I am translating into English a famous refrain from Spanish, Ahí fue Troya. That means something like Then a big trouble started. I am looking for some correspondingly recognizable refrain I can use in English for the translation. Because this is a work of literature, having a polished style and wording is very important. Answer … Read more
I came across this vivid Spanish expression today and have been wondering how it might best be said in English: “Más vale ser cabeza de ratón, que cola de león” which, literally, means that it is preferable to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion. The sense of it is … Read more
I’m translating a book and the author has written down a saying that can be translated literally as “If you want to hit a dog you can easily/quickly find a stick” Like, if I wanted to hit a dog, finding something with which to hit it will be easy as I’ll be looking for anything … Read more
I would be interested to know the origin and evolution of meaning, along with example usage, for the phrase “last days of Rome”. Answer Literal use of "last days of Rome" appears at least as early as this instance from "‘Our Best Society’," in the Erie [Pennsylvania] Observer (April 30, 1853): There is a picture … Read more
My question specifically relates to learning a new skill. Which could be used in the following example: An aspiring athlete trains for an hour each day without feeling like she is making much progress. However…. One analogy that comes to mind, although not terribly elegant, is that if one adds a sufficient number of water … Read more
The quote says “Don’t do school, eat your drugs, stay in vegetables”. I realize the last part does not mean something like “remain in the box with potatoes” literally, so what does it mean? Answer A bit of context to where this comes from might help. This is pretty clearly a humorous transposition of phrases. … Read more
Fellow English Speakers, I’ve been trying to translate this common saying from Spanish to English: Sacar un clavo con otro clavo. However, I cannot find any translation that satisfies my curiosity, I read some of them from websites like this one: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/un-clavo-saca-otro-clavo.205744/ Some of the suggestions are: One nail/poison/devil drives out another. The best way … Read more
There’s a very interesting asian saying, describing dichotomy of a person’s attitude towards others. My quote is probably incorrect, but it says roughy: “I’m against my brother, I’m with my brother against my cousin, I’m with my brother and cousin against everyone else” Can you help me recall, how this saying sounds exactly and what … Read more
It’s often seen with “has,” but the frequent appearance of “hath” suggests the saying may be much, much older. Early Modern English always suggests Shakespeare to me, but my Google-fu hath failed me in this instance. Perhaps someone here can shed some light. Answer The oldest instance that I could find in a series of … Read more
I’m looking for that old saying that means “the written word is more powerful than the spoken” It suggests that getting an idea on paper and publishing it can reach many more people (because of books, newspapers, magazines etc) than simply saying it one time Answer You have the Latin proverb: Verba volant, scripta manent. … Read more
