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How long is a piece of string?

от Korsivo, 22 апреля 2011 г.

Сообщений: 34

Язык: English

Korsivo (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 5:42:08

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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 5:53:25

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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 6:42:06

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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 8:37:55

"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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 9:26:37

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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 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 (Показать профиль) 22 апреля 2011 г., 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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