Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
The cat\'s mother
Turkish translation:
onun bir adı var
Added to glossary by
Hellinas
Apr 1, 2015 19:37
9 yrs ago
English term
The cat's mother
Non-PRO
English to Turkish
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
idiom
An idiomatic phrase often used by women if you use it of a woman who is present when you c all her 'she'.
(idiomatic, UK) A rebuke especially directed towards children for having referred to a woman in the third person when she is present, instead of using her name or a respectable or appropriate title. Example:-
- "She's coming on the trip with us too!"
- "Who is 'she', the cat's mother?"
- "Sorry, gran is coming with us too."
- "Good. When someone is present, use their name."
The Oxford English Dictionary says the catchphrase “Who’s she—the cat’s mother?” (or some variation thereof) is “said to one (esp. a child) who uses the pronoun of the third person singular impolitely or with inadequate reference.”
A child can get a scolding for using the word “she” instead of a name, especially if the “she” (often an older person, like one’s mother) was present.
And the scolding consists of “Who’s ‘she’—the cat’s mother?”
Is there a Turkish eqivalent idiomatic expression?
(idiomatic, UK) A rebuke especially directed towards children for having referred to a woman in the third person when she is present, instead of using her name or a respectable or appropriate title. Example:-
- "She's coming on the trip with us too!"
- "Who is 'she', the cat's mother?"
- "Sorry, gran is coming with us too."
- "Good. When someone is present, use their name."
The Oxford English Dictionary says the catchphrase “Who’s she—the cat’s mother?” (or some variation thereof) is “said to one (esp. a child) who uses the pronoun of the third person singular impolitely or with inadequate reference.”
A child can get a scolding for using the word “she” instead of a name, especially if the “she” (often an older person, like one’s mother) was present.
And the scolding consists of “Who’s ‘she’—the cat’s mother?”
Is there a Turkish eqivalent idiomatic expression?
Proposed translations
(Turkish)
4 +1 | onun bir adı var | Zeki Güler |
4 | kedinin annesi | Esra Ucbenli |
Proposed translations
+1
1 hr
Selected
onun bir adı var
.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Mehmet Ali Bahıt
: "Onun adı yok mu?" is another slight variation...
13 hrs
|
Teşekkürler
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, Zeki. Clearly yours is the Turkish usual idiom. I also remember in my boyhood, if somebody referred to oneself as 'he' when you are actually in the room, you might reply 'I've got a handle to my name'. This is colloquial not standard speech. Perhaps there is a similar Turkish colloquialism? Thanks to ucbenli for her translation of the whole text I entered but it seems that kedinin annesi is just a translation of the English."
19 hrs
kedinin annesi
She's coming on the trip with us too!"-----O da bizimle geziye geliyor!
- "Who is 'she', the cat's mother?"----O kim? Kedinin annesi mi?
- "Sorry, gran is coming with us too." ----Pardon, Gran da bizimle geliyor.
- "Good. When someone is present, use their name."----Güzel. Birinden bahsederken, isimlerini kullan.
- "Who is 'she', the cat's mother?"----O kim? Kedinin annesi mi?
- "Sorry, gran is coming with us too." ----Pardon, Gran da bizimle geliyor.
- "Good. When someone is present, use their name."----Güzel. Birinden bahsederken, isimlerini kullan.
Discussion
It is a literal translation.
Hellinas
kedinin annesi
Is this idiomatic or merely a translation from English? Zeki, one notices, is never happy with mere word for word translations; that is why his submission seems more in keeping with Turkish idioms. A parallel is meşhur son sözler which Zeki rendered as gel gör ki for 'famous last words'. My question is do Turks use kedinin annesi? Mehmet agrees wıth Zekı, I think. Thanks, ucbenli, for your translatıon of all the text!