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.
978
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Is there a good equivalent for the Italian proverb "Non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco"?
One of my favorite Italian sayings is
Non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco (literally "Not all donuts
come out with holes").
It usually gets a smile from another Italian speaker, ...
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2
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301
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Will the word sour in "sweet and sour" dish give negative connotation?
Will the word sour in "sweet and sour" dish give negative connotation? In Chinese we actually say "sweet and vinegary" dish ('糖醋' as '醋' is vinegar). Check https://en.wikipedia.org/...
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1
vote
0
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English equivalent of Russian "понаберут по объявлению" [duplicate]
In Russian, there's an idiom "понаберут по объявлению".
Directly it can be translated as "[they] recruit by ads".
The intention behind this idiom is to derogate the one who was &...
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0
votes
1
answer
188
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Settlement or billing?
Recently got into discussion on how precisely and professionally translate the polish word "rozliczenie/rozrachunek". Some of us are more convinced into "billing" and some into &...
- 103
3
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3
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What do you call the layout that organizes the decorative moldings and ornamental features of a building?
In french it's called Modénature.
Is there an equivalent in English ?
- 283
14
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11
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What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
In French it's called a trémie,. This element is unlikely to be a hopper or funnel. What is it called in English?
Would "Stairs aperture" be good enough for people to understand?
- 283
0
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1
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100
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How can I build impersonal sentences like this one from Spanish
I don't know how to build in English impersonal sentences like this one from Spanish:
Es feliz quien quiere serlo.
I've thought of this one:
He's happy who wants to be it.
But I don't like it ...
- 119
2
votes
1
answer
356
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What's an early modern English excalmation roughly meaning "raise the roof!"?
I am a translator of Russian historical fiction set in the early modern period (mid-late 16th century) and I am looking for some good period-specific English equivalents of the phrase "жги-говори!...
- 21
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3
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Is there a term for "symbolic photo" (German "Symbolfoto")?
In German there is the term Symbolfoto or Symbolbild. It describes a photographic picture that represents a concept by means of abstraction or indirection.
A Symbolfoto could be a picture of food ...
- 1,294
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2
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91
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Possible meanings of “[they] are forming a procession in the square” in context
This is from Baltasar and Blimunda (1998, p. 3), a translation of José Saramago’s Memorial do Convento (1982). Broader context: it’s the 1700s, an Austrian princess married the Portuguese King to “...
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3
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How do you say that "while" is frequently followed by past continuous?
I usually explain grammar in private lessons and there's an expression I would like to know.
For example, I was trying to explain that when you use while, it is frequently followed by past continuous.
...
0
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2
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93
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"Nineteenth hundred and sive" instead of "Nineteenth hundred and seven"
From the copyright page of Retana's Vida y escritos del Rizal (1907)
Se acabó de imprimir el 30 de Junio de 1907. — Inscripto en la oficina de la Propiedad literaria de los Estados Unidos, donde fué ...
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3
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134
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What is the English equivalent for "向...交代“ (meaning how am I supposed to face someone if I fail to keep the promise I made)?
This is usually used in family-related settings. The audience is usually some family member of the person with whom you made a promise. I'll give you a typical example.
Tom is dying, so he asks his ...
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4
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English equivalent of מסגרת, used to describe a person who gets along in a routine with a rigid routine, responsibilities, etc
My native tongue is Hebrew, and we have a word that I just don't know how to effectively translate to English. My American-Israeli friends tell me that they just say it in Hebrew because they can't ...
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4
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Can you say "bald hill" to mean a hill that has no trees on it? [closed]
I am translating from Russian to English, and came across the phrase "На краю долины на вершине лысого холма стоит [...]" - trying to describe a hill at the edge of a valley. I've never ...
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1
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130
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Understanding 'rather do we'
I came across a peculiar sentence structure today:
Rather do we do A; but B.
I think this is an archaic grammatica structure. What is the meaning of the above structure?
The full phrase is given ...
