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k.z.
natrolejení/vytrolejení
Sep 28, 2019 17:05
4 yrs ago
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Czech term

Hlava mi to sice nebrala,

Czech to English Social Sciences Other Interview - conversation
I am doing an unpaid voluntary translation for ISPN.

This is an interview with a homeless vendor who it talking about how he walked out of his job because of stress.
I am just not sure on "Hlava mi to sice nebrala". Is it something like "it didn't completely break me [my spirit]"? Seems quite colloquial to me and so I want to make sure I have it right for publication.

Pracoval jsem v restauraci jako kuchař.
Zahodil jsem všechno za hlavu, prostě to dál nešlo.
Hlava mi to sice nebrala, ale bylo to pro mě důležitý.
Bál jsem se, že bych z toho stresu zase skončil v Bohnicích...

My draft:
I was working as a chef in a restaurant.
Everything was getting on top of me. It just couldn’t go on.
XXX... and that was important to me.
I was worried that I would end up in Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital because of the stress...
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 Although my head could not process it,
5 +1 Although (doing) it seemed unreasonable,
5 it didn't make sense to me
5 Although I could not wrap my head around it

Discussion

Jiri Lonsky Oct 2, 2019:
I agree with Stuart; it might be akin to British references to "Bedlam".
Stuart Hoskins Oct 2, 2019:
Bohnice Unless Bohnice is of central importance, I'd consider leaving it out ("was worried I'd end up being sectioned [or other appropriate form of admission] again"). Bohnice is shorthand (at least here in Prague) for being committed to a psychiatric hospital, in much the same way as, in the 1970s, people on the Essex/Suffolk border would say "he ended up in Severalls", after the local psychiatric hospital.
Will Volny Sep 28, 2019:
Nothing to add, but very grateful for the precision - quite right.
Lubosh Hanuska Sep 28, 2019:
Discussion is not related to the question here, but to the translation of the other line in the description that the poster provided. And yes, you are correct, Michaela - the meanings of line 2 and 3 are, of course, different. That is also why both Elizabeth and I responded to it just in these points of discussion...
Michaela Bordessoule Sep 28, 2019:
I would not say that these two sentences are identical in meaning. There is a difference in processing and reasoning stages between 2nd line (Zahodil jsem všechno za hlavu...) and 3rd line (Hlava mi to nebrala...).
Lubosh Hanuska Sep 28, 2019:
Zahodit všechno za hlavu Elizabeth is correct, this is not translated correctly...
This phrase means to "leave everything behind" or "throw it all away".
Elizabeth Spacilova Sep 28, 2019:
Zahodit všechno za hlavu I think you might want to revisit that translation.

Proposed translations

+1
23 mins
Selected

Although my head could not process it,

for example
Peer comment(s):
agree Martin König : Or "comply with", but agree anyway.
2 mins
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you. This has helped me to develop a translation on this basis."
1 hr
Czech term (edited): Hlava mi to sice nebrala

it didn't make sense to me

Even though it didn't make sense to me, it was also important to me.
Note from asker:
Many thanks for your help.
Something went wrong...
+1
1 day 16 hrs

Although (doing) it seemed unreasonable,

I offer here a reworked version of your proposed translation, with a comment below:

I have been working as a chef in a restaurant.
I quit and left everything behind, I just couldn’t go on.
Although doing it seemed unreasonable, it was important to me.
I was worried that I would end up in Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital again because of the stress...

Note that "quit" does not appear explicitly in the source, but it is implied in "leaving everything behind", given the context, and makes for a more coherent target.
The "hlava mi to sice nebrala" refers to the discordance between the person's (emotion-driven) decision and his awareness that it did not make (rational) sense.
Note from asker:
Many thanks for your input.
Peer comment(s):
agree Elizabeth Spacilova
1 day 19 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 days

Although I could not wrap my head around it

An idiom which comes to my mind immediately.
Note from asker:
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Something went wrong...
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