cute / clever

Afrikaans translation: oulik/slim

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	cute / clever
Afrikaans translation:	oulik/slim
Entered by:	Lorena Vallejos

00:40 Sep 18, 2008

English to Afrikaans translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

English term or phrase: cute / clever

Hi, could you please help me out with these expressions. I need to make sure how a native Afrikaans speaker would say them (colloquially). It's a dialogue in which a given character mixes Afrikaans (the words between brackets) and English when speaking.

Thanks so much!
(I'm not working on a translation; it's just a story which includes little bits of Afrikaans.)

1. [Such cute] furry creatures...but you shouldn't be deceived...[They are so cute], yeah sure!

2. [You are so clever] or [How clever] (said sarcastically, a bit rudely when someone does something obviously foolish; something like "you couldn't be any smarter")

My (very feeble) attempt:

1. So oulik furry creatures...but you shouldn't be deceived...Hulle is baie oulik, yeah sure!

2. Jy is te slim...(This definitely doesn't sound right, does it?)

Lorena Vallejos KudoZ activity Questions: 7 (none open) Answers: 83 Bolivia
Local time: 12:02

oulik/slim

Explanation:
1. "sulke oulike" furry creatures as opposed to "So oulik"
2."Jy is te slim" is a hundred percent correct. You can also consider calling a person a "slim Jan" which is similar to calling someone a smarty pants.

Also be aware that colloquially a lot of Afrikaners use the word "cute" as is.

Hope this helps ;)

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Note added at 8 hrs (2008-09-18 09:09:04 GMT)
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Hi, it is correct to say that, but have a look at these two sentences and decide which is best for you,

a. "Hulle is baie oulik" translates to "they are very cute"
b. "Hulle is so oulik" translates to "they are so cute"

As in English, both sentences can be used in the same context, and both will mean pretty much the same, and have the same effect.

Selected response from:

Julian Pereira (X)
South Africa
Local time: 18:02

Grading comment

Thank you very much, Julian.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +5

oulik/slim

Julian Pereira (X)

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

oulik/slim

Julian Pereira (X)
South Africa
Local time: 18:02
Native speaker of:

English,

Afrikaans
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thank you very much, Julian.

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