- 173
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votes
4
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Is it rude to say "damn it"? [closed]
The context: Not connected with anything. Just sharing a feeling when nobody asked, like:
"Damn it, I love ice cream."
Is it rude to write or say it in UK? Australia and New Zealand? USA?
...
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4
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2
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What does “takes advantage of their head rope runs the risk” mean?
The following line is from the 2015 translation from the Spanish
of desaparecido
Argentine writer Haroldo
Conti’s 1962 novel,
Southeaster (original Spanish title, Sudeste):
This ...
0
votes
0
answers
362
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Onomatopoeia for the sound of something coming to a complete halt or fitting right in
There is a Japanese onomatopoeia "pita(ピタッ)" indicating something coming to a complete halt or fitting right in. What is an English equivalaent for this onomatopoeia? A few websites ...
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6
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What do we call a price that is chosen by a customer?
I'm a native French speaker.
In recent years, there has been a new concept of price in French that is "prix libre". A literal translation of "prix libre" is "free price".
...
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3
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128
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Better expression than chauvinist for male dominant attitude [duplicate]
I'm getting a hard time to find an appropriate word on English with similar meaning to the portuguese word "machismo".
In portuguese this word means a conservative pro-male attitude, like an ...
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1
vote
1
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83
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Synonym for asking for a discount just before closing a deal
In persian we have this phrase which translates to "the seasoning for the deal" or "نمک معامله" in the exact literature. Now, a realtor friend, as it is common in persian culture, ...
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0
votes
1
answer
77
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Which/ That/ Present Participle
I'm working on the translation of a product packaging.
Uses:
Boosting liver function which helps cleanse blood plasma, the liquid portion of blood which/that accounts for 55% of its volume.
Would it ...
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1
answer
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Among these translations of the Bible, which one has the meaning of being intoxicated?
Biblehub contains various translations of John 2:10. For example, in https://biblehub.com/john/2-10.htm. Some translations use phrases like:
too much to drink
a lot to drink
drunk freely
are drunk
...
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15
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What is the equivalent in English of the French "pipotron", which refers to meaningless filler content that looks like it was written by a bot?
I cannot find a good translation in English of the French word "pipotron". Could you help me?
In French, it refers originally to an automated process to randomly generate sentences. Now it ...
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1
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How to translate "por la cara" to English?
I'm looking for a suitable English translation of the Spanish expression "por la cara".
In Spanish, unless you go very deep into the details, for various context that are very specific, ...
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8
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What’s the English for “democrature”, a dictatorship pretending to be a democracy through fraudulent elections?
The French term democrature (from
democratie + dictature) is defined as:
Dictature déguisée en démocratie par l’organisation d’élections non libres, contrôlées et/ou frauduleuses. Par extension, tout ...
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3
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1
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151
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Is there an Idiom for someone who tried but failed because it was too much for him
I'm wondering if there's an idiom similar to an idiom in Czech.
In Czech, it's 'Vylámat si na něčem zuby' ~ 'To break one's teeth on something'.
To try and do something but failing nonetheless.
It's ...
1
vote
0
answers
55
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Symbol indicating a value equal to or greater than a number
I am working on translation of numbers and came across this representation of "5 or greater" as "5+". My question is whether or not there is a term for the "+" sign that ...
- 21
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0
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What does "Hunch product" mean?
So I am translating an article and I came upon this paragraph:
"According to the company, the new Sisense Hunch product represents a “new class of big data analytics” that can be applied to ...
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0
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0
answers
874
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Idiom to express 'being good at something'
I am currently working on a translation project for university (nothing profressional) and I have a question regarding the translation of a French expression which goes "je ne crains personne&...
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0
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What do "promise of tomorrow" and "rug merchant" mean?
Here is the main text including the questioned parts.
ps: this is a political statement.
As we proceed we cannot be gulled by promises of what will happen tomorrow—at bottom they really are rug ...
0
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2
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How to express "saying things to please your manager"
I am trying to translate a phrase from Bulgarian and I can't seem to find good English equivalent. Imagine that in a company there is a "thank you" session where everybody can say thank you ...
