
3/3
This post will be of interest only to language geeks.
Chapter 5 of "How We Learn to Be Brave" includes the following footnote, which I'm not putting quote marks around because it includes quote marks within it. It is therefore separated from my own words by three dashes.
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I began using the phrase "stepping up to the plate" in sermons to describe what we were all called to do in a season of intense need. Because I sometimes preach in Spanish, I wondered how it translated. It doesn't. There is, however, a close parallel expression from the Castilian sport of bullfighting: "coger el toro por los cuernos," that is, "to take the bull by the horns." I came across another saying in Spanish that didn't quite cut it, but nonetheless made me smile: "ponerle el cascabel al gato." As an expression, it means to have the courage to do what others dare not. In English, it means "to put a bell on a cat."
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I (lkdc) had expected that "stepping up to the plate" would make sense to anyone familiar with baseball, regardless of their language. I had also expected that it wouldn't make any sense to anyone, even a native English speaker, in a country without baseball. I would love to hear from people in countries without baseball whether you understand or use the words "stepping up to the plate". I would also love to hear from native Spanish speakers, both those who are in countries where baseball is popular and those who aren't familiar with baseball. How would you say "stepping up to the plate" in Spanish, in the sense of volunteering to do something important (NOT in the literal sense of playing baseball)?
If replying with a Spanish idiom, please say what continent you live on, as that can make a big difference to idioms. I don't know about Budde, but I find European Spanish quite confusing at times!