Mar 8, 2008 09:41
16 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Dutch term

klein maar fijn

Non-PRO Dutch to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I have no context, I just overheard this. Should it be "small but good" or "small and good" -- how would you say this in English?
Proposed translations (English)
3 neat and petite
4 +2 small and dainty
4 +1 small but nice
Change log

Mar 8, 2008 10:11: Adam Smith changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): writeaway

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

zabrowa (asker) Mar 9, 2008:
I guess my (more general) question is if the MAAR is best translated with the operator BUT or if it is better as AND... I see both below. What is the most accurate understanding?

Proposed translations

32 mins
Selected

neat and petite

Just another suggestion.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Suzan Hamer : At least it rhymes . . . .
13 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
20 mins

small but nice

"small but good" kqn in principe ook, maar "nice" lijkt mij beter aan te leunen bij het Nederlandse woord "fijn" dan het Engelse "good". Jammer, maar het rijmeffect gaat verloren...
Peer comment(s):

agree Tina Vonhof (X) : the safer option as long as no context is given.
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
29 mins

small and dainty

It's often said about things or people- along the lines of the expression about good things coming in small packages - i.e. being small is not a bad thing
Peer comment(s):

agree Andries Conradie
28 mins
Thanks
neutral Suzan Hamer : I think Kate said it in her explanation. The English equivalent would be "good things come in small packages." Also, "small but perfectly formed." "Small but good" works too. Unfortunately, as stated elsewhere, the rhyme gets lost in translation.
4 hrs
Thanks
agree Ken Cox : Agree with Suzan that the paraphrase conveys the intended meaning nicely. This is a stock expression, and the literal meaning is more or less 'the size may not be impressive, but the quality *is* impressive'
8 hrs
Thanks
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search