Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

My luck/fortune got in prison

English answer:

My luck is in chains

Added to glossary by Yassine El Bouknify
Jun 5, 2022 16:51
2 yrs ago
43 viewers *
English term

My luck/fortune got in prison

English Other Music Moroccan Music
Hello everyone.

Does the following sentence make sense to you as a native English speaker?
"My luck got in prison."

Some of the music lyrics (they're not in order):
" - My luck got in prison. May God release it.
- My luck got in prison and I've not seen it
- My luck got in prison while I'm struggling."

Please bear in mind that I'm translating a Moroccan Music into English. Feel free to edit the input -- You can paraphrase it and so on.
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Tony M

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Discussion

Sarah Lewis-Morgan Jun 7, 2022:
Phil, I'll post my suggestion But please post yours so the asker can decide.
Yassine El Bouknify (asker) Jun 7, 2022:
Thank you Philgoddard and Sarah I really appreciate your help. Please, feel free to provide a translation in the right box in order to reward points to the translator
Sarah Lewis-Morgan Jun 6, 2022:
Or, keeping it a bit poetic "My luck is in chains". Keeps the idea of captivity, but loses the prison that sounds wrong in English.
philgoddard Jun 5, 2022:
You could say I'm all out of luck.
Yassine El Bouknify (asker) Jun 5, 2022:
Thank you Tony and Tomasso Both of you are very helpful.
Tony M Jun 5, 2022:
@ Asker "My luck is in prison" does make sense yes... though it's still far from obvious what the intended sense is?
I suspect the speaker is really lamenting that their luck seems to have run out of them; if this is the case, then it would be better to say something "It locks as though my luck is in prison" or "My luck seems to be in prison".
But I repeat, the whol idea of 'prisons' sits uneasily: prison is a place where we send people to punish them; you can't punish luck, nor would it have been evil.
If you want to think about the personification of 'luck', consider the song "Luck be a lady tonight". But I think the whole metpahor is wrong — maybe Tomasso's comment about 'imprisoned', in the sense of 'shut away' is closer to what you need...?
Tomasso Jun 5, 2022:
الحاقد (مغني) Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L7a9d ??? My luck, my future is still imprisoned, God is merciful, let it be free.
(repeat) is no longer within reach, (repeat) God will help me endure.
(a person would include a well-known phrase) ? Inshalla ان شاء الله

(some words not correct, حظا سعيدا ، مستقبلي مسجون ، الله رحيم ، فليطلق سراحه.
(كرر) لم يعد قريبًا ، (كرر) سيساعدني الله على الاحتمال.
Yassine El Bouknify (asker) Jun 5, 2022:
Thank you for your feedback What about (my luck is in prison)? Does it make sense?
Tony M Jun 5, 2022:
@ Asker Yes, but whatever you go for, you simply CAN'T use 'got' or gotten' — it can nly be something from 'go', like 'gone to prison'.
I can't help thinking, though, that the 'prison' metphor simply won't work in EN, even if it does in Moroccan. I've had a similar issue with an Iranian friend of mine, who was trying to translate a metaphor in his own language too literally, and it simply didn't work in EN.
Yassine El Bouknify (asker) Jun 5, 2022:
Thank you Tony Wow, your suggestions are impressive. Thank you so much. I knew I will mistranslate it. Hence, I asked native speakers to provide their feedback. One of your suggestions (my luck [has] got/gotten to prison) is the best translation. By the way, it's a metaphor (the Moroccan Arabic lyric). Thank you again for your efforts :).
Tony M Jun 5, 2022:
@ Asker No, I'm afraid it doesn't make sense in EN — to the extent it's difficult even to understand what you are trying to say?
'got' is related the word 'have' — but we don't talk about 'having prison', but rather 'going to prison'
So it maybe ought to be "My luck went to prison" — but then again, the simple past may not really be the right tense here: perhaps it should be "My luck has gone to prison" (maybe '...seems to have...'?) — or since people don't usually go to prison of their own accord, deliberately, it might be better to say "My luck got sent to prison".
I think the only way to find just the right wording will be if you tell us exactly the nuance of meaning you are trying to convey? Are you trying to say "my luck seems to have run out?" — it's not obvious why 'prison' is at all relevant here?

Responses

2 days 3 hrs
Selected

My luck is in chains

An alternative that conveys the message of capture in the original while avoiding the mention of prison.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Sarah "
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