(can\'t) cut the mustard

Romanian translation: a-l ține balamalele

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:(can\\\'t) cut the mustard
Romanian translation:a-l ține balamalele
Entered by: Andra Foca

08:41 Oct 17, 2016
English to Romanian translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Idioms
English term or phrase: (can\'t) cut the mustard
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cut the mustard
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/can't+cut+the+mustard

Mă întrebam dacă există o expresie asemănătoare în română.

Mersi!
Andra Foca
Austria
Local time: 21:26
a-l ține balamalele
Explanation:
Expr. A-i (sau a i se) slăbi ori a i se muia (cuiva) sau a nu-l (mai) ajuta (ori ține) pe cineva balamalele = a(-și) pierde vigoarea (din cauza bătrâneții, a oboselii, a fricii).
https://dexonline.ro/definitie/balama

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Note added at 7 hrs (2016-10-17 16:03:46 GMT)
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Si se poate continua cu ceva de felul acesta: ”balamalele nu slabesc, înțepenesc”... SAU ”de fapt ferestrele au balamale, tu n-ai”....
Selected response from:

adami
Romania
Local time: 22:26
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2nu ține
Florin Ular
4 +1a-l ține balamalele
adami
4cut the mustard
Catalin Popescu
4Nu e pe masura. Nu e la nivel...ceva in acest sens.
Gabrielle Weatherhead
3nu-l tin puterile, nu a facut mare branza,
beatrice lungu
Summary of reference entries provided
ceva asemanator
Nina Iordache

Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(can\\\'t) cut the mustard
nu-l tin puterile, nu a facut mare branza,


Explanation:
nu este in stare
nu face mare branza (referitor la asteptari)
nu e in stare de nimic


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Note added at 2 hrs (2016-10-17 10:59:35 GMT)
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depinde de context

beatrice lungu
Italy
Local time: 21:26
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
a-l ține balamalele


Explanation:
Expr. A-i (sau a i se) slăbi ori a i se muia (cuiva) sau a nu-l (mai) ajuta (ori ține) pe cineva balamalele = a(-și) pierde vigoarea (din cauza bătrâneții, a oboselii, a fricii).
https://dexonline.ro/definitie/balama

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2016-10-17 16:03:46 GMT)
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Si se poate continua cu ceva de felul acesta: ”balamalele nu slabesc, înțepenesc”... SAU ”de fapt ferestrele au balamale, tu n-ai”....

adami
Romania
Local time: 22:26
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  ANDA PENA RO
21 hrs
  -> Mulțumesc!
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
cut the mustard


Explanation:
a nu atinge standardul necesar, a nu fi la înălțimea așteptărilor, a nu fi de ajuns, a nu fi suficient de bun sau de eficient

Example sentence(s):
  • Give me the bigger hammer. This little one just doesn't cut the mustard.
  • Dă-mi ciocanul ăla mai mare. Asta mic pur și simplu nu e suficient de bun.

    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cut_the_mustard
Catalin Popescu
Romania
Local time: 22:26
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Nu e pe masura. Nu e la nivel...ceva in acest sens.


Explanation:
Nu am gasit o expresie echivalenta in română insa cred ca s-ar potrivi sugestia mea.
Vedeti explicatia expresiei engleze :-)
SEMANTIC ENIGMAS

What is the origin of the phrase "doesn't cut the mustard"?
WHEN MUSTARD was one of the main crops in East Anglia, it was cut by hand with scythes, in the same way as corn. The crop could grow up to six feet high and this was very arduous work, requiring extremely sharp tools. When blunt they "would not cut the mustard". All this and everything else you could ever want to know about mustard can be found at the Mustard Museum in Norwich.
Phil Pegum, Stretton, Cheshire ([email protected])
THE MORRIS Dictionary of Word & Phrase Origins (Harper Collins - 1988), relates the phrase to an earlier expression - "the proper mustard", meaning "the genuine article". Around the turn of the century, "to cut the mustard" meant to be "of high quality", as when O. Henry said of a pretty girl that "she cut the mustard all right". It is probably mere salaciousness which had me hunting through various lexicographical tomes in search of a connection, however tenuous, with the list of words cited by Jonathon Green in Slang Through the Ages (NTC, 1997), a list which included mustard-and-cress, lawn, grass, lawn, stubble and, most enduringly, bush.

Example sentence(s):
  • Ex. Degeaba a promis ca va rezolva dilema, in final nu a fost pe masura/ nu s-a ridicat la nivel.
Gabrielle Weatherhead
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:26
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian, Native in HungarianHungarian
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20 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
nu ține


Explanation:
Sensul expresiei este acela de „a nu fi suficient de bun”. În română, folosim uneori expresii de genul „nu ține (trebuie altceva), nu merge, nu corespunde” etc., cu același sens.
Bineînțeles că și contextul poate dicta o anumită traducere, dar sensul de bază este acesta.

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Note added at 23 hrs (2016-10-18 07:46:39 GMT)
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Dacă se referă la persoane, se poate spune „nu face față”:

„If she can't cut the mustard, we'll have to find someone else to do the job.”
„We need a better catcher; this one just doesn't cut the mustard.”

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cut the mustard

Florin Ular
Romania
Local time: 22:26
Native speaker of: Romanian
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Iosif JUHASZ
1 hr

agree  Gabrielle Weatherhead
2 hrs
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Reference comments


11 mins
Reference: ceva asemanator

Reference information:
Ca sa ne pastram in domeniul culinar: a lua caimacul

http://www.toatecuvintele.ro/expresie/a lua caimacul

desi poate ca intelesul este un pic mai diferentiat...

Sau poate, in varianta negativa: "Nu pot sa-i dau de capat"?!

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Note added at 1 hr (2016-10-17 09:53:06 GMT)
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Puteti sa ne oferiti ceva context?

Nina Iordache
Romania
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian
PRO pts in category: 8
Note to reference poster
Asker: Da, cred că sensul este puțin diferit și nici nu se prea potrivește în contextul meu. Vă mulțumesc oricum.

Asker: Am scris contextul. Sunt, de fapt, niște replici dintr-un serial de comedie stand-up. După cum puteți vedea, există și un pun acolo.

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