Questions tagged [translation]
Determining English equivalents for words or phrases in other languages (that is, translation into English). We don't actually do translations: we can try and help you with your own translation. Please see the detailed tag info for guidance on what to ask.
979
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How to translate the name of this type of undergraduate course into English targeting US companies?
So, in many countries, including mine (Brazil), we have a course that requires an undergraduate degree for you to take. In UK, Australia, and Canada it's called Graduate Diploma. Here we call it ...
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3
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Saying similar to Chinese 安贫乐道: "To be content with poverty and strive for virtue"?
There is a saying in Chinese, 安贫乐道, which means something along the lines of "To be content with poverty and strive for virtue."
I'm looking for something similar in English, even if it's ...
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10
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Word for when someone tries to make others hate each other
Is there a single word in English that describes when someone tries to make others hate each other or fight? So, for example, If person A and B are neighbors, so in this situation Person C tries to ...
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4
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How to translate the German word "Mitmenschlich(keit)"
Both German and Dutch have two distinct words "Mitmensch" ("medemens") and "Mensch" ("mens"), and the derived adjectives "mitmenschlich" and "...
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What does this translated phrase convey "The heart refuses to obey."? [migrated]
Dil hai ki manta nahin
is a phrase from a popular Hindi song and movie of the same name. Literally translated, it means "The heart doesn't listen" or "The heart refuses to obey."
...
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3
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Meaning of "blunk"
Wordle accepts "blunk" as a correct word, but neither Google Translate nor ChatGPT give a translation.
ChatGPT:
If "blunk" is a valid choice in Wordle, then it might be an English ...
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3
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113
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Idiomatic expression for "this will cost $1000 as if a penny"
In Hungarian, one can say "ehhez legalább $1000 kell, mint egy fillér". It means that a task will be expensive - $1000 might be enough to start but it might be much more, that is, $1000 ...
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How are called the fouls made with the sole? Translation of ‘planchazo’
Need help for an English equivalent of this action, I didn't find anything:
planchazo (also plancha)
Adelantamiento frontal de la suela del pie, que constituye una infracción en varios deportes.
???
...
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3
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Are there other proposed translations of "aelfheres" in Beowulf than a name?
Am looking at the online Beowulf site, and wonder about "aelfheres" that is translated as a name.
XXXVI
WIGlaf wæs haten, Weoxstanes sunu,
leoflic lindwiga, leod Scylfinga,
mæg ...
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2
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In "amount of data, collected ~", which is modified by 'collected~'? amount or data?
The fast-growing, tremendous amount of data, collected and stored in large and numerous data repositories, has far exceeded our human ability for comprehension without powerful tools.
(from Data ...
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4
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English equivalent of the Russian idiom "You are confusing sour with yellow"
There is an idiomatic expression in my native language: "You are confusing sour with yellow", which means something like that though lemons are sour and yellow, not every yellow thing is ...
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What’s the meaning of the "floating sheds"?
Boats rocked in the floating sheds of the yacht harbor.
Does "floating shed" refer to the cabin of the yacht?
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2
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How to correctly translate "управляющая" to English? Is "head maid" only appropriate translation?
Context:
Fictional world (with magic, slavery (not widely used)) and so on.
A woman is the estate manager for small estate in a city. She oversees other hired servants and serve estate owners directly....
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1
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English Translation from the german word "IT Systemhaus"
I am new to this site. I hope I am on the right one, as it looks like it has more than just one for English.
What I am looking for is the correct translation of the German term "IT-Systemhaus.&...
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1
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37
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How to write a name of competition in an article? [duplicate]
Hi I am translating text from Polish to English. I would like to ask you about your thoughts on it:
A title of a newspaper is in Polish, do I need to add quotation marks or italics?
The name of ...
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9
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The words to describe a slave's mentality
I am trying to translate a Chinese word 奴才 into English. Quite often it is translated to slave. But 奴才 is more about a person's mentality, e.g. obedient servant and being numb, timid, apathetic, and ...
