This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
vågbuskogen
UHjsp
Dec 1, 2017 21:03
6 yrs ago
Swedish term

Man får vara glad för att man blev den man blev när man nu inte blev den man sku

Swedish to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Life advice
Yes, a mouthful... but I wonder if anyone has heard of this or anything like it. It's kind of hard to search.

The exact context is simply:
"Eller som talesättet lyder:
”Man får vara glad för att man blev den man blev när man nu inte blev den man skulle”.

I don't recognize it from anything in Eng. I can give it a direct work-over to make it sound 'wise,' but I'm wondering if the collective wisdom can do better...
Proposed translations (English)
5 +1 You got to be happy you became the one that you are and not the one you should have been
3 +1 You've got to be happy with who you turned out, seeing as you didn't turn out how you were supposed
4 Not being who you should have been, be glad you are who you are.
3 Be careful what you wish for
3 be glad you are who you are rather than someone you wished you were

Discussion

Deane Goltermann (asker) Dec 12, 2017:
Thanks, Leif... very nice of you to say so, I really appreciate that. Spent some time (and slept) on it. Feels good to get this feedback.
Leif Ohman Dec 11, 2017:
It is more than a translation... To me, Deane, you have managed to give a voice to the Swedish soul. I don't know anything about your client, all I know is that a Swedish person could feel this way. I just don't see how I (or anyone else, really) could have formulated it quite that way.

It is like a brilliant solution to a math problem. Even when I am not able to solve it, I can still (sometimes, at least) appreciate how well the solution works.

Thanks for sharing!
Deane Goltermann (asker) Dec 11, 2017:
The customer liked this... he wanted a literal translation to illustrate his point in the book. Thanks everyone for your input!

Be happy with who you turned out to be, now that you didn’t become who you were supposed to be.
Michele Fauble Dec 4, 2017:
Lemons and lemonade?
Christopher Schröder Dec 4, 2017:
Anders Deane specifically asked for something other than a literal translation, and to my ear all of the suggestions sound clumsy and unnatural, and none even approximate actual sayings.
Anders Ericsson Dec 4, 2017:
Overthink I think most who replied have overthunk the thing. It's witty tongue-in-cheek formulation and is best kept rather literal in the translation. It should be the receiver's task to interpret it and give meaning to it, not the translators. And I can't think of any sitaution where a rather straight translation won't work as well in English as in Swedish.
Alison MacG Dec 4, 2017:
Not quite the same, but related Become who you are Be Who You Are, Not Who You Think You Should Be Who you're supposed to be is who you already are.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/be-who-you-are
Be who you are, not who the world wants you to be
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q="Be who you are, not who t...
Christopher Schröder Dec 4, 2017:
To sound less Swedish I would want to say something about making the most of the way things have turned out, rather than stuff about who you have become - something like "life is what you make of it"

Proposed translations

+1
7 mins
Selected

You got to be happy you became the one that you are and not the one you should have been

This is not an idiom or any particulr swedish saying. I have never seen it before. Just someone being smart. (Good quip though)
Peer comment(s):
agree Matt Bibby : Yes, but perhaps with 'person' instead, i.e. the person you are, and not the person you should've been
18 hrs
sure. no problem.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "This is closest to what I used. Good input from everyone, and this confirmed that this wasn't a real 'saying.' My customer was indeed making a quip -- many in his book about product stories. Thanks!!"
1 hr

Be careful what you wish for

This is looking at it from the bright side.

You could also look at it from the dark side and say that this is Jantelagen (google "thou shalt not believe thou"), settling for second best, "det bidde en tumme".

More context would be needed to decide between the two.
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input ... this is what it says, but I needed something more word for word for the customer.
Something went wrong...
12 hrs

be glad you are who you are rather than someone you wished you were

This is my interpretation of it.
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input ... it says this too, but I needed something more word for word for the customer.
Something went wrong...
+1
13 hrs

You've got to be happy with who you turned out, seeing as you didn't turn out how you were supposed

...to be.

I understand in the sense of 'since this is the way it is, it's better to adjust one's attitude and appreciate what one has/can do, rather than feel bad about what one does not have/cannot do.'
Peer comment(s):
agree Agneta Pallinder : Or even "You had better be happy" and "how" not "who" in the first half. "Seeing as you didn't" is good in that it captures the tinge of disappointment in "när man nu inte"
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
20 hrs

Not being who you should have been, be glad you are who you are.

My understanding.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 53 mins (2017-12-04 21:57:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"If live gives you lemons, make lemonade".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_life_gives_you_lemons,_...




--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 1 hr (2017-12-04 22:03:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

life, not live, of course
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input Micele, I like the lemonade one, ... this is what it says, but I needed something more word for word for the customer.
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search