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rich, if not always happy

English translation: its history has sad periods / events

12:49 Mar 9, 2008
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: rich, if not always happy
What's meant by "if not always happy?" How can "heritage" be not always happy?

the context talks about liverpool:

England’s fourth largest city has a fascinating history – a rich, if not always happy heritage. Wealth rolled in during the 18th century on the back of the brutal slave trade, with this great port forming the apex of the tragic triangular route between Africa, the West Indies and Europe. By the early 19th century, 40 percent of the world’s trade was passing through Liverpool, helping to explain why there are so many grand Georgian houses here.
Abdelmonem Samir
Local time: 19:00
Selected answer:its history has sad periods / events
Explanation:
heritage can be considered similar to history here and certain periods or events which have taken place are sad...

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Note added at 6 mins (2008-03-09 12:55:50 GMT)
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in other words, Liverpool has had a varied and colourful history but events e.g. decline of its shipbuilding industries, the Hillsborough disaster, relative deprivation etc. mean that it has not had a singularly 'successful' history
Selected response from:

PoveyTrans (X)
Local time: 18:00
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +16its history has sad periods / events
PoveyTrans (X)
5the source of wealth was not smt. pleasing all the time
Cagdas Karatas
4rich, not always bright/lucky/fortunate
Óscar Delgado Gosálvez


  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
the source of wealth was not smt. pleasing all the time


Explanation:
brutal slave trade makes it clear :)

Cagdas Karatas
Türkiye
Local time: 20:00
Native speaker of: Turkish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: I'm not at all sure that "heritage" means "source of wealth" here, but I think you make an EXTREMELY good point about slavery! Omit "source of wealth" and rephrase, and I'd give you a BIG agree!
3 mins
  -> Thanks Carol, but my explanation was intended to refer to the whole passage, not to the word "heritage" only.
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2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +16
its history has sad periods / events


Explanation:
heritage can be considered similar to history here and certain periods or events which have taken place are sad...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 mins (2008-03-09 12:55:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

in other words, Liverpool has had a varied and colourful history but events e.g. decline of its shipbuilding industries, the Hillsborough disaster, relative deprivation etc. mean that it has not had a singularly 'successful' history

PoveyTrans (X)
Local time: 18:00
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 40
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jack Doughty: Still, as they say, riches may not make you happy but at least they enable you to be miserable in comfort.
5 mins
  -> Spasibo - I think I am in the wrong professoin then!
agree  Carol Gullidge: with the important addition of Çagdas Karatas' point about the slave trade...
6 mins
  -> Yes, good point Carol
agree  Cagdas Karatas
9 mins
  -> Thanks, a good point you make too
agree  NancyLynn
20 mins
  -> Thanks Nancy
agree  Beatriz Galiano (X)
48 mins
  -> Thanks Beatriz
agree  David Moore (X)
53 mins
  -> Thanks David
agree  Patricia Townshend (X)
57 mins
  -> Thanks Patricia
agree  PB Trans
5 hrs
  -> Thanks Pina
agree  Cristina Santos
9 hrs
  -> Thanks Christina
agree  Deborah Workman
12 hrs
  -> Thanks
agree  orientalhorizon
12 hrs
  -> Thanks
agree  Phong Le
13 hrs
  -> Thanks Phong
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
17 hrs
  -> Thanks Marju
agree  kmtext: Rich can refer to money and culture. Liverpool blends a diverse mixture of people, so from an arts and musical perspective, it has a lot of different cultures from which to draw inspiration. There are also portions of its history of which it is not proud.
19 hrs
  -> Thanks km
agree  Vicky Nash
21 hrs
  -> Thanks Vicky
agree  V_Nedkov
1 day 2 hrs
  -> Thanks
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
rich, not always bright/lucky/fortunate


Explanation:
I think bright here is clearer than happy.

Óscar Delgado Gosálvez
United States
Local time: 13:00
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
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