd learned my English. As a native speaker this came as a bit of a shock.


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## Smitch18

It is a bit of a problem.  As a 'careful' user of English it can be quite frustrating when you find yourself wondering whether it is OK or not when someone uses a cognate but could be a false cognate.  My pet hates are 'career' for a university course/degree, 'professor' for teacher, and 'in front of' for opposite.


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## Smitch18

By the way, I'm talking about native speakers, not students.


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## spanishtoenglish

You can also say "a disconnect" to talk about a lack of connection or a contradiction.  (E.g., there was a disconnect between what the politician said and did.)


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