souq al-amthaal

English translation: To quote or give an example or a proverb

19:51 Jan 21, 2002
Arabic to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary
Arabic term or phrase: souq al-amthaal
"wa hadahi laysat li-mujarad tanaddur wa souq al-amthaal."

From an opinion article. "and this is not merely joking and -----(the like?).
Naseem
English translation:To quote or give an example or a proverb
Explanation:
This is pronounced like (Sawk-ul Amthal), (سوق الأمثال). The root verb of Sawk is (Saka), and in this context it means to give an example. Al-Amthal either means "examples", or also "sayings, proverbs". The singular is Mathal (مَثَل).

In Arabic, you say Saka Mathalan, or Dharaba Mathalan, which means (Give an example).
Selected response from:

Nabil Baradey
Local time: 17:47
Grading comment
Thank you, Nabil. I was vacillating between the two vocalization options (souq - market, sawq - trading), and thought that the former could be part of some established expression that I was ignorant of; this clears things up.

Naseem
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3To quote or give an example or a proverb
Nabil Baradey
4 +2Drawing parables
Alaa Zeineldine
4 +1Proverb Bazaar
Mona Helal
4 +1More connotations!
Nabil Baradey


  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
To quote or give an example or a proverb


Explanation:
This is pronounced like (Sawk-ul Amthal), (سوق الأمثال). The root verb of Sawk is (Saka), and in this context it means to give an example. Al-Amthal either means "examples", or also "sayings, proverbs". The singular is Mathal (مَثَل).

In Arabic, you say Saka Mathalan, or Dharaba Mathalan, which means (Give an example).

Nabil Baradey
Local time: 17:47
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in pair: 26
Grading comment
Thank you, Nabil. I was vacillating between the two vocalization options (souq - market, sawq - trading), and thought that the former could be part of some established expression that I was ignorant of; this clears things up.

Naseem

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Fuad Yahya: The key term here is SOWQ, explained by Nabil. The opinion piece was probably unvowelized.
7 hrs

agree  AhmedAMS
10 days

agree  Saleh Ayyub
31 days
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Proverb Bazaar


Explanation:
OR
Proverb Market

OR
Proverb Club

OR
Proverb Forum

Meaning a market/bazaar/forum/club where people exchange 'proverbs' and compete which one is the rarest and so on. I'm assuming of course that it's a proverbial place.

If that's the intended meaning then the above are my suggestions.

HTH



Mona Helal
Local time: 00:47
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 565

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AhmedAMS
10 days
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Drawing parables


Explanation:
In this context amthaal probably means parables rather than proverbs. A suggested translation of the phrase could be:

".. and this is not merely for telling tales nor for drawing parables".

Regards,

Alaa


    Reference: http://dictionary.ajeeb.com/idrisidic_1.asp?Site=0&Src_L=ara...
Alaa Zeineldine
Egypt
Local time: 15:47
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 431

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Salah Maduh: drawing parables OR drawing analogies
8 hrs

agree  AhmedAMS
10 days
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1 day 1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
More connotations!


Explanation:
Well, I think I should have added that Sawk-ul Amthal acquires, sometimes, a jocular or metaphorical meaning in old Arabic, bordering on the idea of boastful nonsense.

Jarir, the old Ummayyad satirist poet, once lashed at a fellow poet who was from the Tribe of Taghlib. Attacking the tribe, as they used to do, the famous line goes like this:

والتغلبي إذا تنحنح للقِرى حكَّ استهُ وتمثَّل الأمثالا

Here the phrase (تمثل الأمثالا) is just like (Saka Al Amthala), but it implies that the man started talking nonsense just to evade feeding his guest! The context of your original sentence supports this sort of connotation.

Nabil Baradey
Local time: 17:47
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in pair: 26

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AhmedAMS
9 days
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