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4
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Why do translations refer to the original language with a definite article, e.g. "translated from the Spanish"?
In general in English, we don't ever apply the definitive article to languages. We don't say "He speaks the Japanese" or "It was originally written in the French."
But for ...
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5
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What do we call the stream-like leftovers of water sticking to a glass surface?
From a Russian document:
Лабораторная посуда считается чистой, если вода, стекающая по стенкам, не оставляет капель или «ручейков».
Translation:
Laboratory glassware is considered clean when the ...
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1
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What symbols are customarily used for “○○” in English?
If you have studied languages such as Japanese, you have probably encountered the symbol “○○”.
I am told that there are two purposes for “○○”.
To act as a placeholder for whatever word you like.
To ...
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1
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What is the name for a video that is shown as a preamble to an interview on a talk show?
In TV talk shows, what is the name for a video clip that is shown as a preamble to an interview? I am working in the Netherlands, where they call this an 'instart'.
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3
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Does "know more about something" really mean "more" (implying that one already has some prior knowledge) or just a customary phrase
It is a question resulting from a translation attempt of this sentence:
Many, however, may wish to know more about this remarkable people from the outset.
(Lord of the Rings, Prologue)
From here we ...
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3
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English equivalent of the Greek “When Muhammad does not go to the mountain…”?
In Greek, there is an expression which translates literally to
When Muhammad does not go to the mountain, the mountain goes to Muhammad.
The expression is used when the speaker believes that they ...
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2
votes
2
answers
166
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Word or phrase for something that turns out great but wasn't intended as such
I'm translating a German press release about a product that became a great tool/solution, but it had never been intended to be developed like that in the first place. It more or less happened by ...
- 1,294
0
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1
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129
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The boy who lived ( Harry Potter book) [closed]
I've loaded first Harry Potter book, and want to translate it , but first sentence in this book, and I don't know what meaning it have .. Is it about that Harry survived , or it is about some past ...
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1
answer
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meaning of "riding out on sorties in quest of adventure"
I read in a (originally) German novel that:
"They are continually riding out on sorties in quest of adventure"
What are they exactly doing?! Living on booty? If so then how could it be in ...
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13
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7
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The English translation for the Chinese word "剩女", meaning an unmarried girl over 27 without a boyfriend
The Chinese word "剩女" means "an unmarried girl over 27 without a boyfriend". Since better girls are already in love or married, some girls are left and it seems that no men are ...
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1
answer
53
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Word for the analog in another language
There is a word that means the direct analog for a word in one language in another language. So, for example, the direct analog for mizu (water in Japanese) is water in English. I can't seem to ...
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2
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Is it "It is likely to happen" or "It is likely that that happen?" [closed]
It is likely to happen.
It is likely that that happen.
Which sentence is correct? Because, in French, we say, "Il est probable que cela se produise", and, in English, "que" and &...
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0
votes
2
answers
136
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Should "rather" be used in this context? [duplicate]
Translating from german, the word "rather" (as replacement for "ziemlich") sounds kind of wrong to me, but I would like to check with an example:
"Rather innovative", ...
- 247
0
votes
3
answers
53
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Word meaning a certain phrase?
In Estonian, there is a word that roughly translates to "I want to sleep more, but I can't, so I am laying in bed". Is there a similar word or shortened phrase that means the same thing in ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
103
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Since (past time) ... to (current time)?
I am trying to write a sentence that shows my experience as a cook; for example, since my first job at ABC, and then to DEF, to currently working at GHI, I have gain ...
- 119
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4
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104
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I am searching for the adverbial form of "undefeatable" or a suitable synonym
I am translating a text, and I have a sentence that structurally translates into:
"The noble ideal they have in their sights will enter even the darkest souls and convert undefeatably into a ...
- 118
3
votes
3
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Does English have a version of "pouring water on a goose"?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verkan
Det där har lika mycket verkan som att hälla vatten på en gås.
That has as much effect as pouring water on a goose.
It means that something is futile or ...
- 31