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mrtvo slovo na papiru

English translation: dead letter

10:28 Oct 3, 2008
Serbo-Croat to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism
Serbo-Croat term or phrase: mrtvo slovo na papiru
znam da postoji adekvatan izraz, ali stao mi mozak, help!
Ulvija Tanovic (X)
Local time: 12:58
English translation:dead letter
Explanation:
As simple as that...

Selected response from:

Pavle Perencevic
Canada
Local time: 03:58
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3dead letter
Pavle Perencevic
3 +1dead letter
zoe1
3not worth the paper it's written on
Mark Daniels


  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
dead letter


Explanation:
As simple as that...



Pavle Perencevic
Canada
Local time: 03:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Mark Daniels: Sorry, disagree - "dead letter" doesn't mean that to me and I can't find it in any English dictionary (with that meaning). I think there are more idiomatic phrases around.
7 mins
  -> I beg to differ. I don't think you can actually do better than "dead letter" for "mrtvo slovo na papiru". Google "remained a dead letter", and you'll find tons of reliable sources confirming this meaning - "to remain unimplemented".
agree  Ljiljana Krstic: a dead letter- an agreement or a law which still exists but which people do not obey or which is not effective any more. The ceasefire agreement was a dead letter as soon as it was signed since neither side had any intention of keeping to it-the free dict
1 hr
agree  Dragan Novakovic: Dead letter: "b. A writ, statute, ordinance, etc., which is or has become practically without force or inoperative, though not formally repealed or abolished." "Many a treaty of marriage became a dead letter almost as soon as it was signed." (OED)
6 hrs
agree  Larisa Djuvelek-Ruggiero (X): da, jedna od mogucnosti
7 days
agree  Mira Stepanovic
8 days
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
dead letter


Explanation:
Rečnik - Hrvatsko ili srpsko-engleski rečnik

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Note added at 6 mins (2008-10-03 10:34:43 GMT)
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Iyvinite rečnik je Bujasov

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Note added at 6 mins (2008-10-03 10:35:12 GMT)
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Izvinte zbog greške!

zoe1
Local time: 12:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in Serbo-CroatSerbo-Croat, Native in SerbianSerbian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Mark Daniels: See above
6 mins
agree  Dragan Novakovic
6 hrs
  -> Hvala!
agree  Mira Stepanovic
8 days
  -> Hvala Miro!
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18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
not worth the paper it's written on


Explanation:
I don't have the context, but I am guessing that is an informal journalistic phrase to mean a promise, a law, an agreement are effectively invalid, even though perhaps found in written form. I don't believe this is used in Serbian in a formal, legal sense, so that is why I disagree with the solution "dead letter", even though I will grant that it may have a similar meaning. This is an idiomatic use probably, so needs a similar idiom in English.

My main suggestion above might not be the appropriate one in the context - you might also say that the agreement, or whatever, was: "on paper only", or something like that.


    Reference: http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/deadletter?view=uk
Mark Daniels
Local time: 12:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Ljiljana Krstic: dead letter is used in all occasions; look at: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/letterhttp://idioms.thef...
1 hr
  -> I will concede the point - I have learned something new. Still, my subjective "native" feeling is that this expression is not nearly as common as "mrtvo slovo na papiru" is in Serbian but will consider using "dead letter" myself in future!
neutral  Pavle Perencevic: These are two different things. If your contract is not w.t.p.i.w.o., you want to enforce its terms, but you can't for whatever reason; if a law is a "mrtvo slovo n. p.", its provisions can be enforced at least in theory, but the will to do so is lacking.
1 hr
agree  Larisa Djuvelek-Ruggiero (X): Yes, I agree with you. It can be used like that depending on a context
7 days
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