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#Post#: 9120--------------------------------------------------
More than words
By: Allie Date: November 13, 2018, 4:34 am
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No, no, not 90's the ballad.
Every language is rich, we know that, but sometimes don't you
feel like you can't find words to say what you want in a certain
language?
Recently I was talking and I said "Estou com muito no meu prato"
("I have too much on my plate"). Problem is, we don't really say
that in Portuguese.
Of course there are also expressions and words in Portuguese
that don't really have a translation in English (or other
languages).
The classical example is "saudades", but I prefer "chupa essa
manga" ("suck this mango"), which is a senseless thing we say
before something unexpected or "nossa!" (literally "our", but it
can be translated as "Gosh!")
Does it happen to you? Do you have examples?
#Post#: 9358--------------------------------------------------
Re: More than words
By: Alharacas Date: November 19, 2018, 7:41 am
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All the time, Allie.
There are some words and names I always have difficulties with
for some reason, for example the three North African countries -
there's Morocco, Tunisia and... and... it's NOT Argentina, I
know that, duh. It's Ar.. Arg... Argelia in Spanish, which is
something, but I really can never ever remember the right word
in any other language.
And the other hard Italian cheese you can grate over pasta, not
Parmesan, Parmigiano, no, it's... it also starts with a "P", but
it comes from Sardinia, it's... Pecorino!
And then there are the words which don't really have an
equivalent in other languages. The Spanish "chapuzero" is a
builder who does shoddy, sloppy work. The German Stümper does
not convey the same idea, as it implies somebody incapable of
doing things right, not just being careless or in a rush. "una
chapuzería" is Pfusch in German, but Pfuscher is used to refer
to a quack doctor, so...
"Procrastination" and "to procrastinate" is another good example
- no German equivalent for those. Trödeln means "to take more
time than necessary", while aufschieben just means to defer (an
activity), neither implies that you're replacing one activity
with another. Which is probably why there are almost 50.000
results for prokrastinieren by now. ;)
#Post#: 9360--------------------------------------------------
Re: More than words
By: the lost minion Date: November 19, 2018, 7:47 am
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Well, I do feel we lack an equivalent of "full of sh*t" in
Polish. I would use it a lot. Sadly, in Polish, I am forced to
come up with wordy descriptions to convey the same meaning -
which in English is so beautifully expressed in just three
words.
And literal translation of English idioms is one of my favourite
pastimes when talking to friends who also speak English.
#Post#: 9366--------------------------------------------------
Re: More than words
By: Allie Date: November 19, 2018, 1:19 pm
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@Alharacas, you have no idea how satisfying it is to hear you
saying German doesn’t have a word for something.
German seems to have such a huge vocabulary (especially
considering the fact you can add suffixes to add another layer
of meaning to a word and create words by merging who knows how
many words together)
@Marmolada, that’s cool too.
I used to do the same in Portuguese.
I like “full of shit”
One of my favorite expressions in Portuguese that can’t be
translated actually uses this word. A close translation would be
“I don’t give a shit” but in Portuguese it just sounds so much
worse. I don’t even use this expression that much, but it’s just
a level of could not care less lost in translation.
But I suppose there are many words in Polish with no equivalent
in English
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