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| User | Thread poster: Henry D Words that exist in only one language. |
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Beth Kantus 
United States
German to English
| | Schnappszahl | Mar 17, 2002 |
I\'ve always wondered about this one. It\'s not a \"round\" or \"big\" or \"milestone\" birthday or event, but instead something like, say, an anniversary on 5-5-55, for example, or a special date that recently came up: 02-02-02. anyone know of a neat translation of this concept into English?
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Beth Kantus
United States
German to English
| | Geisterfahrer | Mar 17, 2002 |
Quote:
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On 2001-10-25 05:15, Daina wrote:
Can the concept of a Geisterfahrer be an accidental phenomenon as well or is it always someone acting with intent?
By the way, or a classic example of playing chicken with cars, see the movie \"Rebel Without a Cause\" (they\'re not on the highway, though!)
Daina
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For a really funny depiction of an accidental \"wrong way driver,\" see the movie \"Planes, Trains, and Automobiles\" with Steve Martin and John Candy.
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 16:13
  Member (2002)
Spanish to English
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MODERATOR |
So tell me, \"bad milk\"?
Since I\'ve known this expression, I have tried in vain to find something proper, so as to redeem the Spanish (my other nationality, after all) from being the only ones who have \"mala leche\". We\'re \"grumpy\" in English, but that doesn\'t last, it wasn\'t something our mothers rammed into our throats when their milk soured to account later on for a characteristic attitude to everyone and everything.
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jmonllop
Spain
Local time: 16:13
English to Spanish
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| | RE: Who's read Stranger in a Strange Land? | Mar 22, 2002 |
I have!
Yes, I read it several years ago. But a better quest for a word\'s meaning is present on Heinlein\'s Time Enough For Love. Superb.
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jmonllop
Spain
Local time: 16:13
English to Spanish
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| | RE: Dar una vuelta, fare un giro. | Mar 22, 2002 |
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On 2002-03-16 15:25, two2tango wrote:
Fiona cited the Italian \"fare un giro\". I believe Argentina is culturally (at least) as much Italian as it is Spanish, and we have no problem translating it as a quite literal \"dar una vuelta\".
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Exacto. We Spaniards also use \"dar una vuelta\" the same way.
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two2tango
Argentina
Local time: 12:13
Member (2001)
English to Spanish
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Is there any Argentinean on board brave enough and wise enough to describe to our non-Argentinean friends the meaning of the word \"chanta\" ?
Enrique[addsig]
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Zenny Sadlon
United States
Local time: 09:13
English to Czech
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| | Fare un giro | Mar 27, 2002 |
It sounds like y\'all are cruisin\' and promenadin\'.
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Theresa Pisani Moniez
France
Local time: 16:13
French to English
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| | English "Kreng Jai" | Mar 29, 2002 |
I\'m not sure if there is a single-word term for \"Kreng Jai\" in English either. The closest that comes to mind is \"to not put oneself out\". This expresses a desire to not want your friend to go to any special trouble on your account. It\'s fairly common in spoken American English.
Example of usage:
- Would you like some tea?
- No, thank you.
- Really, it\'s no problem.
- Please, don\'t put yourself out on my account.
There it is. I hope this was helpful.
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 16:13
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
MODERATOR |
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On 2002-03-11 20:35, Yoni wrote:
Every single term in any given language is imbued with the whole culture from which that language arose. We as translators can only ever approximate the meaning.
However, some words are easier to translate, and others are harder. Here is a notoriously difficult one in Hebrew:
havay (pronounced like Hawaii, with v replacing the w).
My dico renders it as \'way of life, cultural pattern, folkways\'. This only touches on its meaning, which is everything you experience as a person within that culture. And then there is \'erev havay\' - a \'havay evening\' - which is even worse. It can be any social event (taking place in the evening, of course) in which a deliberate focus exists on the common culture.
Can anyone suggest a concise English translation? I am stumped.
