DuckFiasco:Here are some subtle idioms that are easy to miss. How would you translate these?

He's good at math.
She did well yesterday.
Things went well at the convention.
You did a good job with the kids.

Perhaps...
Li bonas je matematiko.
Ŝi faris bone hieraŭ.
La kongreso estis sukceso.
Vi bone traktis la knabojn.

The English language is indeed full of idiomatic customs, which people just have to remember. Make no mistake, Esperanto has them too. For instance, "as [adjective] as" is translated "kiel eble plej [adjective]" (for example "Mi decidis kuri tien kiel eble plej rapide."). It's hard to look for these kinds of idiomaticies when you're learning the language. You see, you can't find anything in the dictionary about the manner of saying something in some language. You just have to spot it in books or magazines etc. and figure it out. Lernu doesn't really provide such teachings.

You know, some kind of an online "idiom-bank" would be cool.

haydn:

The English language is indeed full of idiomatic customs, which people just have to remember. Make no mistake, Esperanto has them too. For instance, "as [adjective] as" is translated "kiel eble plej [adjective]" (for example "Mi decidis kuri tien kiel eble plej rapide."). It's hard to look for these kinds of idiomaticies when you're learning the language. You see, you can't find anything in the dictionary about the manner of saying something in some language. You just have to spot it in books or magazines etc. and figure it out. Lernu doesn't really provide such teachings.

You know, some kind of an online "idiom-bank" would be cool.

Now, this is solely from reading various learning materials, not through actual use, so I could be wrong, but I'd heard that "as [adjective] as" was translated as "tiel [adjective] kiel." Now, I'm a native English speaker, so it may be that I'm thinking in English too much, but I have trouble understanding "Mi decidis kuri tien kiel eble plej rapide." If you're right, and "kiel eble plej [adjective]" translates to "as [adjective] as" (its literal translation would be "how possibly most [adjective]/[adjective]-est," I think?), the sentence translates to "I decided to run there as fast as." Were you trying to say "I decided to run there as fast as I could"? If so, where is the second clause? Now, I can understand that idiom possibly meaning something like "as [adjective] as possible" (which would make the sentence you gave make sense), since it includes "eble" and all, but I don't quite see how it could be used in other "as [adjective] as" situations. How would you say "I'm not as fast as she (is)"?

Martin Luther, translator of the Bible into German, used to say (quoted by heart, therefore maybe not the exact words): "He who speaks German, should not use Hebrew style. Once he has understood the Hebrew text, he should think: What do Germans say in a situation like this?, and then try to express the idea in the best German he can."

The literal translation would be:

Mi estas ne tiel rapida kiel ŝi.

However, in spite of my being Catholic, I'd follow Luther's advice and I'd rather say:

Mi estas malpli rapida ol ŝi.

If you would allow me to give you a piece of unsolicited advice, try to avoid thinking in your mothertongue when you are writing or speaking in another one. Also, when reading or listening to something said in another language, try not to translate mentally into your birth language. Since languages are not a carbon copy of one another with just different words, this mental translation may be misleading, not to mention time consuming. Though at first thinking in the foreign language may seem to slow down your pace, believe me in the long run the effort will more than pay for itself.

Regards,

Daniel

sparksbet:

haydn:

The English language is indeed full of idiomatic customs, which people just have to remember. Make no mistake, Esperanto has them too. For instance, "as [adjective] as" is translated "kiel eble plej [adjective]" (for example "Mi decidis kuri tien kiel eble plej rapide."). It's hard to look for these kinds of idiomaticies when you're learning the language. You see, you can't find anything in the dictionary about the manner of saying something in some language. You just have to spot it in books or magazines etc. and figure it out. Lernu doesn't really provide such teachings.

You know, some kind of an online "idiom-bank" would be cool.