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In Persian there is word for "A smile that taste bitter"; is there a word for it in English? [duplicate]
In Persian we have a word to describe this conflicting state:
"facing a situation that makes one smile even though it's not a good situation, and it might even have negative effect on them."
...
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looking for a correct/ idiomatic phrase
Context: A recent meeting between Chinese and American Foreign affairs bosses in Munich.
Original:
双方就开展人文交流，便利人员往来交换了意见。王毅敦促美方停止无端滋扰盘查中国公民，多做有利于增进两国人民相互了解的事情，并送美方一句古话：“勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为。
During their ...
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How would you name the different types of periods? ~ Translating ‘punto seguido’, ‘punto y aparte’ and ‘punto final’
In Spanish, we have different names for the different types of periods:
If the period is inside a paragraph, it's called punto seguido.
If the period ends a paragraph, it's called punto y aparte.
If ...
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2
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Etymology and Elizabethan English connotations of "sat at meat" (Mark 2:15, KJV)
I came across a King James (1611) translation of Mark 2:15:
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: ...
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8
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Idiomatic expression for "putting off a task until a disaster strikes" [duplicate]
In Russian language there is a proverb "Пока гром не грянет, мужик не перекрестится".
Literal translation would be something like this: the peasant will not cross himself before it begins to ...
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4
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2
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127
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Word equivalent to "prestation" in French in the administrative field
I'm searching for an English word which could have the same meaning than the word "prestation" in french, in the sense of "some service (paid or not) that has been executed by an ...
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47
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Idiomatic word or expression for a lazy and unmoral person who gets paid without working - Translation of Spanish ‘ñoqui’ [duplicate]
I'm not talking about the Italian dish. In Argentina, there's a well known expression for someone who doesn't go to work and only assists the last month's day to get paid: It's called a ñoqui. The ...
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Which is more common, "self-responsibility" or "personal responsibility"? (in the workplace)
I'm trying to figure out what the best translation is for the German word "Eigenverantwortung" in a workplace context. A literal translation would be self-responsibility but I've also seen ...
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3
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Personification in translations ("sun" in particular): gender change issues
How are personifications that change the gender correctly handled if the target language is English?
The question arised when a colleague wanted to translate the following (German) sentence:
"Die ...
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13
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Idiom for “pretending to like someone when you actually hate them”
I’m trying to translate a Vietnamese proverb into English, and I couldn’t find an idiom or proverb in English that provides an exact match with my Vietnamese one.
The Vietnamese one goes as follows: “...
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What is a more contemporary expelling of this excerpt from Turner? [closed]
The following quote is by Turner (1509 – 1568), and to me, the spelling is incomprehensible. If the passage is re-written using spelling rules closer to those rules used in the present day, then how ...
2
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1
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135
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 3: the guesser falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘mandar fruta’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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2
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161
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 2: the sophist falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘versear’ or ‘chamuyar’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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4
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity: the misconception falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘la re flasheé’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Idiomatic word/expression for someone ‘who has no feeling for the game’ - Translation of Spanish ‘pechofrío’
I'm having trouble translating the expression pechofrío (pecho frío, ‘cold chest’) from Spanish—specially Argentinian Spanish, I don't know if it's used in other countries. It means:
s. masc. Persona ...
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1
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Word for dangerous semi-knowledge, equivalent of German "gefährliches Halbwissen" [duplicate]
In German, there is a phrase like "dangerous semi-knowledge" gefährliches Halbwissen. Wiktionary definition:
a degree of superficial knowledge that becomes dangerous or deceptive because it ...
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Idiom for Spanish ‘no escupas para arriba’ (i.e., ‘be careful with the harm you do, it could come back at you’)
In Spanish, there's the expression ¡no escupas para arriba! (literally ‘don't spit upwards!’), which is used for example in counter-reprimanding or counter-criticizing purposes—although there are many ...
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The correct translation of Sıkbaç
There is an old dish in middle east culture. It is called as "Sıkbaç" in Turkish. It consists of lamb, vegetables, and various spices.
