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older persuasion
gone all

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

back from my life

English answer:

wasted

    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2020-07-09 14:54:12 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Jul 5, 2020 14:57
3 yrs ago
35 viewers *
English term

back from my life

Non-PRO English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters back from my life
That is 30 minutes. I'm never gonna get back from my life.

Someone says it in the middle of a long and boring joke his friend telling.

I could translate it literally or you suggest something else?

30 minutes to refers how the joke is long.

Thanks in advance,
Responses
4 +3 wasted

Discussion

Yvonne Gallagher Jul 6, 2020:
@ Asker "That's 30 minutes (of my life) I'm never going to get back" would be the usual way of saying it. NB "of my life" is understood and unnecessary
S.J (asker) Jul 6, 2020:
Got it. Thank you. But it is slang sentence, right? Not a real idiom, if I could say.
Yvonne Gallagher Jul 5, 2020:
@ Asker yes, just means he's lost that time from his life
S.J (asker) Jul 5, 2020:
Thank you all.
writeaway Jul 5, 2020:
It simply means the time spent is lost forever No more complicated than that afaik.
David Hollywood Jul 5, 2020:
what goes before and after?
David Hollywood Jul 5, 2020:
this is far from "easy"

Responses

+3
5 mins
Selected

wasted

The character is saying that’s 30 minutes wasted, that he could have spent the time more usefully. It’s a slightly slangy idiom so I would try and find a similarly informal way of saying it, rather than translating it literally.
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : What you haven't said is that the period/full stop shouldn't be there, and turns it into nonsense. The idea is that the other person has stolen that time from him, and he can't retrieve it.
35 mins
You’re right!
agree Yvonne Gallagher : with Phil's comment.
3 hrs
agree Sheila Wilson : Yes, I was just going to post the same as Phil..
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you."
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