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I have to admit my English fails me here, but I\'d like to ask if the word \"acervo\" (another notorious untranslateable) fits the bill. The monolingual dictionary says: 1) pile of small things like seeds or beans 2) set of common possessions of a community or several persons 3) wealth, patrimony (!!! the false friend!!!). I remember it as used by Federico Mayor Zaragoza at his investiture in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes, after 20 years of service in UNESCO, and I still have to find a good translation for that speech.
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Aurora Humarán
Argentina
Local time: 12:13
English to Spanish
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| | An Argentine brave enough... | Apr 10, 2002 |
to suggest \"crook\" as the possible??? equivalent to our \"chanta\". agree?
Oh how I´d love to have the honor to translate \"EL hijo de la Novia\" into English!
That would be REALLY challenging as it is full of words we \"porteños\" use every day.
Henry: and what about words which we find VERY DIFFICULT to explain with words in OUR own language, without using our hands...
There is one in Spanish: FOFO... its translation is difficult...
ITS EXPLANATION IN SPANISH WITHOUT USING YOUR HANDS IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT!!!!
Argentinos saludos, Aurora
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Terry Gilman
Germany
Local time: 16:13
Member (2001)
English
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Daina Jauntirans
United States
Local time: 09:13
Member (2005)
German to English
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| | Schnappszahl | Apr 23, 2002 |
Hi Beth,
I also recall getting change of something like DM 1.23 at a store in Germany and the cashier commenting on that being a Schnappszahl. I can\'t think of anything in English that is the same - \"lucky number\" has a different meaning.
Daina
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alitalia
United States
Italian to English
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| | I'm intrigued | May 6, 2002 |
Quote:
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On 2002-04-10 10:26, aurorah wrote:
to suggest \"crook\" as the possible??? equivalent to our \"chanta\". agree?
Oh how I´d love to have the honor to translate \"EL hijo de la Novia\" into English!
That would be REALLY challenging as it is full of words we \"porteños\" use every day.
Henry: and what about words which we find VERY DIFFICULT to explain with words in OUR own language, without using our hands...
There is one in Spanish: FOFO... its translation is difficult...
ITS EXPLANATION IN SPANISH WITHOUT USING YOUR HANDS IS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT!!!!
Argentinos saludos, Aurora
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what a beautiful word FOFO. You must try to explain, please, ti prego!
Patrizia
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Aurora Humarán
Argentina
Local time: 12:13
English to Spanish
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| | Reply to Patricia | May 6, 2002 |
I´ll do this. I´ll send you a picture of the gesture!!!! (for you to understand what fofo means...)
email me at: ahumaran@argenbank.com if you like!
Regards from Buenos Aires, Aurora
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Aurora Humarán
Argentina
Local time: 12:13
English to Spanish
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| | Reply to Patricia | May 9, 2002 |
Ciao!
Beh, ho tentato con tutte le fotografie ma niente piú ridicolo che
congelare un gesto. Dovrei dimostrare a te movendo le mani. Se qualche
volta tu vieni in Argentina o puó darsi che Io vada in Italia ci troviamo
per predere un caffe e ti faccio vedere.
Ho fatto una inchiesta tra conoscenti (la maggior parte di loro si dedica a
argomenti vincolati alla comunicazione) ed ho chiesto a loro di describere
la parola \"Fofo\".
Tutti hanno risposto prima col gesto.. dopo hanno chiesto un pó di tempo
per pensare.
Ecco qui le parole che in genere sembrano di describere in meglio il
termine \"fofa\".
Aggiungo anche la definizione che viene data dal \"Vocabolario della Lingua
Spagnola della RAE\".
Ti ripetto quando dici questa parola sempre uno ricorre alle mani. Sará per
quel sentimento (italiano) cosí forte che abbiamo gli argentini chi lo sa!
Morbido, senza forma, senza tonicitá, spognoso, senza consistenza.
Saluti da Buenos Aires,
Aurora
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