English translation: Reservations / Suggestions....
Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
08:08 Dec 3, 2011
English to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Other
English term or phrase:novenary
"A span New Year! A spotless slate on which to write your cravings and expectancies.
We wish you to hone your English attainments even further.
We hope your lore of the foreign language will be limitless.
And may Santa bestow upon thee only novenary in IELTS."
That's a New Year wish for students who are going to take IELTS. The best score is nine, so I wanted to use some fancy word and found "novenary". Is it possible to use it here? According to a dictionary it is "The number of nine units; nine, collectively", so it should be in singular, right? Or should I use the plural form?
Moreover, how does the whole wish sound? Too awful? Or do we have a light at the end of the tunnel?
Explanation: Span? A span New Year? What does this mean? I've never heard it before in my life.
Lore? It's not quite a synonym of "knowledge", I know you're trying to be poetic but I wouldn't go that far.
Novenary? Again, nice try, but even native speakers wouldn't understand that....
You'd be better trying to use some metaphors/idioms.
So.......
9 = "on cloud nine" - usually means being very very happy or elated, in your context it would have a double meaning (getting a 9 on the IELTS test and being happy).
Try doing something similar with "lore/knowledge" and sort "span" out and it will be alright.
"Expectations" would sound more natural to me here instead of "expectancies", but let the native speakers have their say. Agree with Jack and Ty on the others.
This is another archaic word which is indeed quite poetic but somehow grates on your ear when used like this. Not to mention that being a homophone of "Law" doesn't help. It really only exists as a suffix (Folklore) or in the phrase "The Lore of the......" (Land etc). It isn't impossible to use here, but I would advise against it personally.
"spick and span - Perhaps you've polished your car and it looked "spick and span" or maybe one day you were convinced to buy that new cleaning product on TV because you were assured that your kitchen would be "spick and span" after usage. The phrase is derived from two archaic words: spick, which was a spike or nail and span, which meant "wood chip." When a ship was polished and new, it was called "spick and span," meaning every nail and piece of wood was untarnished. The phrase originally meant "brand new" but is now used to indicate cleanliness." http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/articles_sayings.html
Oleksiy, I wouldn't go anywhere near "span". In Modern English, it doesn't mean "brand(new)" anymore. It only survives in the binomial "spick and span" and cannot be separated. In addition, the meaning has shifted from "brand(new)" to "clean". Something is described as "spick and span" if it is really clean. (There can be some crossover with "new" as most new things tend to be clean too) but I definitely wouldn't use it here. It sounds bizarre to say the least.
yes, I'm deliberately trying to use them.
as to span - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/span-new - I though I could use it as a synonym for "brand".
Thanks for the correction of "ye", I knew there is smth wrong with it.
Are you deliberately trying to use words which the students could not possibly know without looking them up? I find you are right about the meaning of novenary but I had never come across the word before.
In any case, you can't use "span" on its own in this way. "Spick and span" is a set expression which you could use, but "span" is never used on its own in this meaning.
"Thee" is the accusative form of the archaic word "Thou", which is singular. Your students are plural. If you are trying to be archaic here, you could use "ye" instead.
The light at the end of the tunnel may be on a train rushing towards you.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
Reservations / Suggestions....
Explanation: Span? A span New Year? What does this mean? I've never heard it before in my life.
Lore? It's not quite a synonym of "knowledge", I know you're trying to be poetic but I wouldn't go that far.
Novenary? Again, nice try, but even native speakers wouldn't understand that....
You'd be better trying to use some metaphors/idioms.
So.......
9 = "on cloud nine" - usually means being very very happy or elated, in your context it would have a double meaning (getting a 9 on the IELTS test and being happy).
Try doing something similar with "lore/knowledge" and sort "span" out and it will be alright.
Ty Kendall United Kingdom Local time: 03:08 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Ty, thanks again for your input =)
Notes to answerer
Asker: "On cloud nine", indeed, sounds awesome. Thanks for this great tip.
As to "span", see discussion and my answer to Jack.
As I know "lore" has the meaning "Knowledge acquired through education or experience" and it sounds fancier than knowledge. Again, that's my humble opinion. Do you as a native speaker have some other associations with "lore"?
Thanks once again!
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +4
