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Speaking of the devil

av vikungen, 3 mars 2015

Meddelanden: 13

Språk: English

vikungen (Visa profilen) 3 mars 2015 19:24:25

Does anyone know how to express the meaning of the idiom "Speaking of the devil" in Esperanto?
Are there any similar idioms, which are appropriate when ex. what one is talking about suddenly appears?

vikungen (Visa profilen) 3 mars 2015 20:11:40

And while we're on it, how would one say something like: "How flattering!" and what is the
Esperanto word for "wanted poster"?

Thanks in advance.

kaŝperanto (Visa profilen) 3 mars 2015 22:48:50

I'm far from an expert, but "speak of the devil" does not have any equivalent in Esperanto to my knowledge. I doubt most European people would have any trouble understanding you, though. My Spanish teacher in high school had us memorize some colloquial phrases, of which "Hablando del Re de Romo, y el mismo se asomo", which goes something along the lines of "talking about the king of Rome and that minute he appears". There was a very interesting thread a while back where people posted Esperantic translations of similar types of phrases from their own language, and you'd be surprised how many of them are almost the same.

I would use the entire phrase, though, as in "Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear". Usually only the first part is spoken, but it is just an abbreviation. Phrases like "putting the cart before the horse" are good to be translated into any language where people use horses and carts, but there are plenty of phrases that will not make sense in a translation. Perhaps it would be appropriate to say "parolante pri samideanoj..." if the person is an Esperantist.

I would say "How flattering!" as "Tre flata!", but you could say it in at least a few other ways just as well.

I'm not sure how one would say "wanted poster" simply. That might be one of those words where you just have to spell it out. I'll leave this one to those more knowledgeable.

Tempodivalse (Visa profilen) 3 mars 2015 23:13:31

The Proverbaro is a good resource. Zamenhof had the foresight to infuse the language with a large set of stock phrases that could be used from the very start.

This might work, perhaps (especially if the person who just entered is not someone you particularly like):

Ne voku diablon, ĉar li povas aperi.

noelekim (Visa profilen) 4 mars 2015 03:50:52

If a friend about whom a group of us were speaking came unexpectedly into the room, I would probably say: Jen, venis ĝuste li! (etc)

vikungen: ... what is the Esperanto word for "wanted poster"?
"FBI-serĉafiŝo de D. B. Cooper" eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

sudanglo (Visa profilen) 4 mars 2015 12:41:19

A fascinating account of a Hijack, Noelekim, But I stumbled over 'elaĉeta mono'. Isn't there a clearer word in Esperanto for ransom? Elaĉeti seems too close to buy out or buy up.

It's one thing for slaves in Roman times to buy (elaĉeti) their freedom, or to corner the market by elaĉeto de la tuta stoko, another thing to pay a ransom.

Noelekim:If a friend about whom a group of us were speaking came unexpectedly into the room, I would probably say: Jen, venis ĝuste li! (etc)
Yes, that sounds very natural.

What about Parolante pri li .. (vidu, kiu venas)

The French say Quand on parle du loup (when you speak of the wolf). My guess is that in many languages the corresponding expression is similar to Kiam oni parolas pri (some unwanted character who can come and go mysteriously).

The international intelligibility of kiam oni parolas pri la diablo ... could be tested in the Esperanto forums.

Edit: Jen la diablo mem!

Leke (Visa profilen) 4 mars 2015 13:03:28

I would say something like Jen, estas la diablo! or just Jen, la diablo! ridego.gif

Suzumiya (Visa profilen) 6 mars 2015 19:50:40

kaŝperanto: which "Hablando del Re de Romo, y el mismo se asomo"
It's Hablando del Rey de Roma, por la puerta se asoma. There are slight varations, of course. You gotta remember how to conjugate in Spanish, asomo is 1rst person singular, -a is 3rd person singular, indicative mood ridulo.gif.

kaŝperanto (Visa profilen) 9 mars 2015 15:50:14

Suzumiya:
kaŝperanto: which "Hablando del Re de Romo, y el mismo se asomo"
It's Hablando del Rey de Roma, por la puerta se asoma. There are slight varations, of course. You gotta remember how to conjugate in Spanish, asomo is 1rst person singular, -a is 3rd person singular, indicative mood ridulo.gif.
Thanks, I knew there was a reason I decided to forget Spanish for Esperanto. okulumo.gif

The "asomo" was a typo/oops, though. I think the "Romo" threw me off because I knew it was supposed to rhyme, but "roma" looked wrong to my Esperanto eyes. I am fairly certain that it was "y el mismo se asoma", so we must have learned an alternate version.

robbkvasnak (Visa profilen) 9 mars 2015 16:21:32

In German they say: man spricht gerade von der Sonne, und nun scheint sie. Oni parolas ĝuste pri la suno kaj nun ĝi brilas

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