One of my friends is translating a personality test from Swedish to English.
(The original question is: "Klarar du av stillasittande arbete en hel dag utan att bli rastlös?")
Possible translations are:
"Can you manage a full day of work, sitting down, without getting
restless?"
Or:
"Can you manage a full day of sedentary (sitting) work without getting
restless?"
The question is if these are clear English. Any suggestions?
Both are clear as far as I'm concerned, though you will find that (unfortunately) there are more than a few people who will likely struggle with understanding the meaning of the word 'sedentary'!
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, an individuals interpretation of 'restless' will vary greatly :-)
"more than a few people who will likely struggle with understanding the meaning of the word 'sedentary"
ReplyDeleteYes, that was our thought as well.
I would take the second translation as being more to the point of the original question. I think the empahsis is on the tyhpe of work, rather than a temporary confinment to a desk and chair.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of translations, did you get results for that balalaika song? (You know, the one at the "Hummus is delicious" snack bar?)
ReplyDeleteThinking (rather half-hoping) it might be Russian, I mentioned it to a Bulgarian-born friend of mine. Who forwarded it to a friend of his happening to speak Swedish. Said friend eventually apologized that Danish was too different from Swedish and that he didn't understand a darn thing about the song. So there we are.
Or, long story short, "I tried, but no cigar".
"Only some Beluga caviar,
lalala..."
No, never got anything.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, not only was it Danish, but it was quite slang-y Danish, so...