to foot (an army)

[rafajuntoalmar]

Hello, dear friends. I am trying to translate the following phrase:

"it is quite improbable that the USA could foot an army like that again".

My try:

"resulta bastante improbable que EE. UU. pueda reunir, nuevamente, un ejército como ése"

Do you think I got the idea?

Thank you,

 

[JillN]

I think it means the US can't pay for an army like that again. They can't afford it.

 

[rafajuntoalmar]

I think it means the US can't pay for an army like that again. They can't afford it.

Thank you. Yes, that's reasonable. To foot = to pay. May be I am trying to interpret this phrase too much , for I doubt that the USA can't afford a huge army because of the money. IMO, it is lives that they can't afford to loose, and they use lots of money to develop technological devices that save lives (replacing GIs, I mean) and destroy better (than GIs, I mean).
Anyway, you are probably right, thank you.

 

[gnaisum]

"foot the bill for" to replace "foot" in the instance you give.

"it is quite improbable that the USA could foot the bill for an army like that again".

 

[Javadaba]

En este caso tambien se puede usar: ...desplegar o mantener un ejército como tal...

 

[rafajuntoalmar]

Thank you, gnaisum and Javadaba (doo?). La posibilidad de utilizar desplegar y mantener, me ha hecho pensar un poco. Saludos,