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| Sitaram |
Difficult expressions to translateSitaram: i must log off soon and leave... hope your translations are going wellBue: thanks Bue: so you cant help me about this usage of "fans"? Sitaram: what is the sentence.... that it is used in... the context Sitaram: please give example Bue: hmm Bue: its a letter to his mother Bue: it was written in 1955 Sitaram: and... the sentence in which it appears Sitaram: give the sentence Bue: I need to tell you what the background is Sitaram: ok Bue: the mother was elderly and living alone in NYC Bue: and her economical conditions were rather poor Bue: but apparently she refused to accept any money from her son Sitaram: interesting Bue: and she only complained that he wrote too rarely Bue: he writes telling her for the last time that she may have all the money she wants if only she accepted it from him Bue: and says "I bother you no more. I will never say it again, but you must always know that I will give you any material thins of wealth you could desire" Bue: etc Bue: in the end Bue: he says that he promises to write more often Bue: since this is all she asks of him Bue: I quote Bue: "May I have the strength of resolve that this be the beginning of a more regular correspondence. I hope that the lesson of your strength in life will inspire me more often Bue: to try to add a bit you really want. I offer no more fans. If you want them ask. Sitaram: hmm... let me think.... is the letter in long hand script Sitaram: or printed, transcribed by someone Bue: printed Bue: and transcribed Sitaram: ok... Bue: you suspect a mistake? Sitaram: well.. that is always a possibility Bue: there was one, previously in this same letter Bue: "place" instead of "peace" Sitaram: ohhh Sitaram: let me think Bue: but this was obvious because he rhetorically repeated the sentence afterwards and it had "peace" now Sitaram: i just found it here http://www.metafilter.org/mefi/41939 Sitaram: oddly enough Bue: you see? Bue: when he says "or in your large house place" Bue: its really "peace" Bue: if you read the lines just after that Sitaram: hmmm... i am searching some other things Bue: its obvious it should be "peace" Sitaram: here is one possibility Sitaram: To stir (something) up by or as if by fanning: fanned the flames in the fireplace; a troublemaker who fanned resentment among the staff. Sitaram: he is fanning in the sense of trying to STIR UP OR KINDLE the flame of her interest in accepting his generosity Bue: hmmm Bue: i'm not convinced. h Sitaram: or... perhaps a typo Bue: he says " I offer no more fans. If you want THEM, ask" Bue: and what could that be? Sitaram: hmm Bue: there's already one typo in the letter Bue: the peace-place one Sitaram: quite puzzling Bue: I shall have to write to Michelle Feynman Sitaram: perhaps fans was intended to be FINANCIAL Sitaram: financial assistance? Sitaram: fancy? Bue: maybe it was something between them Sitaram: just trying to guess Bue: in the first letters to his mother from Princeton Bue: he uses an expression twice Sitaram: it SHALL be interesting to hear what Michelle Feynman thinks Bue: about her "door" being closed and locked Sitaram: in ancient greek there is the term "Hapax legomenon" (only said one time) Sitaram: a word or phrase occuring only once in extant manuscripts Bue: well in this case its not a Hapax, since it's used twice (i mean the closed door one) Bue: in that case he uses the expression after sort of puzzling her Sitaram: did he say "fans " elsewhere... Bue: with some apparently strange sentences Sitaram: a closed door means she has shut him out.... writting him off Sitaram: written him off Bue: nope Bue: the first time he is talking about some mathematical difficulties he is finding Bue: in his work at Princeton Bue: which give him lots of trouble Bue: and then suddenly he says: "SOME FUN!" Sitaram: i have heard that expression "some fun" Sitaram: a kind of sarcasm Bue: and then adds: "Even if your door is closed and locked now, I assure you I'm serious when I say it's fun" Sitaram: how odd Bue: My interpretation is "even if you are completely confused now" Sitaram: quite puzzling Sitaram: ohhh... i seriously doubt that interpretation Sitaram: that would be quite bizarre for an american speaker Bue: second time he uses this is Sitaram: i am 56 and never heard such an expression Bue: his mother makes fun of him telling him he made a mistake in some very simple sums and subtractions Bue: he replies showing she misinterpreted some item numbers for prices Bue: and added those Bue: then Sitaram: hmmm..... door closed and locked may mean..."given up" "too late Bue: he talks about some complicated reasoning about interest Sitaram: biblical... I am sorry, no people can enter into the wedding pavilion because the door is closed and locked." The five foolish young ladies were extremely sorry and ... Sitaram: the 10 wise virgins and the 10 foolish virgins Bue: where apparently the sum is wrong again Bue: and he says Bue: in order to dispel more slurs on my calculating ability might I sai that the 4c is right... ecc Bue: and goes on with a complicated explanation on probability laws. Bue: at the end of which he says: Bue: "Now I hope your little door is slammed shut" Sitaram: perhaps.... indicating "shut your trap (door)" meaning... silenced Bue: I translated it both times as "to five up" Bue: "to give up" Sitaram: quite curious Bue: One possibility is that this was a private jargon Sitaram: did feynman speak any other language besides english Bue: between them Bue: not to my knowledge Sitaram: shut your trap means close your mouth Sitaram: and trap implies door Sitaram: as in trapdoor Bue: yeah but it makes no sense Sitaram: hmmm.... i knew greeks for example who would say, ..... close the lights... whereas a native speaker would say turn off the lights Bue: anyway his english was not always that good and he always claimed, later on when he was a famous lecturer etc, that his spoken english was "not writable" Bue: and so on Sitaram: because in greek one says "kleis to phos" Sitaram: that is why i thought of a second language |