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How long is a piece of string?

od Korsivo, 22 kwietnia 2011

Wpisy: 34

Język: English

Korsivo (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 05:42:08

How to translate the famous question "How long is a piece of string?" in E-o?

I found this on a site: "It's interesting, because the length of any specific piece of string is directly measurable, whereas in the general case it's indeterminate because of the wide range of non-standard lengths of pieces of string."

I always thougth it must have rather had something to do with the fact that you can stretch it to fifferent lenghts... I could never find a good equivalent in Italian to express this (idea that all is relative?)

geo63 (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 05:53:25

Korsivo:How to translate the famous question "How long is a piece of string?" in E-o?

I found this on a site: "It's interesting, because the length of any specific piece of string is directly measurable, whereas in the general case it's indeterminate because of the wide range of non-standard lengths of pieces of string."

I always thougth it must have rather had something to do with the fact that you can stretch it to fifferent lenghts... I could never find a good equivalent in Italian to express this (idea that all is relative?)
Kiom longa estas kordero?

ceigered (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 06:42:06

I admit it's doing my head in just thinking about it...

But (I think) I get what the phrase means (looking here), so perhaps for an EO equivalent we could choose something like "Kiom da esperantistoj estas en la mondo?", to which the answer is "neniu scias" (unless you're talking to someone involved with demographics who might be brave enough to try for a serious answer).

Otherwise whatever Geo63 says okulumo.gif

tommjames (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 08:37:55

"Kiel longa estas peco de ŝnuro" is how I'd translate it, if you're after a literal translation.

Note that "kordo" is more for musical instruments. And seeing "kordero" I would probably think of one of the string's individual fibres, not a peice of the stuff.

sudanglo (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 09:26:37

Ceiger, I quite like that as a home-grown idiom for something indefinable. You could make it even snappier with 'Kiomas da Esperantistoj'.

Does 'How long is a piece of string' have direct equivalents in other languages?

BasilioLorca (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 10:23:39

Laŭ mi:

"Kiom longa estas peco da ŝnuro".

La mezuro ne estas definita, do oni skribu "peco da".

Kordo/kordero rilatas al muzikaj instrumentoj.

darkweasel (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 10:32:32

BasilioLorca:Laŭ mi:

"Kiom longa estas peco da ŝnuro".

La mezuro ne estas definita, do oni skribu "peco da".

Kordo/kordero rilatas al muzikaj instrumentoj.
A "piece" is not a measuring unit. "de" is correct. And don't forget that this is the English-language forum.

tommjames (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 10:58:18

+1 darkweasel.

And let's not forget that even if the word used is a measuring unit, there's nothing stopping you use "de", if all you're interested in showing is the consistency, rather than quantity.

geo63 (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 11:49:56

BasilioLorca:Laŭ mi:

Kordo/kordero rilatas al muzikaj instrumentoj.
Not exactly:

kordo: cord , line , rope , string
elektra kordo
teorio de kordoj

geo63 (Pokaż profil) 22 kwietnia 2011, 11:59:15

sudanglo:Ceiger, I quite like that as a home-grown idiom for something indefinable. You could make it even snappier with 'Kiomas da Esperantistoj'.

Does 'How long is a piece of string' have direct equivalents in other languages?
Exact equivalent not found in Polish, but we have many alike:

Ile diabłów zmieści się na czubku od szpilki?
How many devils can fit on pin top?

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