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Treat Like a Mushroom?

kelle poolt jkph00, 25. jaanuar 2013

Postitused: 26

Keel: English

jkph00 (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 13:51.19

In American English the phrase "to treat like a mushroom" means "to keep in the dark" about what is going on and "to feed crap" for the same reason. Is there a colorful Esperanto equivalent? Would the phrase trakti kiel fungon work?

Thanks again! ridulo.gif

EldanarLambetur (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 14:47.39

"Treat like a mushroom", in my book, means to push to the edge and avoid with distaste lango.gif

Truthfully, although that saying pleases me, I'd never heard it before, and wouldn't have guessed its meaning!

How about "malinformadi" as a neat literal thing ("to actively keep uninformed" ).

I can't think of an internationally known thing to treat someone as, that implies that they are kept in the dark. Is "keep in the dark" very international itself?

tommjames (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 15:19.57

I'm pretty sure that "trakti kiel fungon" would not be readily understood by most speakers who don't have that idiom in their native language. For "keep him in the dark", which means to withhold information from him, I would say "kaŝi de li la veron/faktojn/informojn" or something along that line.

Breto (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 16:52.34

I have to agree with our British friends. I speak American English myself, and I've never heard that phrase before, nor would I have ever guessed what it meant if you hadn't explained it outright. I have to imagine the speakers of other languages would have a similar problem.

RiotNrrd (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 17:21.22

It's actually more of a joke than an idiom.

Q: Why is working for [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE] like being a mushroom?
A: Because they do nothing but keep you in the dark and throw sh*t on you.

So, as an isolated statement, I don't think it will work. Many people haven't heard the joke, and so won't know what you're talking about.

But as a fully presented joke, I think it probably translates just fine.

Vespero_ (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 17:49.45

I've never heard this phrase before, so I don't really know.

Tempodivalse (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 19:48.38

I would advise against using idioms in Esperanto that clearly should not be interpreted literally. I, for one, am a native English speaker, and I would not understand this idiom even in English without some explanatory context, much less in Esperanto.

I suggest instead using something along the lines of "ne sciigi iun pri" or "kaŝi de iu pri", although that certainly lacks the humorous "punch" of a direct translation. (Sorry to be so boring! ridulo.gif )

jchthys (Näita profiili) 25. jaanuar 2013 20:06.40

I also (a native speaker of US English) didn't get the idiom. Depending on the subject material, it could be translated using a pedestrian kaŝi de li la veron, or as trakti lin kiel fungon, laŭ la ŝerco—with a footnote explaining the joke.

jkph00 (Näita profiili) 26. jaanuar 2013 15:46.55

jchthys:I also (a native speaker of US English) didn't get the idiom. Depending on the subject material, it could be translated using a pedestrian kaŝi de li la veron, or as trakti lin kiel fungon, laŭ la ŝerco—with a footnote explaining the joke.
My warmest thanks to all of you for the wonderful suggestions. I've already started making use of them.

We here in the Southern Usono use many such expressions. Being "treated like a mushroom" is heard especially often in occupied Virginia because of its unfortunate proximity to Washington, DC. The professional denizens of the city seem to make every possible effort to treat us like mushrooms. Oh, we Southerners have another expression often used in reference to politicians: "If his lips are moving, he's lying." How would I best express that one?

While I'm asking, is there a colorful Esperanto equivalent for the expression "not the happiest seed on the strawberry?"

Dankon denove! ridulo.gif

Tempodivalse (Näita profiili) 26. jaanuar 2013 15:59.01

Southerners have another expression used in reference to politicians: "If his lips are moving, he's lying." How would I best express that one?
If you can interpret it literally and still grasp the intended meaning, then you can probably make a literal translation safely. In this case, "Se liaj lipoj moviĝas, li mensogas" should be straightforward enough.
While I'm asking, is there a colorful Esperanto equivalent for the expression "not the happiest seed on the strawberry?"
I can't think of a commonly-used one. I might translate this as "ne la plej feliĉa homo/persono en la grupo [or other appropriate noun]". If surrounding context is clear, you might get away with a literal translation like "ne la plej feliĉa semo sur la frago", but it's better to assume that your audience is not familiar with whatever idiom you're using.

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