How to adress personified concepts like “love” like they're people? (with no ambiguity)
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There's a song lyric in a French song that goes like this:
Je t'attends depuis longtemps, toi l'amour
Which means, more or less:
I've been waiting for you for a long time, love
But there love is not an affective nickname to a significant someone, it's addressing love directly, as a personified concept. Kind of like "Death is coming to get you".
The sentence means "I've been waiting for love for a long time and it's finally here". But it doesn't work if I use "you".
I can't find a way to express this in English with no ambiguity, I'd need a complementary sentence explaining it.
I'm not sure a capital L would do the trick, and the ideal solution would work when spoken.
ambiguity phrasing
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
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There's a song lyric in a French song that goes like this:
Je t'attends depuis longtemps, toi l'amour
Which means, more or less:
I've been waiting for you for a long time, love
But there love is not an affective nickname to a significant someone, it's addressing love directly, as a personified concept. Kind of like "Death is coming to get you".
The sentence means "I've been waiting for love for a long time and it's finally here". But it doesn't work if I use "you".
I can't find a way to express this in English with no ambiguity, I'd need a complementary sentence explaining it.
I'm not sure a capital L would do the trick, and the ideal solution would work when spoken.
ambiguity phrasing
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
There's a song lyric in a French song that goes like this:
Je t'attends depuis longtemps, toi l'amour
Which means, more or less:
I've been waiting for you for a long time, love
But there love is not an affective nickname to a significant someone, it's addressing love directly, as a personified concept. Kind of like "Death is coming to get you".
The sentence means "I've been waiting for love for a long time and it's finally here". But it doesn't work if I use "you".
I can't find a way to express this in English with no ambiguity, I'd need a complementary sentence explaining it.
I'm not sure a capital L would do the trick, and the ideal solution would work when spoken.
ambiguity phrasing
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
There's a song lyric in a French song that goes like this:
Je t'attends depuis longtemps, toi l'amour
Which means, more or less:
I've been waiting for you for a long time, love
But there love is not an affective nickname to a significant someone, it's addressing love directly, as a personified concept. Kind of like "Death is coming to get you".
The sentence means "I've been waiting for love for a long time and it's finally here". But it doesn't work if I use "you".
I can't find a way to express this in English with no ambiguity, I'd need a complementary sentence explaining it.
I'm not sure a capital L would do the trick, and the ideal solution would work when spoken.
ambiguity phrasing
ambiguity phrasing
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
asked Nov 30 at 16:03
Teleporting Goat
1134
1134
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Literal translations often fail to work, so I'd give up on that idea.
The problem with just saying love (even with capitalizing it) is that, as you say, we use the word as an endearment for people. So, there's always going to be possible ambiguity when it's used in the context of your translation.
If additional sentences were provided to put it in context (as you mention, a complementary sentence), then it's a lot less likely there would be misinterpretation—and the translated sentence you give wouldn't present a problem.
It's not as poetic, but as a standalone sentence this seems to capture the essence of the French version:
The love I've spent so long waiting for is finally here.
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
Literal translations often fail to work, so I'd give up on that idea.
The problem with just saying love (even with capitalizing it) is that, as you say, we use the word as an endearment for people. So, there's always going to be possible ambiguity when it's used in the context of your translation.
If additional sentences were provided to put it in context (as you mention, a complementary sentence), then it's a lot less likely there would be misinterpretation—and the translated sentence you give wouldn't present a problem.
It's not as poetic, but as a standalone sentence this seems to capture the essence of the French version:
The love I've spent so long waiting for is finally here.
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
Literal translations often fail to work, so I'd give up on that idea.
The problem with just saying love (even with capitalizing it) is that, as you say, we use the word as an endearment for people. So, there's always going to be possible ambiguity when it's used in the context of your translation.
If additional sentences were provided to put it in context (as you mention, a complementary sentence), then it's a lot less likely there would be misinterpretation—and the translated sentence you give wouldn't present a problem.
It's not as poetic, but as a standalone sentence this seems to capture the essence of the French version:
The love I've spent so long waiting for is finally here.
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
up vote
2
down vote
accepted
Literal translations often fail to work, so I'd give up on that idea.
The problem with just saying love (even with capitalizing it) is that, as you say, we use the word as an endearment for people. So, there's always going to be possible ambiguity when it's used in the context of your translation.
If additional sentences were provided to put it in context (as you mention, a complementary sentence), then it's a lot less likely there would be misinterpretation—and the translated sentence you give wouldn't present a problem.
It's not as poetic, but as a standalone sentence this seems to capture the essence of the French version:
The love I've spent so long waiting for is finally here.
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
Literal translations often fail to work, so I'd give up on that idea.
The problem with just saying love (even with capitalizing it) is that, as you say, we use the word as an endearment for people. So, there's always going to be possible ambiguity when it's used in the context of your translation.
If additional sentences were provided to put it in context (as you mention, a complementary sentence), then it's a lot less likely there would be misinterpretation—and the translated sentence you give wouldn't present a problem.
It's not as poetic, but as a standalone sentence this seems to capture the essence of the French version:
The love I've spent so long waiting for is finally here.
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
answered Nov 30 at 18:31
Jason Bassford
15k31941
15k31941
add a comment |
add a comment |
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