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The best movie quotes of all time (translation game) Topic is solved

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

Explorer wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 1:04 am
McGonnagle wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 12:52 am
MustafaOuz526752 wrote: Thu May 04, 2023 8:42 am

My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
— Forrest Gump


There is something I don't quite understand about this English sentence. Can anyone kindly help me with this? Why is this "...life was..." but not "...life is..."? or the "life" here means "her own life"?

Well, it's something she said in the past. Anyway, I used the present tense in my translation because I think it's a timeless expression. "Life is like a box of chocolates". It was true in the past, it is true now, and it'll always be.

Thanks! When I read this English sentence for the first time, I felt it was fine. But then when I tried to translate it into Latin, I started to get confused. I think this is one of the difficult parts of English grammar.

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

Here is my Latin translation. Feel free to give me your opinion!

Mamma mea semper dixit vitam sicut socolatas compositas esse. Numquam scies quod nancisceris. — Forrest Gump

(Litteral translation: My mama always said life is like gathered chocolates (/chocolates put together). You will never know what you will get/encounter/find.)
  
Originally, I thought of translating "box"(cistella) as the sentence is, but since the point is "various chocolates" but not "a box", so I omitted "a box' from the translation. But I also know that in some Latin books, there is an expression just like " poculum aquae" (a cup of water). Any idea about this?

► Show Spoiler

Inceptor linguae Latinae sum. Latine scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar.
(I'm Latin beginner. I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction.)

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gmads
Mexico

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by gmads »

🇮🇹   Mia mamma diceva sempre che la vita è come una scatola di cioccolati. Non sai mai cosa otterrai.

🦎  Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality.  🦎
Antinomy - Imagination

🇲🇽 :us:  ·  :it: 🇧🇷  ·  :ru: 🇦🇪

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EranBarLev
Israel

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by EranBarLev »

McGonnagle wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 12:52 am

There is something I don't quite understand about this English sentence. Can anyone kindly help me with this? Why is this "...life was..." but not "...life is..."? or the "life" here means "her own life"?

English grammar has a dreadful rule called "sequence of tenses". That is in indirect speech if you start the sentence in the past, you have to change the tense of the quote to the past. I think this rule exists in other European languages as well, but in Hebrew we don't have that, the tense of the quote doesn't change.

🇮🇱N 🇬🇧C1 🇪🇸B2 🇵🇹B1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A1 🇷🇺A1

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MoniqueMaRie
Germany

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by MoniqueMaRie »

@McGonnagle where/how did you find a Latin word for "chocolate"?

Native :de: / using :uk: / learning :fr: :cn: :it: / once learnt Image / trying to understand at least a bit :poland:

MustafaOuz526752

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by MustafaOuz526752 »

McGonnagle wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 12:52 am

There is something I don't quite understand about this English sentence. Can anyone kindly help me with this? Why is this "...life was..." but not "...life is..."? or the "life" here means "her own life"?

Apparently, that's something that baffles native English speakers as well. If you check the comment section and other movie quotes websites, you'll see many people remember that Forrest says "... life is ...".

MustafaOuz526752

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by MustafaOuz526752 »

MoniqueMaRie wrote: Thu May 04, 2023 8:35 pm

If you say "maman" it is without "ma" (as far as I remember - at least it sounds strange to me).

Hmm, I was sure that ma maman was idiomatic. There's even a movie called Ma maman est en Amérique, elle a rencontré Buffalo Bill. What do you say @vero-bis?

MoniqueMaRie wrote: Thu May 04, 2023 8:35 pm

And
"on ne sait jamais ce qu'on va recevoir"

recevoir = to get
avoir = to have

Thank you! I will pay attention to those.

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

MoniqueMaRie wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 7:12 pm

@McGonnagle where/how did you find a Latin word for "chocolate"?

The Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis: It is a New Latin dictionary published by the Vatican-based Latinitas Foundation. The book is an attempt to update the Latin language with a definition of neologisms in Latin. (from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicon_R ... atinitatis)

I don't own this dictionary, but you can find a smaller version of this dictionary on Vatican official website (mostly in Italian) :
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/inst ... _it.html#1

Inceptor linguae Latinae sum. Latine scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar.
(I'm Latin beginner. I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction.)

