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Second post at a day, sorry.
I have a phrase I need to translate into Spanish (preferably Mexican, but I will be grateful for any answer):
"I don't want anymore people killed because of me."
I have a version
"No quiero que haya ma's muertos por mi culpa.", but I don't like the word "culpa" there, because the killing that is mentioned wasn't the fault of the person who is speaking. Is there any way to translate "because of me" without the word "culpa"?
And the second question: can I say "matados" instead of "muertos" here to indicate especially that people were killed, not simple dead? Or does it sound wrong?
Thank you in advance. (And sorry if my English is no better than my Spanish.)
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Good day everyone!
I've written in my fic this phrase:
"God, Manuel, for what purpose I should kill the damned cook?"
and my friend told me I should switch "I" and "should" in places. Now, I have no doubt that the version "for what purpose should I do smth" is correct, but it seems to me I've heard or read somewhere the reverse version as well. So the question is: can I say (as in colloquial) "for what purpose I should do smth", or does it sound wrong?
Thank you in advance.
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Comments: Read 16 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
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I want to construct a parallel phrase to "in loco parentis" about a temporary substitute housekeeper, and the speaker is being sardonic and referring to her as a minor household goddess. I know the lares and penates are the plurals, but I can't figure out how to turn one or the other into a parallel for "parentis" and I'm not sure if the feminine would be different. (I suppose I could use genius loci as well, but I do want something of that nature.) The speaker is a Victorian gentleman in London circa 1889, if that makes any difference.
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Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
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Hi, friends! Not so long ago I have written in some text the phrase “Is it understandable?” and my friend has told me that such a word doesn’t exist. I have my doubts myself, but I think maybe it could be that my personage has invented it just while speaking (and he’s saying it sarcastically, like wondering is his companion capable to understand this simple thing at all, or something like this). Only yesterday I suddenly remembered the much simple and safe “Is it clear?”, but nonetheless: 1.Is it true that the word “understandable” really doesn’t exist?
2.If you hear someone saying “Is it understandable?” what would you think? (Besides the obvious “he doesn’t know English very well”.) Would you think that the person is:
a) inventive
b) stupid
c) make a laugh at you
d) ?????
Thank you very much!
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Comments: Read 16 or Add Your Own.
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My French is extremely rusty--I've not really used it for anything but reading academic stuff in years. But recently a friend asked me to write a bit of Harry Potter fanfic on the subject of Gabrielle Delacour's discovery that Harry Potter is getting married. Once it was done it seemed that the most appropriate title would be something to the effect of "He Belongs to Me!" in French.
Two friends, not native speakers but much more fluent than I am, suggested that "Il Appartient à Moi!" would be appropriate. I know the verb's more typically used for talking about property, but the point is that Gabrielle, fourteen years of age and angry, is saying something that reveals more than she intends it to.
Somebody else, a stranger to me, recently said that this was bad French, that:
1) it should be "Il m'appartient!" if I did use appartenir.
and
2) appartenir isn't appropriate to use for people. I understand that this is usually the case, but I can't figure out if this person understands the context, and the fact that it's meant as a Freudian slip on Gabrielle's part. I asked about this, but they've not answered me.
I'm a bit puzzled by the first point, because Larousse seems to be saying that both "m'appartient" and "appartient à moi" are correct. Is there a class or regional distinction here that I don't understand? Is appartenir in reference to a person so beyond the pale that even an emotionally devastated teenager wouldn't use it that way?
Merci bien!
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Comments: Read 11 or Add Your Own.
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I have a handful of English words that need to be translated into Russian. My story takes place in the future and the character is a woman (aprx. Age 22-25) who has a very good grasp on English but still sometimes likes to revert to her native Russian; If only to piss off the people she is with (two men and a woman).
I have tried Google and the like, but I have come up with more then one possibility for each word/phrase and to be honest they did not look like site I could trust and I knew there are a few Russian speakers here so I thought I would give it a shot. So I suppose onto the list, mostly it is just stuff she would mutter under her breath in frustration or yell in anger. Transliteration to Roman alphabet is preferred.
Damn Fool.
Witch/Fire witch.
Go to Hell!
Shut up!
Idiot.
River.
Sky.
Griffin – as in the mythological beast, if unavailable then "Lion"
Little one.
Be still.
By the Earth – used as if the earth was a god/goddess, in replacement for “Oh my God.”
Thank you for your time in advance!
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Comments: Read 9 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
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Hello! I'm trying to work out what a fairly young person (18) would say to her sister in a moment of stress as the sister blithely embarrasses her (and 'covers' by digging an even larger hole). Sort of like "Oh my god, please just be quiet!" Is this the sort of context where you'd use "tais-toi"? (Just mentioning that as the results of Google research, which is probably fallible to the max.) They're bilingual, but they live in France with their French mother for the majority of the time, so French seems like a much more natural stress-response. They're also rather posh, if that matters any.
