translation for "tomar los símbolos apropiados"
I was reading an article in Spanish on the history of the hamburger that included this sentence:
En ese mundo diverso de comidas étnicas, la hamburguesa fue capaz de tomar los símbolos apropiados y convertirse en un alimento nacional de EE. UU.
Someone had translated this as:
In that diverse ethnic food world, the hamburger was able to take suitable symbols to become the national food of the U.S.
My question is the meaning of the phrase "tomar los símbolos apropiados". The translation "take suitable symbols" doesn't really make sense to me as an English speaker. I can't seem to see any definition of tomar that would make sense here. Can someone help?
4 Answers
One of the meanings of "simbolo" from Google translate is "badge" which makes a little more sense.
"Take the badge" "Grab the ring" "Hit it out of the park" "Earn your spurs"
It still doesn't make sense to a native Spanish speaker, regardless of what google translate says, at least in the Spanish of Colombia and Peru.
One of the meanings of "simbolo" from Google translate is "badge" which makes a little more sense.
"Take the badge" "Grab the ring" "Hit it out of the park" "Earn your spurs"
¡Hola!, a todos:
I strongly agree that the sentence as written in Spanish is difficult to convert to English. In spite of that difficulty, I would express it in English along the same lines as Jack OBrien, as follows:
En ese mundo diverso de comidas étnicas, la hamburguesa fue capaz de tomar los símbolos apropiados y convertirse en un alimento nacional de EE. UU.
In this world of diverse ethnic food, the hamburger was able to take on the attributes and mystique necessary to become a national food of the United States.
Saludos,
Moe.
The English wiki says "In this diverse world of ethnic foods, the hamburger was able to rise to mainstream popularity and become a national food of the United States."
"tomar los símbolos apropiados" doesn't make any sense.
