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convertir el marrón en dorado

English translation: spin straw into gold

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:convertir el marrón en dorado
English translation:spin straw into gold
Entered by: Wendy Gosselin

16:02 Jan 10, 2022
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Spanish term or phrase: convertir el marrón en dorado
A text about an artist who works with trash:

Cuando DB recurre al informe basurero cotidiano para seleccionar restos capaces de alcanzar otro grado de atención no se propone convertir el marrón en dorado.

I get the idea, but can't think of an analogous expression in English.
Thanks
Wendy Gosselin
Argentina
Local time: 03:28
spin straw into gold
Explanation:
From the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin:

The King took her [the miller's daughter] to a room piled with straw from floor to ceiling. He pointed to the spinning wheel in the middle of the room. He said, “Now get to work! If by morning you have not spun this straw into gold, you will die!”
Selected response from:

Carole Wolfe
United States
Local time: 01:28
Grading comment
perfect
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5spin straw into gold
Carole Wolfe
4 +3she's not trying to change it (the trash) into something it's not /... hide what it it's made of
Dylan Porter
4change rags to riches
Katarina Peters
4make brass from muck
Jennifer Levey
3make gold out of lead
O G V
3to turn lead into gold
AllegroTrans


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
she's not trying to change it (the trash) into something it's not /... hide what it it's made of


Explanation:
Without more context, what I understand is that the artist's work stands out without making the trash into something brand new, or maybe that she wants it to still be recognizable as trash making up the art piece.

Dylan Porter
Belgium
Local time: 08:28
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Noni Gilbert Riley
4 mins
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
4 hrs
agree  Carl Bickett (X): …as in not trying to add glitter or embellish.
21 hrs
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30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
spin straw into gold


Explanation:
From the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin:

The King took her [the miller's daughter] to a room piled with straw from floor to ceiling. He pointed to the spinning wheel in the middle of the room. He said, “Now get to work! If by morning you have not spun this straw into gold, you will die!”

Carole Wolfe
United States
Local time: 01:28
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
perfect

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Elizabeth Joy Pitt de Morales
2 hrs
  -> Gracias!
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
4 hrs
  -> Gracias, Muriel!
agree  neilmac: Classic! The perfect example IMHO.
16 hrs
  -> Gracias!
agree  slothm: Spot on!
23 hrs
  -> Gracias!
agree  Adriana Uribe
1 day 21 hrs
  -> Gracias!
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53 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
change rags to riches


Explanation:
suggestion...

Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 02:28
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  AllegroTrans: No. the way this term is used is to describe people who make their fortunes from a poor beginning. It doesn't really work in the asker's context
6 hrs
  -> OK, thanks Allegro, you are right, is doesn't work in this context.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
make gold out of lead


Explanation:
Creo que la metáfora con colores alude a las noticias basura como algo vulgar, sin gracia, con un color asociado de antiguo a cosas no deseables o sucias, digamos por ser finos.

La idea alquímica de transformación de cosas sin valor o residuales coincide en ambas frases

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2022-01-10 17:40:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Quizá mejor para el contexto

make gold out of shit
make gold out of trash

O G V
Spain
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 24
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
to turn lead into gold


Explanation:
This was the dream of the alchemists

How to turn lead into gold | periodicallyamended - WordPress ...
https://periodicallyamended.wordpress.com › 2016/01/24
24 Jan 2016 — How to turn lead into gold was the legendary question that plagued the alchemists of old. Their answer to this question was the belief in ...

This is used as a saying:

turn lead into gold - Urban Dictionary
https://www.urbandictionary.com › define › term=turn l...
(v.) To make something with little use profitable. I can turn lead into gold. ... Get a turn lead into gold mug for your fish Sarah. Get the ...

The Secrets of Alchemy - The Mystery of Matter
http://www.mysteryofmatter.net › alchemy
Was this the legendary elixir that would turn lead into gold? Alas, it was not. Brandt had stumbled on the element phosphorus. It was in just this way that many ...

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:28
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
make brass from muck


Explanation:
There's a very well-known expression in British English: "where there's muck there's brass', where 'muck' refers to other people's trash and 'brass' means money. Think 'Steptoe & Son'.

A British readership would readily understand a translation inspired by this expression, thus:

DB ... no se propone convertir el marrón en dorado
-->
DB ... is not out to make brass from muck.

See: https://bmmagazine.co.uk/opinion/carl-hopkins-on-the-apprent... and many other sources.


Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 02:28
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 36

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  AllegroTrans: I agree this is an expression in England but it doesn't really work in the asker's context// we have enough context - an artist using trash to make artistic objects and imo we need a "country-neutral" term such as I have posted
10 mins
  -> We don't have anything like enough context (including that relating to the cultural background of the target readership) to permit any of us to make value judgements as to what works, or doesn't work, in Asker's wider context.
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