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Turkish to English translations [Non-PRO] Idioms / Maxims / Sayings /
Turkish term or phrase:sürüsüne bereket
I have come across these words several times but have no idea how to use them. The meaning seems to vary from 'several' to 'like hell'. These have two quite separate meanings in English. Can specialists give me some sentences, illustrating their meaning?
Zeki has given me several examples which are relevant to my question. So has Atil. The discussion items were very helpful. Thanks to all for their help. I think that the meaning of the idiom is mainly ironic.az 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Thanks for your reply. Zeki had provided a synonym for the above: zebil gibi, though he denied that zebil had anything to do with sebil, although the reference he provided seems to gainsay his denial. Zebil gibi ( if the idiom is from a public fountain by a mosque, providing free water on holy days ) is a very colourful idiom like sürüsüne bereket. Perhaps there is a corresponding English ıdıom - lıke flowing water. I take your point, though. 'A lot of' is not colourful enough.
I understand it may be challenging to choose the most accurate translation at times. But please note that "a lot of" is an overly simplified English translation for the idiom at hand here.
Unfortunately, my last submission was sent before I had completed it. In any case, the end of it has been mentioned above:- --- Sürüsüne bereket! (You are simply saying "may his number of sheep multiply!)
This, then, will have been used in a positive way. But as you can see, such things are not very common and nowadays "sürüsüne bereket" is used purely as irony.
All these comments have been suggested to me. It is difficult to choose exactly which one is suitable. A further point is that 'a dime a dozen' is not a UK idiom. Here we say 'two/ten a penny.' In future, I will not put anything in the glossary. Perhaps it is worth noting that all those who make submissions on ProZ are supposed bilinguall specialists. Perhaps your barbs are better directed towards your colleagues. I'm a learner, trying to make sense of a very difficult language & seeking to help others in my position.
Thank you for your examples. I'm sorry that you did not submit them earlier. And your comment about me making 'the glossary an encyclopaedia (UK spelling) of mistranslations' seems to me an unwarranted extrapolation from one entry with which you disagree. I consult widely about idioms I find difficult. These are the items submitted by friends concerning this phrase:- Problemin var mı? - Do you have problems? Sürüsüne bereket! - Like hell! In context it usually means "big time!" in the negative. First of all you must understand that "sürüsüne bereket" is not very commonly used. I, myself, never use it. It's more like a slang way of speaking really. But I will try to give you a few examples; 1. Karşıdaki parkta tinerci var mıdır? ---> Would there be any junkies in that park across the road? Sürüsüne bereket! 2. Bütün dertler de seni buluyor, arkadaş. ---> All troubles seem to find you, mate. Sorma, sürüsüne bereket! Please notice the negative nature of these cases. It's never used in a positive way. For instance; 3. Pek çok yeteneğin var. ---> You have many talents. Now, the replies you got are correct if we are going to consider the literal meaning of "sürüsüne bereket"
One could say "buradaki tekellerin sürüsüne bereket" in Turkish and a viable English translation would be "the bottleshops around here are dime a dozen" whereas "burada bir sürü tekel var" is "there are a lot of bottlehops around here." There is a small but discernible difference. Just like how "dime a dozen" is similar to but not exactly the same thing as "a lot of," similarly "sürüsüne bereket" surely differs from "bir sürü" somewhat.
but "a lot of" simply means the very common expression "bir sürü" in TR. Whereas "sürüsüne bereket" is an idiom which is just about the exact equivalent of "dime a dozen" etc. in English. With all due respect, it seems to me Hellinas' misguided decisions like this about what constitutes a proper English translation of a Turkish phrase are turning the Proz glossary into an encyclopedia of mistranlations..
A lot of : bir hyli demek olup "sürüsüne bereket" anlamını vermez, "dime a dozen" yerleşik bir atasözü olup "bahsedilen nesnenin istenenden fazla olduğunu" belirtir, genç arkadaşlara bilgi kabilinden açıklama yapma gereği hissettim.
Actually I gather from a learned friend that the literal meaning of "sürüsüne bereket" is "fertility to the (or his/her) herd". Suppose you live in the country and own a herd of sheep & one day you deliver milk while to a friend who is not at home. Then when he comes home & finds the milk, he might come & thank, say, your wife & say:- --- Sürüsüne bereket! (may his number of sheep multiply!) This, then, will have been used in a positive way. But such things are not very common nowadays so "sürüsüne bereket" is used purely as irony. By the way, does the word "zebil" comes from "sebil" mean 'a public fountain (built as charity), and so "zebil gibi" means abundance like water from a fountain? But cehennem gibi means the opposite i.e. 'like hell'. In other words 'not on your life/no way!' Or he ran like hell' means 'very fast'. I'm a little confused.
Yes, Dear Zeki, it works only for countable nouns, I must have skipped off this fact due to being overloaded with time-compliance large files for recent 20 days.
You can lso use " Ohh my gush, to much / many" "like cats and dog". In fact one can express the same and closer definition depending on the command level of language used though.
There are so many different meanings here. 'Dime a dozen' means ten a penny or so plentiful as to be valueless. 'Cheaper by the dozen' means handled more efficiently as a group rather than singly. Atil & Zeki have both given me very useful examples. Sentences to illustrate the uses are necessary. 'Like hell' is also possible as in:- Problemin var mı? - Do you have problems? Sürüsüne bereket! - Like hell! Just giving me a translation often from tureng isn't helpful.
Like hell has three main meanings, Atil:- 1. very much It was raining like hell. 2. very badly My shoulder hurt like hell. 3. it is not true or it will not happen You want me to apologize? Like hell I will. Definition 3 means not at all, on the contrary.
Thanks Atil! How can anyone get the meaning 'like hell'?
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
53 mins confidence:
plenty
Explanation: My feeling is (I may be mistaken here) that "sürüsüne bereket" can be used with both countable and noncountable objects. Here are a couple of examples:
Süpermarkette ne kadar ekmek var? Sürüsüne bereket. (This is countable.)
Evde ne kadar süt var? Sürüsüne bereket. (This is noncountable.)
Folks can agree or disagree with my above comment.
ATIL KAYHAN Türkiye Local time: 15:12 Native speaker of: Turkish PRO pts in category: 84
Zeki Güler Local time: 12:12 Native speaker of: Turkish PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Zeki has given me several examples which are relevant to my question. So has Atil. The discussion items were very helpful. Thanks to all for their help. I think that the meaning of the idiom is mainly ironic.az
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