Thread: Please help to translate

For many of them the radio program was an alarm clock, reminding them to get up, to get out of the house, to put the eggs on, whatever.

I don't understand what they do with their eggs.
Does it has something to do with breakfast? If it does, why the eggs are mentioned after getting out of the house?

Thanks.

gRomoZeka: For many of them the radio program was an alarm clock, reminding them to get up, to get out of the house, to put the eggs on, whatever.

I don't understand what they do with their eggs.
Does it has something to do with breakfast? If it does, why the eggs are mentioned after getting out of the house?

Thanks.

Put the eggs on = put the eggs on the stove to boil them.
I think this sentence just mentions some typical morning activites in no specific order
...
And quoting still doesn't work for me...

Thank you!

The sentence would have made more sense to you if "or" was used instead of each comma.

Thanks, DDT. What's about this one?

The house was just there, mine not to question how.

Ммм, "... не мне спрашивать, почему", "...меня никто не спрашивал"? What does that mean?

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Thanks, DDT. What's about this one?

The house was just there, mine not to question how.

Ммм, "... не мне спрашивать, почему", "...меня никто не спрашивал"? What does that mean?

Архаичный оборот. Типа, "It is not for me to ask" or "it is not my business to ask." У Теннисона было что-то похожее: "Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die" --
"Не их дело - возражать. Не их дело - рассуждать. Их дело - выполнить и умереть."

И, кстати, именно благодаря Теннисону этот оборот в разных вариациях хорошо известен многим современным англоязычным людям. Сейчас он обычно употребляется с долей иронии

Спасибо, translations.nm.ru!
Очень интересно. Отличный ответ, еще и с цитатой.

When times get hard, the goodwill gets going.
"Gets going" seems a bit ambiguous to me. Does it mean that when times get hard it's time to show your good will, or there's no place for it (it's replaced with selfishnes)?

Yes, your first guess is correct: "when times get hard it's time to show your good will."

This is an adaptation of the proverb: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

http://www.bartleby.com/59/3/whenthegoing.html

Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by Winifred

Hope this helps!

Yes, it did. Thank you!

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

When times get hard, the goodwill gets going.
"Gets going" seems a bit ambiguous to me. Does it mean that when times get hard it's time to show your good will, or there's no place for it (it's replaced with selfishnes)?

Winifred is correct (of course). Sometimes we say "get going" either to mean time to leave OR time to do something. In America you often hear people say:

"Are you ready? Then let's get going."

This could apply to going away or to any other kind of action.

Originally Posted by paulb

Winifred is correct (of course). Sometimes we say "get going" either to mean time to leave OR time to do something. In America you often hear people say:

"Are you ready? Then let's get going."

This could apply to going away or to any other kind of action.

Yes, I've heard about both these meanings, so I really couldn't decide what the author meant here.

I was invited to address the staff of one of the better know public schools.

Huh?

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I was invited to address the staff of one of the better know public schools.

Huh?

A typo, obviously . Must be "better known"

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I was invited to address the staff of one of the better know public schools.

Huh?

A typo, obviously . Must be "better known"

I really hope it is.

But I googled it and got this (in different variations):

"I was watching the Colbert Report and saw the Better Know Your District series which profiles members of Congress..."
Can it have something in common? Maybe that expression became popular in wider context?

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I was invited to address the staff of one of the better know public schools.

Huh?

A typo, obviously . Must be "better known"

I really hope it is.

But I googled it and got this (in different variations):

"I was watching the Colbert Report and saw the Better Know Your District series which profiles members of Congress..."
Can it have something in common? Maybe that expression became popular in wider context?

That's a totally different thing. In "Better Know Your District", know is an imperative verb. In your original example, it is just a typo .

Thank you!

He was the first management teacher to turn public performer in a serious way.

Please, explain to me who turned whom into what (not the meaning of the words, but the logic of the phrase) I have problem with understanding some simple grammar constructions, in this case it's "to turn", and can't understand what "in a serious way" refers to. Really. Please, don't laugh at me. .
Could you translate it into Russian?

I'll try to explain this in English.

He = management teacher = public performer

So this teacher turned/changed himself into being a public performer. He was the first management teacher to do so. He did it in a serious/dedicated way/manner. So the problem is not the grammar, but determining which of the multiple meanings of these words applies to the context. I think the following meanings apply:

turn . . . 8. transitive and intransitive verb change: to change or be transformed into somebody or something different, or change or transform somebody or something into somebody or something different
- turned into a butterfly

Encarta(R) World English Dictionary [North American Edition] (2007) http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861722583/turn.html

serious . . . 6. dedicated to something: showing great interest in or commitment to an endeavor, skill, or pastime
- a serious stamp collector

Encarta(R) World English Dictionary [North American Edition] (2007) http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/serious.html

way . . . 1. manner or method: a means, manner, or method of doing something
- I'll do it my way.

Encarta(R) World English Dictionary [North American Edition] (2007) http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/way.html

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

He was the first management teacher to turn public performer in a serious way.

Please, explain to me who turned whom into what (not the meaning of the words, but the logic of the phrase) I have problem with understanding some simple grammar constructions, in this case it's "to turn", and can't understand what "in a serious way" refers to. Really. Please, don't laugh at me. .
Could you translate it into Russian?

This is the same as "He was the first management teacher TO BECOME a public performer in a serious way."

We occasionally use "turn" this way. It takes no article, so it can be nice and short e.g. "Fred is an actor turned politician."