[Lexicog] Re: idiomatic phrases; was Fuzzy Phrasal Typology

[bolstar1]

Scott, good points. 
By nature, phrases have nuances, words in isolation (life "fire" -- 
fuego in Spanish or "five" -- "funf" in German) can be translated 
verbatum. Phrases seem like a different animal (like "between a rock 
and a hard place" -- in a dilemma -- are sometimes fully 
translatable. In Korean "between a rock and a hard place" is spoken 
as "chin tae yang nan." That is the easy part. It's when there is no 
equivalent phrase that it gets tricky.  
"Live and let live." was popularized in WWI, referring to the 
stalemate on the western front. "There's no accounting for taste." is 
from Latin, of unknown exact origin. 

Keep writing....
Scott Nelson


My research shows that "Live and let live" was popularized in WWI, 
related to the stalemate on the western front. 

- In lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com, "Scott" <Scat at ...> wrote:
>
> It is interesting to note that many "idiomatic phrases' are 
translated by
> other phrases in
> 
> foreign languages; e.g., "De gustibus non est disputandum"  = Of 
taste,
> there is no dispute.
> 
> To each his own and There's no accounting for tastes have slightly 
different
> connotations
> 
> Chacun a son gout (missing the accents)  =  Each to his own taste
> 
> A cada su misma  = to each his own (this sounds as if it might have 
been a
> translation; however, I do not know which came first.
> 
> Does this close equivalence exist in other Romance and Germanic 
languages?
> 
>  
> 
> Scott Catledge
> 
> Professor Emeritus
>



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