...ou não fosse desde os Descobrimentos um imprescindível entreposto.....

English translation: ...especially as it had been

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Portuguese term or phrase:...ou não fosse desde ..
English translation:...especially as it had been
Entered by: suesimons

10:24 Jan 3, 2010
Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Newspaper article
Portuguese term or phrase: ...ou não fosse desde os Descobrimentos um imprescindível entreposto.....
A vasta área era a parte mais cosmopolita de uma cidade com importância mundial e muito atractiva para negócios, ou não fosse desde os Descobrimentos um imprescindível entreposto de contactos com os novos mundos.
Could someone explain me the meaning of the last part of the sentence. MTIA.
suesimons
Local time: 11:30
...especially as it had been an indispensable trading post since the Age of Discovery/Exploration
Explanation:
...especially as it had been an indispensable/essential trading post since the Age of Discovery/Exploration
...all the more as it had been...since the Age of Discovery...

ou não fosse = tanto mais que, ainda mais que
especially as... since, all the more since

1 Sep 2009 ... The invitation to visit Chanel's secret ceramic chamber was much awaited especially as it had been guarded like a fortress since its ...
www.europastar.com/.../article_display.jsp?vnu

16 Jul 2008 ... Leon actually had quite a lot to recommend it as a city, especially as it had been quite a while since I´d hung out in a larger city ...
www.travelblog.org

(especially as it had not been redecorated since it was built more than 25 years ago). This work was beyond the financial ...
www.davidsinclairmc.com/cat.../CAT Report for 1999 v4.pdf

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Note added at 4 hrs (2010-01-03 14:25:05 GMT)
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"ou não fosse"

em filosofia não há conclusões nem certezas, e acredita ele sabe o que diz, ou não fosse a Filosofia a área dele. ...
www.forumlusitana.org/...f6/ser-ou-nao-ser-arte-t151.htm

Veja outros exemplos de "ou não fosse" com o mesmo sentido: já que, especialmente porque; tanto mais que, ainda mais que". Para mim é uma locução justificativa.

O apoio está mais do que garantido, ou não fosse a África do Sul um dos países que mais imigrantes portugueses acolhe. E, estes, nunca regatearam apoio à ...
www.fintaeremata.com › Opinião
Selected response from:

Bentevi
Grading comment
Mtks for the explanation too.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5...especially as it had been an indispensable trading post since the Age of Discovery/Exploration
Bentevi
4 +1see below...
Ana Resende
4considering that since the Discovery age, they were a vital warehouse ...
Verginia Ophof


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


58 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
see below...


Explanation:
Since the time of the Great Navigations [of the sixteenth-century?] this "[vast] "area" was a very important warehouse (I'm not sure that's the word, though I would say in French "entrepôt") in providing contact with new worlds...

Ana Resende
Brazil
Local time: 07:30
Native speaker of: Portuguese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  kashew: Maybe, instead of warehouse, "trading post" is the expression?
40 mins
  -> exactly, "trading post"!
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
...especially as it had been an indispensable trading post since the Age of Discovery/Exploration


Explanation:
...especially as it had been an indispensable/essential trading post since the Age of Discovery/Exploration
...all the more as it had been...since the Age of Discovery...

ou não fosse = tanto mais que, ainda mais que
especially as... since, all the more since

1 Sep 2009 ... The invitation to visit Chanel's secret ceramic chamber was much awaited especially as it had been guarded like a fortress since its ...
www.europastar.com/.../article_display.jsp?vnu

16 Jul 2008 ... Leon actually had quite a lot to recommend it as a city, especially as it had been quite a while since I´d hung out in a larger city ...
www.travelblog.org

(especially as it had not been redecorated since it was built more than 25 years ago). This work was beyond the financial ...
www.davidsinclairmc.com/cat.../CAT Report for 1999 v4.pdf

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2010-01-03 14:25:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"ou não fosse"

em filosofia não há conclusões nem certezas, e acredita ele sabe o que diz, ou não fosse a Filosofia a área dele. ...
www.forumlusitana.org/...f6/ser-ou-nao-ser-arte-t151.htm

Veja outros exemplos de "ou não fosse" com o mesmo sentido: já que, especialmente porque; tanto mais que, ainda mais que". Para mim é uma locução justificativa.

O apoio está mais do que garantido, ou não fosse a África do Sul um dos países que mais imigrantes portugueses acolhe. E, estes, nunca regatearam apoio à ...
www.fintaeremata.com › Opinião

Bentevi
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Mtks for the explanation too.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  kashew: Yes, trading post is pretty usual in the context.
35 mins
  -> Thanks:)

agree  Susana Alves
1 hr
  -> Thanks:)

agree  Paula Vaz-Carreiro: Convincing explanation of the "ou não fosse" expression. I confess it beat me - I can't remember ever seeing it before. Do you know if it is old fashioned or mostly used in Brazil? /// I see. Well thanks for telling me. Happy 2010 :-)
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, Paula! I don't think it's old-fashioned, as I saw this for the first time on a Portuguese business website. I think it's often confused with "se não fosse". I've never seen this used in PT-BR.

agree  amarante dasilva: another way would be: " if it were not..." indispensable
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Amarante:). Not really. This use of "ou não fosse" is different from the reduced form of "se não fosse".

agree  Evans (X)
21 hrs
  -> Thanks, Gilla:)
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1 day 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
considering that since the Discovery age, they were a vital warehouse ...


Explanation:
suggestion

Verginia Ophof
Belize
Local time: 04:30
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 65
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