Sep 19, 2018 14:42
5 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term

shake the Bursens burner at

English to Albanian Art/Literary Education / Pedagogy General
You’ve memorized more formulae than you can shake a Bunsen burner at.

Proposed translations

2 hrs
English term (edited): shake the Bunsen burner at

i tund furnelën Bunsen para syve (dikujt)

This is supposed to be referential humour derived from the phrase "shake/wave something at someone" as a way of scaring or intimidating them ( definition: wave at, shake something at, as when pretending to strike someone or when flagging someone down)

However, figuratively speaking, the phrase can also be used to show that you have the higher ground of knowledge or insist that you're right (e.g. wave a dictionary at someone - which often happens in our line of work :) )

Bunsen burners are used often by scientists in labs (they get used massively in science classes in secondary school labs), so a scientist would supposedly have got their hands on one on a daily basis during their work, therefore, it would be impressive to have a larger number of formulas memorised than the number of times a Bunsen burner is used.

Must emphasise, the joke is quite nerdy and would not translate well to an audience of no grasp of that background. Bunsen is the surname of the chemist that invented this piece of equipment, so it should not be changed.
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3 hrs

mund të përgatiten me një djegës laboratorik

Very seldom used, almost never.
In this case it means "You know more (of something), than you can (action)".

I would leave "Bunsen" out of the translation, to avoid confusion.
Please find my whole translation of the sentence below:

Ke mësuar përmendsh më shumë formula sesa preparate mund të përgatiten me një djegës laboratorik.

Peer comment(s):

neutral MSc Jonis Buzi : Pershtatja as qe i afrohet sintakses se shqipes.
13 days
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