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English native speakers, please help. I am translating a book and came across certain lines (the bold parts) that I don't understand. Could you help me with their meaning? Thanks a lot.
‘How is your mother?’ she continued as if she needed to ask after such a tragedy. ‘Bad, since we were bombed out, miss. We're living with her sister and they don't get on, and me dad's with the Eighth Army in Italy. It’s all a bit of a crush.’
Roddy pushed Clare as Ella filled him in with her story, unaware that he was eyeing her with renewed interest. She would stop the traffic at his base with those looks. Perhaps if he’d stayed in England who knew … he sighed. Now she was spoken for and out of bounds. Served him right for leaving his return so long.
As the dust, smoke and the mist cleared Roddy could see they’d hit their target and knew they must take advantage of the hill and move forward ready to reclaim the ground they'd already lost. But in the scrum and rocks of the shattered village there might be Allied troops waiting, ready to join forces and seize more positions. If only they could link up and move as one unit. ‘Forward,’ waved their commander. ‘We've got a hold up there,’ he yelled as they formed a ragged line, pulling the mules up the craggy path, sure of a welcome from Allied troops.
Prosperity sat easy on Roddy, but he'd worked hard to develop the Express Diner end of the business.
Ella was such an unknown to him now. She chose not to come to his wedding, which had hurt, he admitted. She was modest about her success and reputation as a sculptor. Her infrequent letters were full of Clare, never herself. She was the nearest thing he had to a sister and he hoped there would be time for them to get to know each other all over again. He wanted her to like Patti and Kathleen and feel they were all one big family. She’d always been a loner, an outsider, brought into their midst through the kindness of his grandfather and mother. "When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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Thanks for your help. I have figured most of the parts from your reply except for the above quoted ones (See my reply in green). This is an English book that I am translating into my native language and I am not saying they are wrong. I just wasn't sure of the meaning of certain idioms because I couldn't find them anywhere.
"When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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Served him right == means that he feels that he deserves the negative situation he is in.
"For leaving his return for so long"....Here you can not do a literal translation. You simply have to reword it to: " for having been away so long."
"been" away implies that he has returned from a long journey, so there's no need to say that he actually returned. Been means to leave and come back. Gone means to go but you are still away.
Soooooooo, just say : "Serves him right for having been away for so long." <---This is said by the omniscient narrator, but with an implied emotional connection to the protagonist. Therefore, if you want ot emphasize that they are his thoughts and not the story tellers (in this situation that would be correct), then write it in italics. Serves him right for having been away for so long.
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Now I get it. Thanks.
Another idiom I came across: Each to his own. "When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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To each, his own. | |
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Oops, if you're asking what that means:
To each, his own. <--- that means everybody has their own style or taste. | |
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Yes, thanks.
I wasn't sure if it meant that usually people or things of the same kind go together or if one gets what they deserve. I had few ideas, but this didn't cross my mind. so thanks once again. "When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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"To each, his own" is often spoken in two voices.
#1) as an acknowedgment of our differences
#2) as a sarcastic remark about how somebody's style, method, or way of thinking is beneath your own. A better remark is "there's no accounting for taste." which is always sarcastic. | |
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Roddy pushed Clare as Ella filled him in with her story, unaware that he was eyeing her with renewed interest. She would stop the traffic at his base with those looks. Perhaps if he’d stayed in England who knew … he sighed. Now she was spoken for and out of bounds. Served him right for leaving his return so long. .
Return- the girl he was coming back to after duty. While he was gone...she.got with some one else. I think it also shows an aspect of objectively looking at a potentially emotional situation...like any good soldier should. It my just be a reference to his home base or something....but I would like to believe the first example. That's what I gather from the passage. Like Imago said, it is awkward wording, which lead me to believe it was for a reason. Reason being the one I suggested. [Edited 5/28/12 16:31pm] | |
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Thank you, guys, for everything. You have helped me a lot. I really appreciate it. "When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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...this is why I stick to books with pictures...
By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! | |
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One more thing. What is "OT U"? Here's the excerpt:
There’s talk of a ground job coming up for me. I suppose a third tour of ops is pushing it, but experience is what helps get the younger chaps through their first sorties. Firing torpedoes into submarines on a stinking night needs training and practice. You get protective of these young boys straight out of school, so green, so enthusiastic and so quickly lost without proper tactical training. Yes, I can do some of this in an OT U but we’ll see how things are in the new year. "When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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And GROIN NIGGLE? Is that a desease or something? "When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all." | |
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Why don't you translate something that is well written in the first place? This hardly seems worth it. We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves. | |
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I always joke that's one reason I studied art history - the books almost always have pictures!
The check. The string he dropped. The Mona Lisa. The musical notes taken out of a hat. The glass. The toy shotgun painting. The things he found. Therefore, everything seen–every object, that is, plus the process of looking at it–is a Duchamp. | |
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By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! | |
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