Thank you! :)
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Comments: Read 18 or Add Your Own.
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Just joined because I've asked about this on a few communities now and gotten nothing that's really helpful.
Am I translating these correctly into Italian? (They're referring to a male)
sciocco - silly one
mio scimmietto - my little monkey
mio scimmietto sciocco - my silly monkey
Also, any chance this community could contribute some common pet names for male children in italian?
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Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
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A quick one!
(Male speaker, being sarcastic.): "Don't listen to [John], I would never try to lead him astray. What a senseless accusation."
After poking around some language sites I thought maybe N'écoutes pas might be involved somewhere but I don't trust myself on that at ALL, and as for the rest of it... well, hello ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) multilingual, wot? It doesn't have to be word-for-word, if there's some sort of idiomatic phrase that would work better in there. Thanks in advance!
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Comments: Read 10 or Add Your Own.
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I used a grammar and dictionary to translate "You'd be so easy to love" as "Byddi di serchu mor fel" is that correct?
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
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I'm a librarian currently cataloguing a book by Alexandr Ivanovich Kuprin (1870-1938) called "Yama (The Pit)" in its English translation. There seems to be some dispute whether 'The Pit' is the English translation of 'Yama' (Yama then being the original Russian title) or whether it's an additional title. (Like "Yama: the pit") Any light shed on this would be of great help.
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Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
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My novel's main character is a middle-aged, upper-middle-class, well-educated man from Naples who has since moved to the US. He is fluent in English, but I'm wondering what terms of endearment he might use that would be in Italian or Neopolitan. During the course of the story he has two lovers, one male, one female, so if there's terms of endearment that are specific to a certain gender that's cool too.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
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Female speaker addressing young adult women in her statement (it's for a promo).
"All you pathetic children playing at being monsters, meet the real thing -- meet your doom!" (doom in reference to the speaker)
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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I put "Kaede" into an online dictionary and it gave me: "Momiji", "Maple". Is that correct? ^_^
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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I have a bilingual character (male, mid-thirties, from Montreal, fairly flaming and slightly drunk) flirting with a recent acquaintance (male, American, also slightly drunk), and at the end of a longer English conversation, I'm aiming for something like the following exchange:
Character A, in English: Oh, do you speak French?
Character B, in French: Of course, darling. All you had to do was ask.
Two questions:
1) What term(s) of endearment would B be likely to use in friendly, flirtatious banter with someone he doesn't actually know that well (but would like to get to know better)? I know a few, but I'm not really solid on the appropriate level of intimacy here.
2) I'm completely lost on the second part. Is there a phrase/construction out there with the same general meaning of "you only needed to x"? If not, how else would he communicate that general idea? (It's not really a plot point, just a little thematic aside, and while it's a thematic aside I'd like to have in there, I can remove that bit with no structural damage if it Just Can't Work.)
Thanks you so much!
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
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Please, someone better in Latin than me help me out? Translate this into English (or German, if you like)?
Psychologia rationalis quam dicatur: Postquam Psychologiam empiricam ab eam distinguere coepi philosophiae parte, quam supra (§ 58) sub Psychologiae nomine definivimus; huic nomen Psychologiae rationalis imposui. Non igitur opus est, ut novam Psychologiae rationalis definitionem hic condamus.
(C. Wolff, Discursus, 1724)
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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The following 2 questions ought to be relatively painless for German speakers (I hope).
1. Am I correct in guessing that the German (actually, Austrian) policespeak equivalent of 'grievous bodily harm' is Schwerverletzung?
2. Can anyone suggest any *disparaging* words for homosexuals in general (i.e. not specifically male or female)? Is Schwule a disparaging words for male homosexuals? If there are no disparaging words that would cover both men and women, can anyone suggest two separate disparaging words? (The person using them is a member of the ultra-right wing Austrian Freedom Party, and the villain of the story, and therefore disparaging words would be 'in character').
Danke vielmals.
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Comments: Read 13 or Add Your Own.
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I've got one character speaking to another in German to avoid being understood by English-speaking characters they're fighting. German character #1 wants to say something to the effect of, "Stay on Smith." (That is, continue focusing on Smith, don't take on the other bad guys.)
I usually try to translate first and see if my attempt is halfway decent, but this seems too potentially idiomatic. Help?
Thanks!
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Comments: Read 10 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
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Not, exactly, a translation but, you guys understand.
I have a Brummie (Yardley, exactly, if that makes a difference) strapped to a gurney in a room in a hospital.
Do they call it a gurney? Is it called something else? Just "hospital bed" won't work, since it's closer to what paramedics use, than a hospital bed.
Help?
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Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
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worried.
hopeful.
curious.
aggravated.