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[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

Idioms and phrasing in English are not.

What's the literal meaning of "his days are numbered"?

[-] nickiwest@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

There are multiple references to this in the Bible. This is the most uplifting one I found.

Psalm 90

10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago

You think a person who doesn't speak English has read the Bible in English?

What's the literal meaning of the words?

[-] BlackDragon@slrpnk.net 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It means that you can place a specific number on the number of days left in a person's life? I'm not sure I understand the question because the meaning of this one is pretty easy to see. Normally it is unclear when your death will be, but if someone tells you that your days are numbered they are implying that they possess the exact knowledge of what number of days you have left to live. They don't usually mean that literally but the literal meaning is pretty clear.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

It means that you can place a specific number on the number of days left in a person’s life?

Or the number of days since their birth? That's the simpler explanation.

"Those apples are numbered" = "we know how many apples there are right now"

If you don't know the context, you could easily assume that's the meaning.

[-] BlackDragon@slrpnk.net 0 points 3 months ago

Or the number of days since their birth? That’s the simpler explanation.

“Those apples are numbered” = “we know how many apples there are right now”

No, that does not make equal literal sense to what I said. Because days that are in the past are gone, we don't have them anymore. We refer to moving through time as "killing" time or as "losing" time, in English we don't tend to think of the past as something we currently have. The future is something we have or will have, the past is something we had and no longer have.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago

We refer to moving through time as “killing” time or as “losing” time, in English we don’t tend to think of the past as something we currently have.

Exactly! In English! Which this person does not know!

What's the meaning of "pulling your leg" vs the literal definition?

[-] BlackDragon@slrpnk.net -1 points 3 months ago

Exactly! In English! Which this person does not know!

You seem to be getting pretty confused here. We're talking about the literal meanings, that is to say the ones that someone who doesn't have a strong grasp of English should know. Metaphors and idioms and so on are famously difficult for those without a strong grasp on the language, but I am arguing that this is not one of those. This is a phrase with a straightforward literal meaning, unlike such phrases as "pulling your leg."

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

This is a phrase with a straightforward literal meaning

Obviously not the case, since you had to use the phrase "in English, what we mean is..." You had to give a cultural context.

this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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