You know what you can do with ....

English translation: ξέρεις τι να το κάνεις;;

19:42 Jul 5, 2016
Greek to English translations [Non-PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Crude idiom
Greek term or phrase: You know what you can do with ....
Where the dots in the above question are can be filled with any relevant word, e.g. 'You know what you can do with your show/that jam/that watch.['Stick it up your a***e' is the full expression but very few people actually finish the expression, for obvious reasons. Even well bred people will use the expression].
Here is a quotation from a newspaper:-
"Those of us who live and work here [Bradford in the English county of Yorkshire] can criticise it, we can point out its failings. But if you are a London-based paper with a history of sneering at things and think you can have the temerity to sneer at one of our crown jewels, you can think again.
Daily Mail writer Christopher Wilson last week dubbed Tredegar House "a ghostly, depressingly ugly pile near Newport in south Wales" in a piece about a biography of the life of Viscount Tredegar."
The headlines of the article is THE NEWSDESK: You know what you can do with your sneering about Tredegar House.
Is there a Greek equivalent for this crudity?
Hellinas
Local time: 10:34
English translation:ξέρεις τι να το κάνεις;;
Explanation:
I do not see any idiomatic meaning of the phrase. What comes after it, which is an answer, usually, to the question, that makes it sarcastic or downright rude.

Do you know what you can do with your .......watermelons? That's a normal question. But, then, because your watermelons are rotting, and you are trying to flog them to me, in other words you are trying to cheat me, I get angry and I tell you what to do with them, that is ,'stick them up your arse!!'

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Note added at 36 mins (2016-07-05 20:18:26 GMT)
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ξέρεις τι να κάνεις με......τα καρπούζια; να τα βάλεις στο ........ σου.
Selected response from:

transphy
Local time: 10:34
Grading comment
Nether answer seems to carry the crude nuance I'm looking for but that's because I cannot yet think in Greek. Certainly transphy has provided an illuminating discussion on whether this is an idiom at all & has concluded that it all depends on intonation. I agree: if the sentence is actually suggesting helpful advice there is a strong emphasis on the word 'can/could'. 'You know what you CAN do with your shares...'In the sense that I meant to convey above, the stress is on the word DO:- 'you know what you can DO with your watch/you know where you can PUT that watch. I do not know which of the two answers submitted is the better in the sense the question requires. So I really am at a loss as to whom I can award the points. I found transphy's discussion notes very interesting.
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2Θα σου 'λεγα τώρα που να τον/την/το βάλεις τον/την/το...
Vasileios Paraskevas
4ξέρεις τι να το κάνεις;;
transphy


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
you know what you can do with ....
Θα σου 'λεγα τώρα που να τον/την/το βάλεις τον/την/το...


Explanation:
.

Vasileios Paraskevas
Greece
Local time: 12:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GreekGreek
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Peter Close
9 hrs

agree  rokotas
16 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
you know what you can do with ....
ξέρεις τι να το κάνεις;;


Explanation:
I do not see any idiomatic meaning of the phrase. What comes after it, which is an answer, usually, to the question, that makes it sarcastic or downright rude.

Do you know what you can do with your .......watermelons? That's a normal question. But, then, because your watermelons are rotting, and you are trying to flog them to me, in other words you are trying to cheat me, I get angry and I tell you what to do with them, that is ,'stick them up your arse!!'

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 36 mins (2016-07-05 20:18:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ξέρεις τι να κάνεις με......τα καρπούζια; να τα βάλεις στο ........ σου.

transphy
Local time: 10:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GreekGreek
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Nether answer seems to carry the crude nuance I'm looking for but that's because I cannot yet think in Greek. Certainly transphy has provided an illuminating discussion on whether this is an idiom at all & has concluded that it all depends on intonation. I agree: if the sentence is actually suggesting helpful advice there is a strong emphasis on the word 'can/could'. 'You know what you CAN do with your shares...'In the sense that I meant to convey above, the stress is on the word DO:- 'you know what you can DO with your watch/you know where you can PUT that watch. I do not know which of the two answers submitted is the better in the sense the question requires. So I really am at a loss as to whom I can award the points. I found transphy's discussion notes very interesting.
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