Put a baby to sleep = Acostar al bebé (also "Poner el bebé a dormir", especially if there is no bed)
Put an animal down (= sacrifice it) = Sacrificar a un animal.
Let nature take its course = Deja que la naturaleza siga su curso.

lazarus1907 said:

Put a baby to sleep = Acostar al bebé (also "Poner el bebé a dormir", especially if there is no bed)

"Put to sleep" in this context is a euphemism for to kill. It does not mean acostar. We use it only in reference to animals.

By the way, Natasha, the correct spelling is humpback.

James said:

"Put to sleep" in this context is a euphemism for to kill. It does not mean acostar. We use it only in reference to animals.

I know, James. Have you not seen my second line? I included the literal meaning as well, just in case.

"Sacrificar a un animal" makes me think of the Romans (or other "paganos") sacrifying an ox (or whatever) to Jupiter (or whomever). Would you use the same expression in that context? If so, is there some way to distinguish between a "ritual sacrifice" and a "mercy killing"'

samdie said:

"Sacrificar a un animal" makes me think of the Romans (or other "paganos") sacrifying an ox (or whatever) to Jupiter (or whomever). Would you use the same expression in that context? If so, is there some way to distinguish between a "ritual sacrifice" and a "mercy killing"?

Actually, we use sacrifice in a medical context in English, too. I translate a lot of drug studies, and they always say "The test animals were sacrificed on the 14th day..." It always strikes me as cowardly to use such euphemisms in this context, and I would prefer that they said "killed," but that's the convention. Incidentally, if the animals are sacrificed by cutting them and letting them bleed to death, they are said to be exsanguinated, which probably makes the readers of these studies feel better about themselves.

You're probably right: I extended the Spanish uses of "sacrificar" into English. "Sacrificar", apart from the ritual for the Gods or whatever, it means just "to kill an animal".

Well, given that etymologically sacrifice/sacrificar mean to"make sacred" (with the obvious religious overtones), I agree with James that that this is an unfortunate euphemism. However we also use it in English (without any religious overtones) in such expressions as "to sacrifice a pawn (chess, obviously) or "sacrifice play" (various sports). Would you say, then, that in certain/many contexts, it's simply equivalent to "mataron". Also are there specific contexts in which you would _not_ use "sacrificar". For example; How would you feel about the sentence "Manolete, durante su carrera, sacrificó a 500 (o lo que fuera) toros'

How would you feel about the sentence "Manolete, durante su carrera, sacrificó a 500 (o lo que fuera) toros'

Until Lazarus replies, I'll say that I see lots of hits for mató and none for sacrificó in this context. And, after all, his job title was matador, not sacrificador. hehe

As I understand it, sacrificar is used as a euphemism in Spanish, just as sacrifice and put to sleep are in English (in addition to its use in religious contexts).

:

sacrificar. 2. tr. Matar reses u otros animales, especialmente para el consumo. Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

:

sacrificarS Matar [un animal cautivo]. Diccionario Manuel Seco © Todos los derechos reservados

:

sacrificar2 Matar las reses para el consumo. 3 Matar a un animal, por ejemplo por tener una enfermedad que se quiere erradicar. 4 («a») Hacer que alguien o algo material o inmaterial deje de existir o sufra daño o disminución, para beneficiar a otra persona o a una cosa: Diccionario María Moliner © Todos los derechos reservados

Maybe it wasn't the right choice of word, but "sacrificar" does mean "to kill" (and it is not an euphemism), albeit only in certain contexts. Look, anyway, at the 4th meaning in the dictionary María Moliner, because that's close to the one I had in mind.

By the way, the humpback whale is called "ballena rorcual" (sometimes "jorobada").

but "sacrificar" does mean "to kill" (and it is not an euphemism)

Why do you say that? The basic verb is matar, so if sacrificar is not a euphemism, why use it? As Samdie says, the word sacrificar/sacrifice is related to the word sagrado/sacred (from Latin sacrific're, from the adjective sacer, sacred, + ficare, variant form of facere, do or make), and originates in religious practices. To me it is obvious that the purpose of using sacrificar instead of matar is to soften the impact of the verb, make it less unpleasant, and that is exactly what a euphemism is.

So one way to express it would be..

"Sacrificar a un ballena" meaning to euthanase would be it?

Annie.

James, an euphemism is so until it becomes so used, that it ends up with the same connotations as the term you were trying to avoid in the first place. This is the main reason why there are over 15 ways of saying toilet in Spanish: new words start as euphemisms, and end up being "too explicit" for people's ears.

Maybe this is too subjective, but let me give you an example regarding "sacrificar" when used with animals:

Sé que quieres mucho al cerdito, pero vamos a matarlo para la cena de Nochebuena.
Sé que quieres mucho al cerdito, pero vamos a sacrificarlo para la cena de Nochebuena.

The second one sounds maybe more justified than the first one, but practically as harsh and direct to me, and certainly a lot more than "put down" or "put to sleep", which are sort of cute in comparison. Let me think of other alternatives that would sound more like an euphemism.

Anyway, my Collins dictionary says:

Put down (Brit: kill): sacrificar.

The WordReference dictionary says:

Put down (destroy) (BrE euph) 'animal? sacrificar

I obviously can't argue with you about how the words sound, and which, if either, is stronger, but it sure does look and sound like a euphemism to me in your example. And there are certainly euphemisms of varying degree, that is, some that have more or less of a softening effect.

By the way, words that start with a Y sound (or any other consonant sound), even if they start with a vowel letter, take "a" rather than "an," so we say "a euphemism."

James said:

By the way, words that start with a Y sound (or any other consonant sound), even if they start with a vowel letter, take "a" rather than "an," so we say "a euphemism."

Of course! The word "euphemism" begins with a palatal approximant /j/ (we call it a semi-vowel in Spanish), and not a vowel, so the indefinite article stays as "a". It doesn't help the fact that in Spanish "eufemismo" begins with a clear vowel sound. It is quite tricky for non natives, actually, because you write:

hotel - a hotel
hono(u)r - an hono(u)r

This is because the second one is not pronounced. But I find it harder with words beginning with diphthongs that are pronounced with an initial consonant-like sound. Of course, if you don't know the pronunciation of a word, or your pronunciation is bad, you can't decide whether using "a" or "an".

And you complaint about the rule for "u" and "e" (instead of "o" and "y") in Spanish!

Thanks for the remark anyway! I'll keep an eye on this next time!