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This question was closed without grading. Reason: No acceptable answer
Nov 12, 2007 11:39
16 yrs ago
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English term

Seeking an English idiom

English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Greetings,

There is a saying in Turkish "Bana dokunmayan yılan bin yaşasın", which literally means "Long may the snake live, which would never bite me for all I care! (or "The snake that doesn't touch me can live a thousand years for all I care". I am looking for the closest equivalent to this saying in English. Many Thanks
Responses
3 +1 Let sleeping dogs lie
3 Out of sight, out of mind.
2 live and let live
Change log

Nov 12, 2007 11:44: Fabio Descalzi changed "Term asked" from "idiom" to "Bana dokunmayan yılan bin yaşasın" , "Language pair" from "English" to "Turkish to English" , "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"

Nov 12, 2007 16:09: Mehmet Hascan changed "Language pair" from "Turkish to English" to "English"

Nov 12, 2007 17:29: Özden Arıkan changed "Term asked" from "Bana dokunmayan yılan bin yaşasın" to "Seeking an English idiom"

Nov 12, 2007 22:05: Ali Bayraktar changed "Language pair" from "English" to "Turkish to English"

Nov 13, 2007 10:00: Mehmet Hascan changed "Language pair" from "Turkish to English" to "English"

Discussion

Mehmet Hascan (asker) Nov 14, 2007:
Thanks Ken. Actually, I couldn't find any date shown for the proverb in the googlebooks.
Ken Cox Nov 13, 2007:
sources, and thus were by no means eqivalent to the Dutch sayings, even if they might express the same meaning. IMO English does not have anywhere near the wealth of proverbial expressions in common use as some other languages and cultures.
Ken Cox Nov 13, 2007:
I was very keen to see what it had to offer. The Dutch/German equvalents were fairly good, and French I couldn't judge, but I was appalled and dismayed to see that the vast majority of the English sayings originated from 18th- and 19th-century literary...
Ken Cox Nov 13, 2007:
Did you check the date shown for the proverb in the googlebooks reference for 'the stone that lieth not...'? When I was learning Dutch, which uses lots of figurative experssions, I once found a multilingual book of sayings in a bookshop, and naturally...
Mehmet Hascan (asker) Nov 13, 2007:
Could "The stone that lieth not in your way need not offend you." be what I am looking for? http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=...
Mehmet Hascan (asker) Nov 13, 2007:
I posted this question yesterday in ENG-ENG kudoz forum, NOT in Turkish-English. The meaning is that as long as I am not affected by something unpleasant etc., I don't mind at all. I only care for myself. many thanks
Ken Cox Nov 12, 2007:
Leaving aside the logic of insisting on posting what is essentially a Turkish>English translation question as English monolingual, IMO you need to explain the *figurative* meaning if you want any useful answers from people who don't understand Turkish.

Responses

6 hrs

live and let live

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for, Mehmet?
Note from asker:
Hi Nancy, The meaning is that as long as I am not affected by something unpleasant etc., I don't mind at all. I only care for myself. many thanks
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+1
6 hrs

Let sleeping dogs lie

This is the first one that I thought of. There may be others.

Let sleeping dogs lie - Meaning:
* If someone is told to let sleeping dogs lie, it means that they shouldn't disturb a situation as it would result in trouble or complications.
http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/let sleeping do...

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Note added at 6 hrs (2007-11-12 18:06:44 GMT)
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Here is a resource for English idioms:

Dictionary of English Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions
http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/
Note from asker:
Hi GWC - Claire, The meaning is that as long as I am not affected by something unpleasant etc., I don't mind at all. I only care for myself. many thanks
Peer comment(s):
agree Cilian O'Tuama : not bad for starters / or sth. along the lines of "I'm not opening that can of worms"?
3 hrs
Thank you, Cilian :-)
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20 hrs

Out of sight, out of mind.

This is the closest I can get to it in English. The meaning is that as long as I don't know about it, it doesn't concern me.

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Note added at 23 hrs (2007-11-13 11:38:36 GMT)
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That is not my understanding of this saying.
Imagine a city has a problem with homeless people sleeping in the main park and a lot of people complain about this. So the police move the rough sleepers to a less prominent place. The complaints stop because most people no longer see the problem This is a situation in which we can use "out of sight, out of mind". It doesn't necessarily have the implication of something which is a threat as the Turkish saying does, but as I said this is the closest I can come up with.

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Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2007-11-13 14:49:52 GMT)
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Theproblem for me is that I have never heard of such a proverb, and can only find a single mention of it on the web:
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:J7d8hFgizpYJ:www.giga-u...
Otherwise, if I think about the meaning, there is a very close correspondence.
Note from asker:
Hi Tim, "Out of sight, out of mind." is used to say sb will quickly be forgotten when they are no longer with you. However, I am looking for something which means "as long as I am not affected by something unpleasant etc., I don't mind at all. I only care for myself." many thanks
Thanks a million, Tim. Do you think the proverb "The stone that lieth not in your way need not offend you." convey the same meaning as the Turkish saying? I’d appreciate your input on this.
Thank you very much for your time and help. Regards
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