Horse & Ham in the Pocket

[yurifink]

Translating a Chinese sentence I have faced an insurmountable obstacle of four characters (they are stressed). Who is luckier than me? The rough content: At a TV debate the famous Swiss politician takes something --a handkerchief ???(so / horse / ham) out of his pocket and says

在一轮围绕这一主题的电视讨论会上，右翼人士、瑞士人民党主席于利·毛雷尔（Ueli Maurer）从口袋里拿出一块帕尔马火腿，调侃地说道：

Regards/

[KatyBr]

If he was trying to make points it was a ham.

Katy

I have few pockets that could accomodate a horse!

[Brazilian dude]

I think I would understand Chinese better if you guys used traditional. Don't change, though, just for my sake.

Brazilian dude

[Flaminius]

你馬火腿? You mount on fiery thigh?

Is this politics or erotics?

FLam

[yurifink]

Katy wrote:

If he was trying to make points it was a ham

Me?? Making points?? Never. It was the points of a poor little horse, that's all.

Flam wrote:

Is this politics or erotics?

It's old Flam trying to be erotic!


The traditional version of the compound: 爾馬火腿

Regards

[KatyBr]

At a TV debate the famous Swiss politician takes something --a handkerchief ???(so / horse / ham) out of his pocket and says

Katy wrote:

If he was trying to make points it was a ham.

Katy

I have few pockets that could accomodate a horse!

the swiss polititian took something from his pocket. I was thinking dinner, a ham, it was a joke. I oc meant to check the context of the sentance for a logical word to fill in the translation...
sheeee!YOU DIDN'T THINK i WAS TELLING A DIRTY JOKE. WERE YOU?

Katy
Humph!

[yurifink]

Katy

YOU DIDN'T THINK i WAS TELLING A DIRTY JOKE. WERE YOU?

I didn't think. And I didn't mean to tell something like that in the answer. It's an old problem. If your puns are too complicated, there's a danger to seem obscene or in any case to be misunderstood. Your English is very specific. I thought over your 'making points' OK. Point=something requiring discussion. Making points? What does it mean? I know that in every language when speaking nonchalantly
'make','delatj', 'la'ascóth', 'machen' substitutes every verb.
Ham? Wow, I thought, you mean overdone theatricality. So:
'He means to propose points for discussion but his style is overdone theatricality'. Just a pun. And I answered with a pun, hinting that points = legs and mane of a horse. Just a lexical pun.
Regards.

[KatyBr]

]

I didn't think. And I didn't mean to tell something like that in the answer. It's an old problem. If your puns are too complicated, there's a danger to seem obscene or in any case to be misunderstood. Your English is very specific. I thought over your 'making points' OK.

lol, I wasn't "on your case" (mad at you) I was kidding. "Make points" is an idiom that means to say or do something to impress someone.

:Lol:
Katy

[yurifink]

I present my solution of the enigma.

一块帕尔马火腿 = a slice of Parma ham.

Regards.

[Flaminius]

At lo' ma'amina kama ani margish Tipesh.

But what is the connection between Parma ham and a right-wing politician?

[KatyBr]

but ham is pig meat, ewe! I'd say it was closer to left-wingers,lol

Katy
pigs eat up everything(all your money) and destroy what they don't like.

[yurifink]

Flam wrote

At lo' ma'amina kama ani margish Tipesh

אתה לא תאמין עד כמה אני מרגיש את עצמי טיפש
תשובתי: ההרגשה הזאת היא הגורל לכל לומד שפות זרות.

Flam wrote

But what is the connection between Parma ham and a right-wing politician?

This politician showed the slice of Parma ham and said that there were many nice things like this to permit them crossing the Swiss frontier. But they had not to let in the criminals. However after joining the Schengen Treaty they would lose control over the frontier.

Regards

[anders]

Yuri,

You should have underlined the pa in paerma as well.

[yurifink]

Culpa mea

[tcward]

Katy, maybe the politician was proposing more pork barrel legislation...

-Tim