מי ישורם

06:09 Jan 21, 2010
Hebrew to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Poetry & Literature
Hebrew term or phrase: מי ישורם
מי ישורם
shmoopy


Summary of answers provided
5 +1Who can foresee (them)
Ron Armon
5Who could estimate
Chaya Cohen


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Who could estimate


Explanation:
Used when something unimaginable us likely to take place or could have taken place

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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-01-21 08:20:59 GMT)
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The Hebrew is much stronger than the English translation, if you want something less acurate but with more of the feeling, you can write " Who could begin to imagine" or even, " In your wildest dreams you couldn't begin to imagine"

Example sentence(s):
  • Who could estimate the amount of damage the bombing was likely to have caused.
Chaya Cohen
Israel
Local time: 11:19
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in HebrewHebrew

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Textpertise: Comes from the root שור
37 mins
  -> Thank you, תזכה למצוות!

disagree  Ron Armon: I beg to differ. "imagine" and "estimate" are not accurate enough. ש.ו.ר means "see" or in this case "[fore]see"
3 hrs
  -> As concerning the Hebrew root, you are right, but "forsee" in English means more of a prediction while the Hebrew term is used to express a situation that is so bad we don't want to or cannot predict it - a situation best left to the imagination .
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Who can foresee (them)


Explanation:
and מי ישורנו =
Who can foresee (it)

The stem ש.ו.ר means "to see" as you probably know
שורו הביטו וראו...
(You could translate שורו as "Behold!" quite exactly)

This "sight" is often figurative as in "seeing ahead",
which means foresee/foretell/predict.

Note that מי ישורם/ מי ישורנו/ מי ישורנה
are usually used in context of end/outcome/results:
ואחריתו מי ישורנה

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Note added at 5 hrs (2010-01-21 11:50:50 GMT)
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See:
http://he.wiktionary.org/wiki/אחריתו_מי_ישורנה

and
http://www.babylon.com/definition/אחריתו_מי_ישורנה/Hebrew

Ron Armon
Israel
Local time: 11:19
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in HebrewHebrew
PRO pts in category: 7

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Garsan
264 days
  -> Thanks Garsan! (Wow - That's and old one...)
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