I have a translation work Turkish to English. DeepL ...
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Explaining how to translate spanish "Ya" (already vs just vs ...) [closed]
I asked my coworker to fix something in a program. When he fixed it, he replied with, "I already fixed it." -- this wasn't intentionally misleading, but was an incorrect translation of &...
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Idiom for frustrating someone else's plans by taking what the other person wanted in the first place
There's an idiom in Argentina translated roughly as "to sleep someone" (dormir a alguien), which is used when someone frustrates the plans of someone else by taking what the other person ...
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5
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Idiom for being watched after your bad actions
There's an idiom in Argentina translated as "To be in the chapel". It means that you'll be closely watched for a period of time to be sure you won't repeat errors, bad actions or behaviors ...
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Would there be a way to make the joke "Ella es mi amiga vieja, disculpe, mi vieja amiga" work in English?
There is a Spanish joke,
Ella es mi amiga vieja, disculpe, mi vieja amiga.
The joke basically says, "She is my friend that is old, excuse me, my old friend", making fun of the person's age....
user485424
6
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1
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957
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How can I improve my translation of Beowulf's first few lines?
Now, we Spear-Danes have long heard
of glorious kings and heroic deeds;
of how Scyld Sceaf·sen seized many
a frightened warrior from the very mead benches
of the foe in many lands. Found abandoned, a ...
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3
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Is there a popular expression in English equivalent of Russian "water wears away a stone"?
Is there a popular English expression equivalent to this Russian proverb? It translates to:
Water wears away a stone.
And has the meaning that, step by step, eventually we (it) will get there (reach ...
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10
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What is an English equivalent of 'Colorín, Colorado, este cuento se ha acabado,' a phrase used at the end of stories?
Colorín, Colorado, este cuento se ha acabado is a Spanish phrase used to indicate that a story has reached its end. The first part is just nonsense, the second part means 'this story is over.'
We use ...
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4
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105
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A word for upper bounding a mathematical expression that turns out not to be tight enough to be of use
In my own native tongue (Hebrew) when I have some mathematical expression that is complicated and I try to upper bound it with a simpler expression but then I find out that the gap between the two is ...
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1
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111
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colonial heritage vs. colonial legacy
I'm trying to find the best translation for the German phrase "koloniales Erbe" as applied to a former colonial power, e.g. as used in the title of this conference. Both "colonial ...
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79
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An English equivalent to the Spanish phrase «Me pasó a un amigo»?
In Spanish we sometimes say something like «Me pasó a un amigo». For example, you could be telling someone to be careful when doing something because otherwise something bad and possibly embarrassing ...
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What's the English equivalent of the Italian 'sputare nel piatto dove si mangia'?
There's an Italian expression, 'sputare nel piatto dove si mangia', that literally means 'to spit on the plate where you eat', but really means:
to have an attitude of contempt, of strong criticism ...
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Designation for the behaviour of a person that acts in a club-like manner
I would like to find a proper term for designating club behaviour, that is, when people of some team/club are favorable to anything associated with their team simply because it is their team and ...
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55
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Word, term or phrase for idioms, proverbs, figure-of-speech that lose their true meaning due to being from a different time or due to translation? [duplicate]
In various language literature, there could be idioms, proverbs, figure-of-speech that lose their true meaning because
it meant something in a different time period
Or
it was being translated from ...
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1
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118
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How to Translate the "Killing" in this Context?
This is a clipping from a director's memoir(source: A Life: An Autobiography by Elia Kazan) which I once cited in another question, recording an actor's affair.
When we got back to Munich for the ...
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1
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1
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94
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"Literary inquisition" or "speech crime" Or is there a better term?
The wiki said it is Literary Inquisition
It refers to official persecution of intellectuals for their writings in China ...
the rulers deliberately extracted words or phrases from intellectual's ...
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2
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660
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What noun phrase can be used to describe a couple that has registered their marriage?
In my native language there is a noun phrase for 'legally-married couple'. I wonder if there is something similar in the English language. I have looked up the following phrases, but they all seemed ...