Now, this is solely from reading various learning materials, not through actual use, so I could be wrong, but I'd heard that "as [adjective] as" was translated as "tiel [adjective] kiel." Now, I'm a native English speaker, so it may be that I'm thinking in English too much, but I have trouble understanding "Mi decidis kuri tien kiel eble plej rapide." If you're right, and "kiel eble plej [adjective]" translates to "as [adjective] as" (its literal translation would be "how possibly most [adjective]/[adjective]-est," I think?), the sentence translates to "I decided to run there as fast as." Were you trying to say "I decided to run there as fast as I could"? If so, where is the second clause? Now, I can understand that idiom possibly meaning something like "as [adjective] as possible" (which would make the sentence you gave make sense), since it includes "eble" and all, but I don't quite see how it could be used in other "as [adjective] as" situations. How would you say "I'm not as fast as she (is)"?

How would you translate into Esperanto "use it or lose it"?

"Uzu ĝin aŭ perdu ĝin" doesn't satisfy me. It means the same but it lacks the appeal of the English expression.

BTW, I also don't know how to translate this into a similarly appealing Spanish phrase.

But the fact that I can't do it, doesn't mean that it can't be done.

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

danielcg:How would you translate into Esperanto "use it or lose it"?

"Uzu ĝin aŭ perdu ĝin" doesn't satisfy me.

How about: Uzu aŭ perdu ĝin

danielcg:BTW, I also don't know how to translate this into a similarly appealing Spanish phrase.

I would translate it in Spanish as: "úsalo o piérdelo".

BoriQa:

danielcg:How would you translate into Esperanto "use it or lose it"?

"Uzu ĝin aŭ perdu ĝin" doesn't satisfy me.

How about: Uzu aŭ perdu ĝin

danielcg:BTW, I also don't know how to translate this into a similarly appealing Spanish phrase.

I would translate it in Spanish as: "úsalo o piérdelo".

These are correct translations, yet IMHO they fall short of the appealing simplicity of the English idiom, which by the simple change of one phoneme shows the drastical difference of result when you use something or when you let it rust.

Perhaps it is unavoidable to lose something in between. Italians say "traduttore, tradittore" (translator, traitor) and I think they are right at least to a degree (and yet another example of an idiom which loses some of its appeal when translated).

Lest we consider us inferior, here you have a pun in Spanish, hard to translate into English:

La diferencia entre hardware y software se reduce a una sola letra: si puedes patearlo cuando no funciona, es hardware; si solamente puedes putearlo, es software.

The difference between hardware and software boils down to just one letter: if you can kick it ("patearlo" ) when it malfunctions, then it's hardware; if all you can do is to insult its mother ("putearlo" ), then it's software".

There's no way I can translate this into English and still keep the pun. But then again, maybe some other will be able to.

Regards,

Daniel

I'm not overly concerned with translating punny or witty expressions into Esperanto. Every language will have expressions that sound elegant in that language, that simply won't translate in such a nice way. It doesn't bother me.

"Esperanto, edzperanto" is an expression that wouldn't translate in a clever or elegant way from Esperanto into any other language.

The difference between hardware and software boils down to just one letter: if you can kick it ("patearlo" ) when it malfunctions, then it's hardware; if all you can do is to insult its mother ("putearlo" ), then it's software"

La diferenco inter hardvaro kaj softvaro estas ĉu kiki aŭ klaki, kiam ĝi misfunkcias.

How would you translate into Esperanto "use it or lose it"?

"Uzu ĝin aŭ perdu ĝin" doesn't satisfy me. It means the same but it lacks the appeal of the English expression.

English often requires an object in the sentence for it to feel complete. Less so in Esperanto.

So, Uzu aŭ perdu

sudanglo:

How would you translate into Esperanto "use it or lose it"?

"Uzu ĝin aŭ perdu ĝin" doesn't satisfy me. It means the same but it lacks the appeal of the English expression.

English often requires an object in the sentence for it to feel complete. Less so in Esperanto.

So, Uzu aŭ perdu

Where is the Like button!!!

Thanks Sudlango.