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een luis in de pels

English translation: a thorn in one\'s side


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Dutch term or phrase:een luis in de pels
English translation:a thorn in one\'s side
Entered by: Jacqueline Sieben
Options:
- Contribute to this entry
- Include in personal glossary

18:03 May 29, 2010
Dutch to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / wetenschappelijk artikel
Dutch term or phrase: een luis in de pels
Hij is een luis in de pels en iemand met aanzien en daarom ook een voorbeeld.
Jacqueline Sieben
Local time: 07:30
a thorn in one's side
Explanation:
........

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Note added at 16 mins (2010-05-29 18:19:54 GMT)
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a gadfly - "Gadfly" is a term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or just being an irritant.
Selected response from:

Verginia Ophof
Belize
Local time: 23:30
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1a thorn in one's side
Verginia Ophof
3a burr under the saddle
Hermeneutica
Summary of reference entries provided
just A FEW examplesBarend van Zadelhoff

Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
a thorn in one's side


Explanation:
........

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2010-05-29 18:19:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

a gadfly - "Gadfly" is a term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or just being an irritant.

Verginia Ophof
Belize
Local time: 23:30
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for the gadfly!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: as always there is 0000 context (highly secret translation apparently) but how does your suggestion tie in with the rest: en iemand met aanzien en daarom ook een voorbeeld.
9 mins
  -> He is a gadfly and a prominent person (Highly respected) and therefore an example. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Socrates_referred_to_as_a_g...
agree  Barend van Zadelhoff: also thorn in the flesh / the source seems to be 2 Cor 12: 7 - 10 / the figurative thorn in his flesh made Paul more perfect / to be a "luis in de pels" generally has a positive meaning
35 mins
  -> Thank you Barend van Zadelhoff !
neutral  Carolyn Gille: JA!! You're right! Sorry (past my bed time!) I think 'gadfly sums up the the idiom very well.
3 hrs
  -> Carolyn, I believe you are refering to my response to Writeaway ?
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16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
a burr under the saddle


Explanation:
I am assuming that this is the same as "Laus im Pelz" in German, then
dict.cc | burr | Wörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch - [ Traduire cette page ]idiom to have a burr under one's saddle · eine Laus im Pelz haben [fig.] » Weitere 1 Übersetzungen für burr innerhalb von Kommentaren ...
www.dict.cc/?s=burr - En cache

Something a bit like a thorn in the side of ... [context]?

English definition:
Urban Dictionary: burr under the saddle - [ Traduire cette page ]burr under the saddle - 1 definition - an annoyance or irritation.
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term... - En cache

Hermeneutica
Local time: 07:30
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: assuming that Dutch and German mean the same thing can lead to probs. this too is negative-how does it tie in with the rest of mysterious sentence?
7 mins
  -> It can, but it needn't; and it would mean that the person is, as Verginia says, a gadfly; and that being somebody with some prestige or standing, then they could also be an example, a role model, and all the more pesky if such influence is not desired.
neutral  Carolyn Gille: I agree that this might be too negative.
3 hrs
  -> What is it that might be too negative?? I mean, did you read what I wrote in response to writeaway?
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Reference comments


5 hrs
Reference: just A FEW examples

Reference information:
role of the press:

While the scrutiny of the press was not always welcome, it is a fundamental and necessary part of any society whose government and institutions purport to be accountable. Is it not the press’s role to be a THORN IN THE SIDE of the authorities, at every level of society? UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova asked.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10394

rol van de pers

Eén van mijn persoonlijke boegbeelden van de vorige eeuw, Walter Cronkite (92), is onlangs in New York overleden. Zijn naam staat gelijk aan integriteit, betrouwbaarheid en een vermogen tot kritische (zelf)reflectie. Hij werd niet altijd gewaardeerd door beleidsmakers en bestuurders en werd soms zelfs openbaar tegengewerkt. Maar, zoals het een goede LUIS IN DE PELS betaamd, stond hij altijd met de juiste vragen klaar om de antwoorden te verkrijgen.

kritisch ondervragen

‘Wij hebben geen last van de ambtenaren, zij hebben juist te weinig last van wetenschappers. Wat ontbreekt is de LUIS IN DE PELS. Wetenschappers moeten hun stem verheffen. Zoals de Landelijke Studentenvakbond de LUIS IN DE PELS is bij de politiek en onderwijsinstellingen, zo zouden wetenschappers ook een bond voor hun belangen moeten vormen.’

http://www.folia.nl/nieuws/wetenschap-ontbeert-luis-in-de-pe...

If a single person deserves the title of serial THORN IN THE SIDE of the Israeli state, Uri Davis, a professor of critical Israel studies at al-Quds University on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, might be the one to claim it.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10727.shtml

Still, she always took great pride in her role as a THORN IN THE SIDE of an unjust system. I interviewed her extensively for my book “Rivonia’s Children,” about the rise of the apartheid police state, and on that last visit she introduced me at a book talk in Johannesburg. She beamed as I read a passage about her lonely stand against the other lawmakers in Parliament. “They never knew what hit them,” she told the audience.

http://glennfrankel.com/blog/2009/01/02/a-thorn-in-the-side-...

ETC.

Barend van Zadelhoff
Netherlands
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
PRO pts in category: 12
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