Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
He who runs may read
English answer:
"it is perfectly clear to anyone"
Added to glossary by
John Bowden
Dec 11, 2002 11:03
21 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
Native in: Polish 
Works in: English to Polish, Polish, Polish to English, and 1 more.
He who runs may read
English
Art/Literary
Runs? Does it mean he who holds office or runs for office, or simply someone who is well aware of the situation?
Gandhi wrote to the editor of the Times, urging that a ommission be appointed to investigate and report on conditions in the Transvaal,
pending whose report "Royal sanction for the Ordinance in question" be withheld. "If the Colonies persist in their policy of exclusion, they will
force on the mother country... a very serious problem.... 'Is India to remain a part of the British Empire or not?' He who runs may read that England will find it difficult to hold India if her people, immedialtely they
migrated to British Colonies, are to be insulted and degraded as if they
belonged to a barbarous race."
Gandhi wrote to the editor of the Times, urging that a ommission be appointed to investigate and report on conditions in the Transvaal,
pending whose report "Royal sanction for the Ordinance in question" be withheld. "If the Colonies persist in their policy of exclusion, they will
force on the mother country... a very serious problem.... 'Is India to remain a part of the British Empire or not?' He who runs may read that England will find it difficult to hold India if her people, immedialtely they
migrated to British Colonies, are to be insulted and degraded as if they
belonged to a barbarous race."
Responses
Responses
+7
54 mins
Selected
"it is perfectly clear to anyone"
This phrase comes from the Bible (Habbakuk) and means that something has been written/explained so clearly that anyone, even non-experts, can understand it at once, i.e. it's not obscure or complicated.
TThere are scores of hits in Google - he first reference below is the original letter, the second an Australian poem which contains teh phrease.
Hope this helps!
TThere are scores of hits in Google - he first reference below is the original letter, the second an Australian poem which contains teh phrease.
Hope this helps!
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you, this is most helpful. One thing that I have learnt from that, apart from the meaning of the phrase, is to trust more Google when I come across phrases of ambiguous meaning. It may well be they come from some well-documented source, available on the Web. Thanks to you all for your suggestions too!"
8 mins
Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Germany
Native in English
&
English
Germany
Quality Translations since 1986
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, English, German, and 6 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
455
one (wildly) possible interpretation
he who does not stay will only be able to read about it later (whereas whoever stays will actually experience it first hand)
Please beware, I may be way off the mark here.
Please beware, I may be way off the mark here.
+1
17 mins
commission / commissioner
A commissioner needs to be appointed to compile a report...
He (the commissioner) who 'runs for office' (who applies for this position), may read (interpret the situation)..
is my take
He (the commissioner) who 'runs for office' (who applies for this position), may read (interpret the situation)..
is my take
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Dan_Brennan
: it's a fair interpretation of a pretty poor piece of English!
35 mins
|
|
jbowden has it! It is an expression 'he who runs may read'...meaning, it is clearly understood!
|
53 mins
those who flee
-
1 hr
Crown (X)
Crown (X)
Works in: English to Turkish, Spanish to English, Italian to English, and 15 more.
View
Related KudoZ points
:
4
it may be understood at once
even if one does hold the matter superficially, it may be understood at once....
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