Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

rubros de punta

English translation:

mainstays (of production) / top commodities / leading products

Added to glossary by JaneTranslates
May 18, 2008 06:18
16 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Spanish term

rubros de punta

Spanish to English Social Sciences Agriculture Livestock (maybe); Argentina; history
In 1754 we have merchants from the coastal cities of Río de la Plata expanding their interests into cattle ranches (estancias). Here's my sentence--anyone care to tackle the whole thing? :-D

El esquema organizativo exhibe preocupación consistente por un aprovechamiento racional de los recursos: es frecuente la búsqueda de ahorros en la muy costosa mano de obra mediante la conformación de amplios planteles de esclavos, la incorporación de mejoras técnicas de avanzada, la especialización en torno a los **rubros de punta**, y una a menudo enorme escala operativa, orientada a aprovechar el más abundante factor, la tierra.

What in the world are "rubros de punta"? The Google hits (very few) seem to be from Argentina, but I haven't found any clues yet. Machines? Vegetables? A breed of cattle? I'm totally lost. Deadline in 28 hours, and I still have 19 pages to do, all very much like the above.

Discussion

JaneTranslates (asker) May 19, 2008:
Hugs to all Thank you, thank you, everyone! If this were Facebook I could send you each a hug. What did translators do with impossible phrases in the middle of the night before Internet and ProZ?

Proposed translations

+2
1 hr
Selected

mainstays (of production) / top products / products with a buoyant market

"rubro" according to DRAE means "título", so it seems to be used in the same way as "concepto" to denote a category of items, in this case agricultural products.

"de punta" generally means "the best" (in this case, products).

I found one quote where "rubros de punta" seems to mean "mainstays":

Es tan importante el sector que hoy día ha sustituido
cultivos como café y banano que hasta hace una década representaban los rubros de punta en materia de exportaciones tradicionales.
http://portal.rds.org.hn/listas/deuda-externa/msg00010.html
Peer comment(s):

agree Egmont
1 hr
muchas gracias ángel, ¡que disfrutes mucho tu domingo! :-) Deborah
agree Florcy
7 hrs
muchas gracias Florcy, que pases un domingo muy lindo :-) Deborah
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Deborah, it was your analysis that convinced me. I was beginning to gather a vague sense of what "rubro" means, but hadn't found a thing on "de punta." I don't think we use the expression in PR. I ended up with "principal export commodities." Thank you so much!"
21 mins

[to address the] main/pressing/urgent/most important issues/problems

Hi jane.
Hope this gets the ball rolling for you and inspires other Prozians.
Luck:-)

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Note added at 34 mins (2008-05-18 06:52:49 GMT)
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possibly also: "needs/shortages"
Note from asker:
Terry, thank you for getting the ball rolling! You got me looking at the phrase in a new light; I really was totally clueless. ¡Abrazos!
Something went wrong...
+1
4 hrs

main sectors/exports//primary,chief or leading products/commodities

Hay varias formas de decirlo, pero sin duda se refiere a los productos o sectores productivos más importantes. "Rubro" se utiliza en el sentido de "sector", como indican los enlaces aquí debajo.
They concentrated on (the country's) leading products".
Si por el contexto general puede inferirse, como creo, a los productos de exportación, se podría decir simplemente "main exports".

"El crecimiento del sector No primario se debió al incremento de 2.3 por ciento en el rubro de Bienes de Consumo, "
"Las computadoras fue el rubro que más creció en ventas."
Note from asker:
Thank you, cgowar. If I could split the points, you would certainly get some, since I used your "commodities."
Peer comment(s):

agree Florcy
4 hrs
Thanks Florcy!
Something went wrong...
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