Horse & Ham in the Pocket

A discussion of the peculiarities of languages and the differences between them.
yurifink
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Horse & Ham in the Pocket

Postby yurifink » Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:45 pm

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/
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas

KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:03 pm

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

Katy

I have few pockets that could accomodate a horse!

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Tue Jun 28, 2005 7:02 pm

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

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

Flaminius
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Postby Flaminius » Tue Jun 28, 2005 10:47 pm

你馬火腿? You mount on fiery thigh?

Is this politics or erotics?

FLam

yurifink
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Postby yurifink » Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:58 am

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
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas

KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:13 am

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
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Postby yurifink » Wed Jun 29, 2005 12:00 pm

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.
Last edited by yurifink on Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas

KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Wed Jun 29, 2005 12:32 pm

]

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
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Postby yurifink » Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:18 am

I present my solution of the enigma.

一块帕尔马火腿 = a slice of Parma ham.

Regards.
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas

Flaminius
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Postby Flaminius » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:22 am

At lo' ma'amina kama ani margish Tipesh.

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

KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:44 am

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
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Postby yurifink » Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:55 am

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
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas

anders
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Postby anders » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:52 pm

Yuri,

You should have underlined the pa in paerma as well.
Irren ist männlich

yurifink
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Postby yurifink » Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:20 pm

Culpa mea
Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas

tcward
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Postby tcward » Sun Jul 03, 2005 5:55 pm

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

-Tim


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