Jade.S.Exner
Albania

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Jade.S.Exner »

EranBarLev wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 4:40 am
McGonnagle wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 12:52 am

There is something I don't quite understand about this English sentence. Can anyone kindly help me with this? Why is this "...life was..." but not "...life is..."? or the "life" here means "her own life"?

English grammar has a dreadful rule called "sequence of tenses". That is in indirect speech if you start the sentence in the past, you have to change the tense of the quote to the past. I think this rule exists in other European languages as well, but in Hebrew we don't have that, the tense of the quote doesn't change.

This is a good example of English being stricter with the use of tenses and also having to consider the implied mode of this sentence, in this case reported speech or indirect speech. This is indicated by the introductory sentence 'my moma said', so you are reporting what another person said at some point in the past - in this way the rest of the statement has to follow suit and any other verbs have to be in a past tense form.

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

MustafaOuz526752 wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 7:27 pm
McGonnagle wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 12:52 am

There is something I don't quite understand about this English sentence. Can anyone kindly help me with this? Why is this "...life was..." but not "...life is..."? or the "life" here means "her own life"?

Apparently, that's something that baffles native English speakers as well. If you check the comment section and other movie quotes websites, you'll see many people remember that Forrest says "... life is ...".

Thank you, @Explorer, @EranBarLev, @MustafaOuz526752, and@Jade.S.ExnerI, I remember learning something like @EranBarLev mentioned; Sequence of tenses.
However I am a bit confused again as there seems to be an exception for this. It says, when the principal clause in the past tense, the subordinate clause can be in the present tense if it is citing a universal truth/fact. (https://www.vedantu.com also https://www.english-grammar-today.com)

For example,
The king said that all humans are mortal.
They learnt at school that honesty is the best policy.

I wonder if the sentence "Life is like a box of chocolates." is also a statement of a universal fact, just like @Explorer says; It was true in the past, it is true now, and it'll always be. Any idea?
I appreciate any help with my English and other languages!!

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vero-bis
France

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by vero-bis »

MustafaOuz526752 wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 7:40 pm
MoniqueMaRie wrote: Thu May 04, 2023 8:35 pm

If you say "maman" it is without "ma" (as far as I remember - at least it sounds strange to me).

Hmm, I was sure that ma maman was idiomatic. There's even a movie called Ma maman est en Amérique, elle a rencontré Buffalo Bill. What do you say @vero-bis?

Right Mustafa , you can say : ma maman or maman.
Où est-elle, ta maman ? Elle est là, ma maman.

In the movie in French, the quote is :
Maman disait toujours, « la vie, c'est comme une boîte de chocolats : on ne sait jamais sur quoi on va tomber. »

Véro
B2 : 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 / B1 : 🇧🇷 / A2 : 🇩🇪

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

I'm going to make a little change with my Latin translation;

Mamma mea semper dixit vitam sicut capusulam socolatarum esse. Numquam scies quod nancisceris. — Forrest Gump

► Show Spoiler

Inceptor linguae Latinae sum. Latine scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar.
(I'm Latin beginner. I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction.)

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Dana_Dany Danuta
Poland

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Dana_Dany Danuta »

... a 🇨🇿 česky řekneme toto: 🙂 ... and in 🇨🇿 Czech we will say this:

Když musíte střílet, střílejte. Nemluv. - Hodný, zlý a ošklivý.

.... and in my 🇵🇱 Polish ;) we would say:

Kiedy musisz strzelać, strzelaj. Nie mów. - Dobry, zły i brzydki.

Native language: 🇵🇱 Duolingo levels

Be smart and write poems. :D

MustafaOuz526752

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by MustafaOuz526752 »

vero-bis wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 8:19 pm

Right Mustafa , you can say : ma maman or maman.
Où est-elle, ta maman ? Elle est là, ma maman.

In the movie in French, the quote is :
Maman disait toujours, « la vie, c'est comme une boîte de chocolats : on ne sait jamais sur quoi on va tomber. »

Merci, vero-bis, tu es le meilleur !

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MoniqueMaRie
Germany

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by MoniqueMaRie »

So it is on me to provide the chinese translation again?

我妈妈从来说:
生活跟一盒巧克力一樣, 你从来不知道你会得到什么

► Show Spoiler

Native :de: / using :uk: / learning :fr: :cn: :it: / once learnt Image / trying to understand at least a bit :poland:

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vero-bis
France

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by vero-bis »

MustafaOuz526752 wrote: Mon May 08, 2023 8:49 am
vero-bis wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 8:19 pm

Right Mustafa , you can say : ma maman or maman.
Où est-elle, ta maman ? Elle est là, ma maman.

