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I'm translating a script and I should cut this line down by about half it's syllables. I should match to the lip movement of the actors on video, and so that would be about 7 syllables. It doesn't have to match exactly but I couldn't think of a phrase, idiom, or word that I regularly use that can match. Can anyone give me a hand?

"We should attend it even if we have to borrow money."

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  • First thing coming to my mind is "we cannot not go to this," but there's almost certainly something better out there.
    – SomethingDark
    Commented May 31, 2015 at 18:26
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    I think this is really Off Topic writing advice. How about Go we must, though beggared we be, if you want a somewhat "poetic" phrasing? I make that only 8 syllables.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 31, 2015 at 18:28
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    Or We must go, at any cost (or ...at all costs).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 31, 2015 at 18:37
  • Thanks! I really appreciate the comments, to add detail: Jane is saying this to Jack in school. "It' refers to an expensive training course.
    – MovieScriptGuy
    Commented May 31, 2015 at 18:41

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Seven syllables:

Damn the debt, we should attend.

From John Vernon's April 18 installment on redstate.com entitled The Lost Art of Patriotism:

Damn the debt, full speed ahead with spending.

For different lip movements or contextual nuance:

  • The debt be damned, let's attend.

  • Damn the money, let's attend.

  • Damn the debt, we need to go.

  • The debt be damned, we should go.

  • Damn the money, we should go.

  • The money be damned, let's go.

Reversing the order of the clauses multiplies the possibility of a good lip sync.

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    Thanks for the options ScotM! Although I do like your alternatives, the students want to attend a bible training class and so I feel it may not be proper. They are debating with each other in a church classroom in front of a preacher, and although they are bickering the argument isn't so vicious. But kudos for the options! =)
    – MovieScriptGuy
    Commented Jun 16, 2015 at 11:54
  • LOL! @MovieScriptGuy, they can soften the expletive to hang, or some other equivalent and get similar effect. Far be it from me, a preacher of sorts, to put offensive words into the mouths of people who want to carry a pleasant message.
    – ScotM
    Commented Jun 16, 2015 at 11:59

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