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Es genügt nicht Recht zu haben, man muss es auch bekommen

English translation: Being right is not enough, you have to be seen to be right

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	Es genügt nicht Recht zu haben, man muss es auch bekommen
English translation:	Being right is not enough, you have to be seen to be right
Entered by:	Douglas Arnott

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20:09 May 4, 2009

German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Law (general) / saying

German term or phrase: Es genügt nicht Recht zu haben, man muss es auch bekommen

This comes from a general text about law firms working in CEE, and discusses the situation in those countries for western law firms.

Douglas Arnott KudoZ activity Questions: 309 (none open) (13 closed without grading) Answers: 81
Local time: 14:40

Being right is not enough, getting justice is what counts

Explanation:
A less accurate alternative, but one that would keep the repetition of the original, would be 'It's not enough to be right, you have to be seen to be right'

Selected response from:

Anne-Marie Grant
Local time: 13:40

Grading comment

I went for your alternative in the end, thanks.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +10

Being right is not enough. You also have to win your case.

Paul Cohen

3 +3

Being right is not enough, getting justice is what counts

Anne-Marie Grant

3 +1

It's not enough to be right; you need to win your rights, too

lirka

Not only you need to be right , but you need to find someone who admits you are

emilia de paola

Being right is not enough, unless you can get justice.

Veronika McLaren

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

28 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +10

Being right is not enough. You also have to win your case.

Explanation:
For starters...

A cynical alternative, just for fun: Being right is not enough. You also have to prove that the other guy is wrong!!!

Paul Cohen
Greenland
Local time: 10:40
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 52

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Johanna Timm, PhD: You're too fast! Here's what I had: "Being right is not enough. You've gotta/need to prove it in court, as well!

4 mins

-> "You also need to prove it in court." Nice. We'll let the judge/jury decide!

agree

Veronika McLaren

5 mins

agree

Anne-Marie Grant: very good!

7 mins

-> Thanks, Anne-Marie ;-)

agree

CArcher

18 mins

agree

writeaway: legal eagle in the making?

27 mins

-> a para-legal beagle mutt is more like it

agree

Ingeborg Gowans: also with Johanna's idea

34 mins

agree

Bernhard Sulzer: being right is one thing, getting/receiving agrees/agreement another. :)

44 mins

-> Or: It's not enough to get loads of agrees. You also have to be right.

agree

Textklick: Yes. I fear that justice per se is not meant here, but rather achieving the decision that you are fighting for. Added: Precisely.

1 hr

-> We are talking about solicitors, after all.

neutral

lirka: I am not a German native, so it is possible that I am missing the nuance, but I think that the second part is about the need to assert one's rights not about proving your case in court

1 hr

-> How do we assert our rights in a country with the rule of law? We go to court. And, at least from a lawyer's perspective, we're only "right" if we manage to win our case. That's what "recht bekommen" means.

agree

Cilian O'Tuama: you also have to be deemed right

1 hr

-> Right, indeed! ;-)

agree

hazmatgerman: As to German intent, having your field day in court is what counts rather than self-assertiveness. And implicitly acknowledging procedural, formal and financial hurdles while getting there. Regards.

9 hrs

-> "having your field day in court" - exactement, mon cher!

32 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

Being right is not enough, getting justice is what counts

Explanation:
A less accurate alternative, but one that would keep the repetition of the original, would be 'It's not enough to be right, you have to be seen to be right'

Anne-Marie Grant
Local time: 13:40
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 13

Grading comment

I went for your alternative in the end, thanks.

33 mins confidence:

Being right is not enough, unless you can get justice.

Explanation:
Or pursuing rights...
A more liberal interpretation with a more literal translation?

Veronika McLaren
Local time: 08:40
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 20

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

It's not enough to be right; you need to win your rights, too

Explanation:
basically it says that it's not enough to be right, but that one needs to assert one's rights as well....I do not think that it is about winning cases...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-05-04 21:54:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think it is about the western firms having due rights in the non-western climate :)

lirka
Austria
Local time: 08:40
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Slovenian

26 mins confidence:

Not only you need to be right , but you need to find someone who admits you are

Explanation:
I think this is a famous aphorism invented by the Italian former Minister Giulio Andreotti:

Non basta aver ragione, bisogna anche trovare qualcuno che te la dia (for those who understand Italian...)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2009-05-05 06:19:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I am not a German or English native so something may be wrong with my translation, but as the original saying was born in Italy, I can surely say it has nothing to do with winning cases in court or asserting one's right, it exactly means it is not enough being right, there must be someone who recognizes you are right, who realizes you are right, who admits you are right, otherwise anyone of us can think to be right in one's own mind, even mad or stupid or unreasonable people....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2009-05-05 13:13:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Risultati di ricerca
Giulio Andreotti • Non basta avere ragione: bisogna avere anche ...
La pagina mostra la citazione di un aforisma di Giulio Andreotti; codice 12608; sono inoltre presenti brevi informazioni biografiche dell'autore.
aforismi.meglio.it/aforisma.htm?id=4a3a - 27k -

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day15 hrs (2009-05-06 12:01:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This link opens it better for those ones who are interested!

http://aforismi.studenti.it/aforisma.htm?id=4a3a

emilia de paola
Italy
Local time: 14:40
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Italian
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

lirka: I also thought along those lines, with a slight modification of the second part

1 hr

neutral

Paul Cohen: I have to admit that something may have been lost in translation. ;-)

2 hrs

-> Who admits you are right, of course. At least I have the merit of having been the first to understand the sense of the sentence : )

neutral

Andrew Swift: I doubt whether Giulio Andreotti was the first person to formulate this sentiment in an aphorism.

16 hrs

-> I am not completely sure, too, of course, but there 's a lot on the web confirming it. See my last note, I reported a link, but it is in Italian..

neutral

Cilian O'Tuama: but it's more than finding "someone" - you need a consensus

1 day1 hr

-> pleaseee, stop crucifying meee...Obviously 'someone' is symbolic for something general and, as I said, I made reference to the Italian saying which says 'qualcuno' (someone) but I step off and leave the confrontation to you all!

neutral

Colin Rowe: Many thanks for providing the interesting Italian quotation :-)

1 day12 hrs

-> Thanks to you, Colin!

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Es genügt nicht Recht zu haben, man muss es auch bekommen

English translation: Being right is not enough, you have to be seen to be right

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Es genügt nicht Recht zu haben, man muss es auch bekommen

English translation: Being right is not enough, you have to be seen to be right

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Answers

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ProZ.com ideas

KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.