"les pondrá la medida más alta"

English translation: will represent the stiffest/hardest challenge

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:les pondrá la medida más alta
English translation:will represent the stiffest/hardest challenge
Entered by: Neil Ashby

02:14 Oct 15, 2020
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Sports / Fitness / Recreation / football (soccer)
Spanish term or phrase: "les pondrá la medida más alta"
I'm translating a newspaper article for a class in my M.A. translation program, and in this article, the coach of a Mexican football club (who is from Argentina) refers to another team in the league as "el rival que les pondrá la medida más alta" (where the indirect object "les" refers to his own team and the verb form "pondrá" refers to the rival club). I had originally rendered this as "the rival that will pose the toughest test for his team" (for a target audience of North American English speakers) but a couple of my co-L1 classmates (who speak both English and Puerto Rican Spanish as native languages) suggested that this phrase actually carries the connotation of "setting the highest bar" or perhaps "the team to beat" instead of "posing the toughest test." I haven't found anything other than renderings that use "the highest measure" in my own searching, so my professor has suggested that I request well-informed opinions here on ProZ. Thanks tons in advance for any help with this!
Richard Snowden
United States
Local time: 05:24
will represent the stiffest/hardest challenge
Explanation:
Another option, given the context in the discussion:
"El entrenador de Pumas, en diálogo exclusivo con AS México, señaló que, de los grandes que les resta enfrentar a los felinos en el Guardianes 2020, los esmeraldas serán el rival que les pondrá la medida más alta."
;@)

... of the big teams they are still to play/face,... Los Esmeraladas will represent the stiffest challenge.

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Note added at 1 day 17 hrs (2020-10-16 19:16:55 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad it was helpful.
Selected response from:

Neil Ashby
Spain
Local time: 11:24
Grading comment
Again, thanks a ton, Neil! My assignment will definitely be a great deal better thanks to your input.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1the team to beat/highest bar
neilmac
4will represent the stiffest/hardest challenge
Neil Ashby


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
the team to beat/highest bar


Explanation:
I agree with your co-L1 classmates. Something like "the toughest nut to crack"might work…

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:24
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 52
Notes to answerer
Asker: Great, thanks for clarifying this for me, Neil (and Cecilia).


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Cecilia Gowar: set the highest bar
1 hr
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18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
will represent the stiffest/hardest challenge


Explanation:
Another option, given the context in the discussion:
"El entrenador de Pumas, en diálogo exclusivo con AS México, señaló que, de los grandes que les resta enfrentar a los felinos en el Guardianes 2020, los esmeraldas serán el rival que les pondrá la medida más alta."
;@)

... of the big teams they are still to play/face,... Los Esmeraladas will represent the stiffest challenge.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 17 hrs (2020-10-16 19:16:55 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad it was helpful.

Neil Ashby
Spain
Local time: 11:24
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 64
Grading comment
Again, thanks a ton, Neil! My assignment will definitely be a great deal better thanks to your input.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Fantastic! This explanation definitely helps me a ton, Neil, and I'm very pleased to know that my original choice was pretty accurate. Again, thanks so much!

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