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ESL forum >
Ask for help > colloquialism
colloquialism
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aleia
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colloquialism
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Hello For those who can understand Portuguese: how would you say "mal de mim"?
THANKS, have a nice weekend! |
26 Apr 2015
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subia
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hi, I was thinking of It �s not my place to... but I don �t know if this is the contex you �re looking for. Could you put it in a sentence? |
26 Apr 2015
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aleia
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" I was fired a week ago. ´ mal de mim ´ = It won �t be good for me if I don ´t find another job soon. |
26 Apr 2015
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dragonfly2
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Hi I don �t think we can translate it. I would use an equivalent. Something like "I �m doomed!" or "Poor me!" These don �t evoke the exact same idea but this sometimes happens.
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26 Apr 2015
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yanogator
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From the responses I �ve seen, this might be an expression that would be different in English in different contexts. From dragonfly2 �s answer, it looks like this is generally an exclamation, rather than beingused within a sentence. With these examples to guide us, if you give us a few contexts (with translations, of course), we might be able to give you some English equivalents that we would use in those contexts. Bruce
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26 Apr 2015
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spinney
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In the context you �ve given I would say this might do it: woe betide" I was fired a week ago. Woe betide (me) if I don �t find another job soon." However, it sounds as if it has multiple uses. Hope it helps.
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26 Apr 2015
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aleia
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We use this expression in different situations to express sadness, sorrow, disappointment : it would be regretable/ unfortunate if...... I think it has a similar meaning to ALAS (interjection)
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26 Apr 2015
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dragonfly2
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Hi again, Bruce, In fact, it can be an exclamation but it can also be used in a sentence. Something like this: "I was fired, poor me, I won �t get another job anytime soon". As an exclamation: "I was fired! I won �t get another job any time soon. Poor me!" It �s a colloquialism and an idiomatic expression, difficult to explain but I think that spinney �s answer, which I had never heard of, is probably the closest in meaning. Better than mine, anyway. |
26 Apr 2015
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aleia
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Can woe betide be used to express the idea of self pity? When I say "ai de mim" I am pitying myself |
26 Apr 2015
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spinney
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Actually, "woe is me" might serve better. It isn �t exactly archaic but not far off. |
26 Apr 2015
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dragonfly2
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I don �t think so. According to thefreedictionary.com "if you say that to the person who does something, you mean that they will be punished or cause trouble for themselves if they do that thing". But I �m not a native speaker. |
26 Apr 2015
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