In the movie in French, the quote is :
Maman disait toujours, « la vie, c'est comme une boîte de chocolats : on ne sait jamais sur quoi on va tomber. »

Merci, vero-bis, tu es le meilleur !

Thanks Mustafa!
Je suis LA meilleure ! :lol:

Véro
B2 : 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 / B1 : 🇧🇷 / A2 : 🇩🇪

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

MoniqueMaRie wrote: Mon May 08, 2023 1:45 pm

So it is on me to provide the chinese translation again?

我妈妈从来说:
生活跟一盒巧克力一樣, 你从来不知道你会得到什么

► Show Spoiler

I only do Chinese translation if no one is doing;)

"从来" means "always" and "从来不" means "never" as you say, but it is only limited to the case of "from the past to the PRESENT". These two sentences are either past tense or future tense ("You never know" indicating "the future"), neither "从来" nor "从来不" applies here.

"...跟...一樣" is as you say, is should be "exactly like", so it is not fitting here.

Others seem all correct to me. 加油!!

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Dana_Dany Danuta
Poland

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Dana_Dany Danuta »

I don't think Esperanto will be difficult to understand. 🙂

Mia patrino ĉiam diris, ke la vivo estas kiel skatolo da bombonoj. Vi neniam scias, kion vi ricevos.

Last edited by Dana_Dany Danuta on Wed May 10, 2023 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Native language: 🇵🇱 Duolingo levels

Be smart and write poems. :D

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EranBarLev
Israel

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by EranBarLev »

Again no one has done Spanish, so I'm doing it as extra:
Mi mamá siempre decía que la vida era como una caja de chocolates. Nunca se sabe lo que se consigue.

🇮🇱N 🇬🇧C1 🇪🇸B2 🇵🇹B1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A1 🇷🇺A1

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Dana_Dany Danuta
Poland

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Dana_Dany Danuta »

I will translate into Czech and Polish. 🙂

🇨🇿 Moje matka vždycky říkala, že život je jako bonboniéra. Nikdy nevíš, co dostaneš.

🇵🇱 Moja mama zawsze mówiła: „Życie jest jak pudełko czekoladek. Nigdy nie wiesz, co ci się trafi.”

Native language: 🇵🇱 Duolingo levels

Be smart and write poems. :D

Jade.S.Exner
Albania

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Jade.S.Exner »

Due to double bank holiday weekends in the UK, here's my late Welsh contribution:
Roedd fy mam bob amser yn dweud bod bywed fel bocs o siocledi. Dydy chi byth yn gwybod be dych chi'n mynd i'w gael. 😁

Cifi

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Cifi »

EranBarLev wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 9:13 am

Again no one has done Spanish, so I'm doing it as extra:
Mi mamá siempre decía que la vida era como una caja de chocolates. Nunca se sabe lo que se consigue.

I couldn't do Spanish (my translation would have been very similar to yours) because I was too curious and looked up the official version. They put it "mamá siempre decía: la vida es como una caja de bombones, nunca sabes lo que te va a tocar".

I was surprised that they used tocar here. I remember "me toca" as "it's my turn" (maybe this was taught on Duolingo, or I picked it up elsewhere), but this seems different.

Native: :de: Intermediate: :uk: Lower intermediate: :es: Beginner: :fr: Absolute beginner: 🇬🇷
(If there are errors in what I'm writing in either language, please do correct me - I'll never take it as offense or something like that.)

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Explorer
Portugal

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Explorer »

Cifi wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 11:31 am

I was surprised that they used tocar here. I remember "me toca" as "it's my turn" (maybe this was taught on Duolingo, or I picked it up elsewhere), but this seems different.

"Tocar" also means to get or win something by luck. For example, to win the lottery (me ha tocado la lotería).

🇬🇧 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 | Learning: 🇯🇵 |

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

Explorer wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 12:41 pm
Cifi wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 11:31 am

I was surprised that they used tocar here. I remember "me toca" as "it's my turn" (maybe this was taught on Duolingo, or I picked it up elsewhere), but this seems different.

"Tocar" also means to get or win something by luck. For example, to win the lottery (me ha tocado la lotería).

