Translation required

Postby xtc » Fri Mar 07, 2014 5:11 pm

What's the American equivalent to: 'e'm an arse?
I've just listened to Mr. Paul Simon waste a brilliant band.
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

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Re: Translation required

Postby sarobah » Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:02 pm

Hi x...

I cannot answer your question, but I am dying to know the context :o)
Words, like Nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.

Re: Translation required

Postby xtc » Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:56 am

He played a gig for the BBC in London. Superb band. Bloody awful performance. As I said: 'e'm an arse.

"'E'm" is the West Country equivalent for "he is".
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

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Re: Translation required

Postby Jason Toddman » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:19 pm

Here's what I think is the best American equivalent: :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o30wacwdoc
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Translation required

Postby xtc » Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:49 am

Fun, and I'm glad I saw it but not really relevant.
Have you heard of Jeremy Clarkson?
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

More by the same author: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22729

Re: Translation required

Postby Jason Toddman » Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:22 am

xtc wrote:Fun, and I'm glad I saw it but not really relevant.

Well, i thought the confusion was about the meaning of the word arse, which is (supposedly) a polite way of saying ass... at least, in the US. Hence the video link I made.
If you weren't trying to define arse, and the whole phrase seemed of no need for 'translation', then i have no idea what kind of answer you are looking for.

xtc wrote: Have you heard of Jeremy Clarkson?

Nope, though i could Google the name if need be. So if he is relevant to this topic (is he an arse?) I am even further lost.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Translation required

Postby xtc » Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:47 am

The very epitome of being an arse! But he makes a good living out of it.
He is very intelligent, has a good facility for trivia and has developed a completely objectionable persona. A genious! But an arse.

I will always treasure the TV quiz show where he was guest presenter. There came a hiatus when he couldn't get the response he required so he calmly lit-up and announced his intention of waiting to the expressed outrage of the panelists. It was almost certainly staged and superbly theatrical but what an arse.

It was the whole term, "'E'm an arse" that wanted translating, not the individual elements. It is very difficult to translate between cultures. For instance: the English term, "The cobbler's children go worse shod" is best translated into German by the equivalent of, "In the Blacksmith's house the nails are made of wood". There are no words in common but the meanings are equivalent.
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

More by the same author: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22729

Re: Translation required

Postby Jason Toddman » Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:55 am

xtc wrote:The very epitome of being an arse! But he makes a good living out of it.

Yes, we have a number of people here just like that. Many of the folks at FOX News and the conservative politicians they support come to mind.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Translation required

Postby drawscore » Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:15 pm

Into American English, "He's an ass." (Or "He's an asshole.")

Drawscore

Re: Translation required

Postby Jason Toddman » Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:10 pm

xtc wrote: It was the whole term, "'E'm an arse" that wanted translating, not the individual elements.

Why? Is the translation somehow more than the sum of its parts?
drawscore wrote:Into American English, "He's an ass." (Or "He's an asshole.")
Drawscore

Well, yeah. I thought we'd already established that guys, since xtc himself explained what the first part meant (though it wasn't at all hard to figure out, I figured it meant I'm, not he is) and I explained the second part myself. Again, that's why I linked a similarly-named song.
So xtc I really can't understand why the whole thing needs further translating; unless there's some deeper meaning or something else you're driving at, the meaning - just as Drawscore and I both said (and if we agree it must be right) - seems pretty clear-cut to me.
Although it still seemed to me the actual proper meaning would be "I'M an asshole"; just like the title of the song).
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

Re: Translation required

Postby Ducttapestar » Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:07 am

xtc wrote:It was the whole term, "'E'm an arse" that wanted translating, not the individual elements. It is very difficult to translate between cultures. For instance: the English term, "The cobbler's children go worse shod" is best translated into German by the equivalent of, "In the Blacksmith's house the nails are made of wood". There are no words in common but the meanings are equivalent.

Forgive my potential ignorance.
It SOUNDS like irony. The blacksmith creates nails, but he is too much of a cheapskate to give up the resources for his own house. Or the cobbler not wanting to use resources for his children, so they get the "less-than-superb" shoes he makes.
Unless of course you meant cobbler as the old english term for idiot. (Or an idiot who makes shoes...)

Re: Translation required

Postby xtc » Thu Apr 10, 2014 8:26 am

No you're right, they are equivalent sayings in the two languages.
I wanted to know if there was an equivalent to "'E'm an arse" into American which might not necessarily use the same words. "He's an asshole" doesn't seem to carry the same cultural weight and lacks the use of dialect, i.e." 'e'm " for "he is".
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!

More by the same author: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22729