Sé lo que eres y di lo que quieres
This quote was on a post at another sight and was a poster's signature. It appealed to me so I copied it. Then I wondered if I could translate it. The answer to that question is no doubt No, but I gave it a shot anyway. When I tried, and came up with importar as the verb for to mind and to count, it got even more Seussian(to look at anyway), although I don't know if it makes any sense. Even if it's really awful, you have to admit that it's a great quote. Thanks for looking
Sé lo que eres y di lo que quieres, porque ellos que les importa no importa y ellos que importa no les importa. Dr. Seuss
Be who you are and say what you want, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr. Seuss
10 Answers
I just wrote you the nicest reply and lost it. yes you hit it (the nail) on the head as we say. The thing I liked about my original translation was that even after I was done butchering Dr Seuss's words with my lousy Spanish skills, I still had a nice rhythm(at least to the first part).Sé lo que eres y di lo que quieres still has that Dr Seuss bounce to it. Lazarus's translation was all about the meaning, and the rhythm got lost. I wasn't looking for a translation of the music in it though, It was what I expected. By the way your second translation of the sorgen proverb was a huge improvement to the musicality. maybe even better would be : sorrow is the price we/you pay for love. OR: one pays for love, though you lose any folksy quality you might have been going for once you use one
La Podenquera said:
Steve, so my talking of rhythn is correct then? But maybe it is only in my head : )
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Rhythm and tempo are completely different things. Both involve time, but tempo refers to speed, and rhythm to the pattern (or lack thereof) of short, long, silence and sound. You can have the same rhythm at whatever tempo you would like to set the metronome to. ...but we digress
Mark Baker said:
She means rhythm - as in tempo
Gus said:
What do you mean by rythm?
La Podenquera said:
Except for the rythm, it's perfect
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Nobody is complaining. And by the way, you should see my Swedish. Well no you shouldn't
La Podenquera said:
I think you just have to learn how to live with it. My english spelling will probably not get any better than this = D
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Maybe Gus's point is that the word is rhythm. I'm a musician and I still have to look twice at that word. There's a useless h in there. Spanish is so much easier when spelling things. Ritmo works, and you don't have to wonder if you spelled it rite...or is that write
La Podenquera said:
Be who you are and say what you want. . . These words have a message but still there are music to them, at least to me. I can hear their rythm.
La Podenquera said:
The words shall come naturally as when you are singing. A genuin proverb has it's own rythm. It is easy to memorize but it does not need to be in rhyme but somehow they need to be conected.
Gus said:
What do you mean by rythm?
La Podenquera said:
Except for the rythm, it's perfect Lazarus.
lazarus1907 said:
Grief is the price you have to pay for love? (my best "guess")
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She means rhythm - as in tempo
Gus said:
What do you mean by rythm?
La Podenquera said:
Except for the rythm, it's perfect
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What do you mean by rythm?
La Podenquera said:
Except for the rythm, it's perfect Lazarus.
lazarus1907 said:
Grief is the price you have to pay for love? (my best "guess")
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Hi pdqra
Check this out if you like sayings, You may be receiving these daily already, if so then nevermind. But everyday you get a saying or quote en español. Some of them are things you know, some are brand new, and you have to translate them
http://spanish.about.com/gi/pages/stay.htm
La Podenquera said:
It is a wonderful proverb Steve. I could have said it myself = D I had no idea that you shared my fascination for sayings. The proverb I mostly use as my signature is - Sorgen är kärlekens pris. Let se if Lazarus can figure it out ; )
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Grief is the price you have to pay for love? (my best "guess")
I thought that it was probably not going to make sense in Spanish, which is why I posted it. I was wondering (after attempting a translation, and coming up with something so strange sounding) what a decent translation might look like.
lazarus1907 said:
The first part is fine, more or less ("lo que eres" sounds almost like you are a freak or something unspeakable): "Be what you are and say what you want", but after "porque..." it doesn't make sense to me in Spanish, and that "ellos que importa" sounds completely foreign to me too. I find it impossible to believe that this sentence has been written by a native speaker.
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The first part is fine, more or less ("lo que eres" sounds almost like you are a freak or something unspeakable): "Be what you are and say what you want", but after "porque..." it doesn't make sense to me in Spanish, and that "ellos que importa" sounds completely foreign to me too. I find it impossible to believe that this sentence has been written by a native speaker.
The "fixed" sentence could be like this:
Sé tú mismo y di lo que sientes, ya que aquellos a quienes les moleste, no importan, y a los que importan no les molestará.