@Explorer
I know very little Spanish, but I think the Latin meaning of "nanciscor" that I chose for this translation is somewhere between the Spanish words "consegui" and "encontrar." I think it means that although it is true that you have sought it yourself, in the end you will leave it to nature and get something. Do you think the Spanish word "toscartocar" is similar to the Latin word "nanciscor"? Just curious...

Last edited by McGonnagle on Wed May 10, 2023 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Explorer
Portugal

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Explorer »

McGonnagle wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 2:06 pm

@Explorer
I know very little Spanish, but I think the Latin meaning of "nanciscor" that I chose for this translation is somewhere between the Spanish words "consegui" and "encontrar." I think it means that although it is true that you have sought it yourself, in the end you will leave it to nature and get something. Do you think the Spanish word "toscar" is similar to the Latin word "nanciscor"? Just curious...

As a speaker of Portuñol, I don't recall hearing the word toscar in Spanish. However, in Portuguese, it does exist and is a colloquial synonym for "to understand" or "to notice".

The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy does include coscarse with the same meaning as in Portuguese, and says it's derived from the Latin coxicare. From what I can see, the original meaning of the word has been greatly distorted over the centuries.

Perhaps other Spanish speakers can provide more information. @eI000yo @gmads @Manex @MatOzone @Teresa114286

🇬🇧 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 | Learning: 🇯🇵 |

McGonnagle
Japan

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by McGonnagle »

@Explorer
I'm sorry, I misspelled it, I meant "tocar" in "Nunca sabes lo que te va a tocar." not "toscar". It looks like Germanic or onomatopoeic origin not ancient Latin.

Inceptor linguae Latinae sum. Latine scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar.
(I'm Latin beginner. I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction.)

Cifi

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Cifi »

McGonnagle wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 3:00 pm

@Explorer
I'm sorry, I misspelled it, I meant "tocar" in "Nunca sabes lo que te va a tocar." not "toscar". It looks like Germanic or onomatopoeic origin not ancient Latin.

RAE says its origin is onomatopoeic:

De la onomatopeya toc

And I had to look up onomatopeya and learned something new again :D

Native: :de: Intermediate: :uk: Lower intermediate: :es: Beginner: :fr: Absolute beginner: 🇬🇷
(If there are errors in what I'm writing in either language, please do correct me - I'll never take it as offense or something like that.)

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gmads
Mexico

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by gmads »

  • lat. coxicare (angustiarse) → coscarse = angustiarse por algo → preocuparse por algo
    → interesarse por algo → darse cuenta de algo, enterarse
  • coscarse

    • Pronominal. Coloquial. concomerse. © Real Academia Española.
    • Pronominal. Coloquial. Darse cuenta, percatarse. No se cosca de nada. © Real Academia Española.
    • Mover una persona los hombros y la espalda rápidamente para aliviar el picor - Ejemplo: al salir del gallinero empezó a coscarse. © Larousse Editorial.
    • Impacientarse, estar o sentirse muy angustiado - Ejemplo: se coscaba con sólo recordar la pérdida del bolso y la documentación. © Larousse Editorial.

  • El léxico diferencial de Don Benito (pdf)

    pag. 50…
    4.2.1. Actividad humana física
    a) Verbos y sustantivos de movimiento
    coscarse 'moverse'

    pag. 129…
    Coscarse. prnl. Moverse. Se usa en la expresión ni coscarse, ni se cosca.
    – ahí le tienes, está viendo que no podemos con el saco entre los dos, y ni se cosca

  • coscarse (Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española)
    … concomerse; toparse los animales



:hash:  ㆍespañol ㆍvocabulario

🦎  Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality.  🦎
Antinomy - Imagination

🇲🇽 :us:  ·  :it: 🇧🇷  ·  :ru: 🇦🇪

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Explorer
Portugal

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by Explorer »

Esperanto:

Image Mia panjo ĉiam diris ke la vivo estas kiel skatolo da ĉokoladoj. Oni neniam scias kion oni ricevos.

🇬🇧 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 | Learning: 🇯🇵 |

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EranBarLev
Israel

Re: The best movie quotes of all time (translation game)

Post by EranBarLev »

Who picks the new quote for this week?

🇮🇱N 🇬🇧C1 🇪🇸B2 🇵🇹B1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A1 🇷🇺A1

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