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مقام كف
الماء الممنتج

Glossary entry

Arabic term or phrase:

من قلة الخيل شدّوا على الكلاب سروج

English translation:

Your own translation "For lack of horses they saddled the dogs"

Added to glossary by Sami Khamou
Sep 24, 2007 23:28
16 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Arabic term

من قلة الخيل شدّوا على الكلاب سروج

Arabic to English Art/Literary Education / Pedagogy Colloquial Arabic Proverb
I would appreciate if a collegue knows the English equivalent to this Arabic proverb. Literary translation: "For lack of horses they saddled the dogs" which is a sarcastic proverb hinting at the appointment of people in positions they don't deserve because better people were not to be found.
Proposed translations (English)
3 Your own translation "For lack of horses they saddled the dogs"
5 +1 They hired unqualified people due to lack of qualified ones
3 +2 any port in a storm/ in the land of the blind...
5 Dreaming of excellence,They ride thier ignorance
4 they do not have any better/// better than nothing
1 +3 something is better than nothing
1 +1 Damn necessity that has made the blind drives.
Change log

Sep 24, 2007 23:43: Lamis Maalouf changed "Language pair" from "English to Arabic" to "Arabic to English"

Discussion

Sami Khamou (asker) Sep 25, 2007:
Nesrin & Mohamed: I guess you are right. Actually, at Google one can get a lot of hits quoting the same proverb in English. Thanks for both of you.
Mohamed Gaafar Sep 25, 2007:
For lack of horses they saddled the dogs" I would go for the translation of the proverb as it gives the same intended meaning though sarcastic
Nesrin Sep 25, 2007:
An English equivalent would be great of course, but in my opinion there's nothing wrong with a colourful literal translation of a proverb (such as yours). It's better than a boring paraphrase of the Arabic, or forcing a not 100% equivalent proverb.

Proposed translations

5 days
Selected

Your own translation "For lack of horses they saddled the dogs"

So be it then -
As I said in my note above, I think your own literal translation is most suitable here, as it expresses the intended meaning better than a not-quite-equivalent English proverb.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you Nesrin, your answer is most helpful. It is a mere coincidence that my supposed literary translation is identical to the English proverb equivalent to the Arabic one."
10 mins

they do not have any better/// better than nothing

or you could try the english one: when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
Something went wrong...
+3
1 hr

something is better than nothing

the closest for me ...

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-09-25 00:41:53 GMT)
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or : Better something than nothing

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-09-25 00:43:16 GMT)
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◊ من قلة الخيل شدوا على الكلاب سروج

والبعض يقول : من قلة الخيل شدّوا على الحمير سروج ، ويعني انه نظراً لانعدام بعض الأشياء الأصلية ، ونفاد الجيد منها ، فان الناس يلجأون إلى ما هو أقل جودة ، وما هو دون المستوى من ذلك .
Peer comment(s):
agree Noha Kamal, PhD.
4 hrs
thx
agree ferines10 : Je ne peux l'exprimer de meilleure façon
13 hrs
merci
agree Mohammed Abu-Risha : They hired unqualified people because "something was better than nothing". What do you think?
3 days 23 hrs
thanks, yeah it could be that... But as they asked for a proverb I just skipped the they hired ...:)
Something went wrong...
+1
6 hrs

Damn necessity that has made the blind drives.

اجتهاد قابل للنقد - المقصود هنا - يلعن الظروف التى تجعل من الأعمى سائقا - يشير الى الحاجة التي قد تجعل من المهمل مسؤولا-
Peer comment(s):
agree Mohammed Abu-Risha : This is just another wonderful translation
3 days 17 hrs
Thanks Mr Mohammed
Something went wrong...
+2
10 hrs

any port in a storm/ in the land of the blind...

here's a couple I might suggest, although I'm not sure they're equivalent:
"any port in a storm" means that in hard times you'll accept help from anywhere even if you don't particularly like the person/place whose help you are seeking.

"in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king"...again meaning that although such a person is not the best qualified for the job, they're the best you've got anyway. This one is used more sarcastically than the former and is well-known enough to be shortened to "in the land of the blind..."
Peer comment(s):
agree Nesrin : Best suggestions so far but I still think a literal translation of the proverb may be best here.
13 hrs
depends on the context - if the document has to be translated fluently, then a sudden clearly translatese proverb will look out of place and disturb the reading experience
agree sktrans : I also thought of "In the land of the blind..."
14 hrs
yes, I think this is the more appropiate one here
Something went wrong...
2 days 16 hrs

Dreaming of excellence,They ride thier ignorance

The bigger they are, the harder they fall
i see it like that here
http://www.manythings.org/proverbs/proverbs12.html
Something went wrong...
+1
4 days

They hired unqualified people due to lack of qualified ones

I have used what my colleague and friend Prof. Abdullah Shunnaq says: "Ideational equivalence". You simply translate the idea.
Peer comment(s):
agree Fathy Shehatto
9 mins
Thank you Fathy. Your translation I guess is still more literary and better to be used.
Something went wrong...
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