From lojban@cuvmb.bitnet Sat Jul 27 00:59:07 1996 Received: from punt4.demon.co.uk by stryx.demon.co.uk with SMTP id AA13354 ; Sat, 27 Jul 96 00:59:05 BST Received: from punt-4.mail.demon.net by mailstore for ia@stryx.demon.co.uk id 838408117:26393:0; Fri, 26 Jul 96 20:08:37 BST Received: from cunyvm.cuny.edu ([128.228.1.2]) by punt-4.mail.demon.net id aa25954; 26 Jul 96 20:07 +0100 Received: from CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU by CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R3) with BSMTP id 7125; Fri, 26 Jul 96 15:07:32 EDT Received: from CUVMB.COLUMBIA.EDU by CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 7851; Fri, 26 Jul 96 15:07:18 EDT Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 14:07:17 -0500 Reply-To: Scott Brickner Sender: Lojban list From: Scott Brickner Subject: Re: may the wind.... X-To: David A Johnston X-cc: Lojban Mailing list To: Multiple recipients of list LOJBAN In-Reply-To: (Your message of Fri, 26 Jul 1996 09:44:12 PDT.) Message-ID: <838408070.25954.0@cunyvm.cuny.edu> Status: R David A Johnston writes: > Well, the question for me is whether there's a way to have a phrase be >both figurative and literal. For "May the wind...", I was targeting the >phrase at kite flyers, so it's both a general and specific blessing. And this is (IMHO) a key issue in this translation. Lacking context, we have to look at what the phrase generally represents. I disagree, however, with those who argue that we should translate it as if it were something less "figurative", like "may you always be assisted in your endeavors" (ick). The phrase is originally nautical -- but very old, as a wind at the back isn't always the fastest, anymore.