Nice and Interesting for a Small fortune which is Pretty good.

[Steve]

--- In Stephen Vandecasteele <vand195550 at ...> wrote:

>  
> >...
> Steve now,
> 
> What comes to mind  reading this entire thread is English 101.
> 
> Steve
> > 

Well, not exactly English 101, though that is certainly true,
more accurately in the context of the discussion, it is
Translation 101. 

The underlying question is, how does a foreign translator
translate 'pretty good'? "You did a pretty good job".

Literally-

'You did a beautifully good job.'

'You did a beautiful job.'

'You did a good job.'

'You did a pretty job.'

or using some other unforeseen interpretation of the statement?

or -

"That's pretty far off."

"That's a pretty nice car."

In these case, of course, it doesn't mean 'beautiful' are all,
it means very. 'That is very far off.' 'That is a very nice car.'
Again, the sentences work just fine without the 'intensifier'.
'That is far off.' 'That is a nice car.'

So, it is really about quirky things in the English language
and in common speech that are taken for granted, but which 
might cause some confusion for a translator.

Like -

nice and supple

small fortune

pretty good

and countless of others.

'Take the micky' wasn't an expression I immediately understood.

And in the UK version of the book, Fred says 'keep your pecker 
up', meaning 'take heart' or 'keep your spirits up'. In the
US, that has a whole different meaning. But I can't imagine
what the expression means to a Russian or an Italian, or how
they would interpret it. 

Steve/bboyminn