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Oct 18, 2012 08:16
11 yrs ago
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French term

Demain ou après demain, le temps ne compte pas

French to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
This is an arabic expression originally apparantly. I think I'm going to leave it in French in the text, but I'd like to put a meaning in brackets for the UK audience. My attempt:

"Tomorrow or the next day, time is of no importance" but does the expression really mean that time doesn't matter? or that it (whatever needs doing) will take the time it takes?

Thanks for your input/suggestions!

Discussion

SafeTex Oct 18, 2012:
Everything in its own time I was about to suggest this but Carol G has beaten me to it

French also has the expression incidentally

Chaque chose en son temps. Everything in its own time.
Kate Collyer Oct 18, 2012:
Could this be conveyed by opposition with the point at which time *is* crucial, e.g. the 'golden hour'?
writeaway Oct 18, 2012:
Definitely find a way back to the Arabic original and get help from there for an English equivalent. A translation of a translation usually isn't a great idea.
Emma Paulay Oct 18, 2012:
Arabic forum? It might be a good idea to post this on the French-Arabic forum. You'd probably get a better idea of the original meaning.
Carol Gullidge Oct 18, 2012:
we do have an idiom Everything in its own time

You could add that to my suggestions
Susannah Bayley (asker) Oct 18, 2012:
would something like "time cannot be rushed" convey the right sense?
Susannah Bayley (asker) Oct 18, 2012:
"Demain ou après demain, le temps ne compte pas" dit un proverbe arabe. A côté des périodes d'urgence, il y a la crise qui s'étend et certaines durent depuis plus de 20 ans. Comment vivez-vous cet espace temps?
Emma Paulay Oct 18, 2012:
French context Is there any chance we can see the French context? We've no idea what the expression means without it.
Susannah Bayley (asker) Oct 18, 2012:
thanks Carol, the context is that in an all emergency situations, there are two time dimensions, the initial emergency and the corresponding structural crisis that follows (that can take years or decades to mop up). The question is asked during a conference of humanitarian actors how they cope with these different time dimensions.
Carol Gullidge Oct 18, 2012:
context? there are so many ways this could be translated, depending on the context, period, register required...

Tomorrow or the day after, there's no rush

... time is not of the essence,

... whenever
... it really doesn't matter,

etc, etc

Proposed translations

+1
44 mins

Tomorrow or the day after, it makes no difference

Thanks for the context! Assuming that this is about the second stage, when the initial rush is over, this could work,or:

Tomorrow or the next day


OR, if "demain" doesn't refer specifically to the day after today (!), then it could be

"The next day or the day after that, it makes no difference"

or "... or the following day,..."
Peer comment(s):

agree ann sheiq : tomorrow or whenevr (when you want); time does not matter
1 hr
indeed, many thanks Ann!
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2 hrs

The future is beyond our control

Agree with Emma and writeaway that it would be best to go back to the Arabic to find out what the expression means and translate it directly into English; but in case you aren't able to, or are pressed for time, here's my tentative suggestion.

I think...it might mean that one can act on the present, based on immediate circumstances, but one can't foresee or control future events.
So, in an aid context, it might refer to how most agencies are well geared to handle emergencies and crises, but are generally unable to prevent or deal with long-term institutional or endemic problems; that contrast might be a source of frustration for them, since the sudden crises are often the result of entrenched problems.

I admit it's a thumbsuck :-) but maybe it will help a little.
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17 hrs

Whether it be tomorrow or the day after, time does not discriminate

It could be this... depending on the context of course.
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1 day 11 hrs

Tomorrow, the next day, whenever

in the sense of "as long as it takes" as you suggested
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