"Nice and" expression question.

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" <catlady at ...> 
wrote:
>
> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister"
> <gbannister10@> wrote:
>  
> << For example, if you describe Harry's wand as "nice and supple" this
> would probably need a different translation to a phrase such as "turn
> the control nice and gently" or "push down the accelerator pedal nice
> and steadily". (snip) my trusty Readers' Digest Word Power Dictionary
> does say this under 'nice': "3 (nice and -) satisfactory in terms of
> the quality described." >>
> 
> I think everyone in this discussion agrees what 'nice and' means:
> satifactorialy (per Readers' Digest), 'just right', agreeably ... but
> no one offered the word 'correctly' yet. This wand is correctly
> supple. This sweater is correctly warm. Turn the control correctly
> gently."  I guess in English it would sound slightly less unnatural to
> say This wand is the correct amount of supple, this sweater is the
> correct amount of warm, turn the control the correct amount of gently.

Geoff:
I don't think I would ever describe something as "correctly warm" 
or "satisfactorily warm" in that context. I doubt whether the average UK 
English speaker would try to express it in any other way which is why I 
think any attempt to translate it as it stands would not work. You might 
try "supple enough" or "warm enough"but I think the idiomatic use just 
wouldn't transfer across - like idioms in any language.