Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
time and tide wait for no man
Greek translation:
οι καιροί ου μενετοί
Added to glossary by
Hellinas
Jul 26, 2011 18:47
13 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
time and tide wait for no man
Non-PRO
English to Greek
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
proverb
The meaning is pretty obvious: The tide does not wait for you to be prepared before it ebbs or flows, and time does not stop while you do what you want to do first. Whether one is ready for it or not, the tide comes in and goes out, and time continues on.
Proposed translations
(Greek)
| 4 | οι καιροί ου μενετοί |
Nick Lingris
|
| 4 +1 | ο χρόνος και το κύμα κυλάνε και δεν μας περιμένουν |
Carol Molter
|
Proposed translations
33 mins
Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in Greek
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
The word is my oyster
Native in: Greek 
Works in: English to Greek, Greek to English, Greek
Related KudoZ points
:
44
Selected
οι καιροί ου μενετοί
μενετός -ή -ό [menetós] E1 : μόνο στη (λόγ.) ΦP οι καιροί ου μενετοί, για να δηλώσουμε ότι δεν υπάρχουν περιθώρια αναβολής αλλά είναι αναγκαίο να δράσουμε αμέσως. [λόγ. < αρχ. μενετός, αρχ. φρ. οἱ καιροί οὑ μενετοί 'οι ευκαιρίες δεν περιμένουν']
http://www.komvos.edu.gr/dictonlineplsql/simple_search.displ...
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Note added at 4 days (2011-07-31 11:25:47 GMT) Post-grading
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Neither is very common in spoken Greek. Οι καιροί ου μενετοί cannot be colloquial, as the meaning of μενετοί is not known from everyday Greek. In spoken Greek we will probably say something simple like "Ο χρόνος δεν περιμένει", "Ο χρόνος περνά και δεν περιμένει".
http://www.komvos.edu.gr/dictonlineplsql/simple_search.displ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2011-07-31 11:25:47 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Neither is very common in spoken Greek. Οι καιροί ου μενετοί cannot be colloquial, as the meaning of μενετοί is not known from everyday Greek. In spoken Greek we will probably say something simple like "Ο χρόνος δεν περιμένει", "Ο χρόνος περνά και δεν περιμένει".
Note from asker:
| Have you ever heard the expression mentioned above viz. θέρος, τρύγος, πόλεμος. Thanks for the note. So Carol is more idiomatic and intelligible it seems. |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I should have recognised this quote from Thucydides. It is spot on for what i wanted. I also asked about θέρος, τρύγος, πόλεμος. Is it common? Thank you Carol but am I right in saying that, although your translation makes admirable sense it is not proverbial in the same way that Nick's is. Of course I may be wrong. Thanks to all."
+1
10 mins
Carol Molter
Native in Greek
Flawless translations
Native in: French 
, Greek
Works in: English to French, Greek to French
ο χρόνος και το κύμα κυλάνε και δεν μας περιμένουν
ή
ο χρόνος και το κύμα κυλάνε χωρίς να μας περιμένουν
ο χρόνος και το κύμα κυλάνε χωρίς να μας περιμένουν
Discussion