Stepping Stones

[parmalee]

OK, so the expression doesn't really work as an illustration of the importance of commas--in English, that is. But it's roughly, "Execute, don't pardon" or "Don't execute, pardon", yes? That's a good one. Hopefully they didn't have to convey the message by telegraph too many times.

 

[ольга]

OK, so the expression doesn't really work as an illustration of the importance of commas--in English, that is. But it's roughly, "Execute, don't pardon" or "Don't execute, pardon", yes? That's a good one. Hopefully they didn't have to convey the message by telegraph too many times.

Слово "нельзя" между словами "казнить" и "помиловать" можно перевести как "запрещено". Получается, в зависимости от того, где стоит запятая - либо запрещено казнить, либо запрещено помиловать.

 

[DaveC426913]

I'm thinking that neither "execute" nor "pardon" is the best translation for the terms in the expression. I'm trying to think of synonyms that would make that phrase make a little bit more sense, but coming up with nothing. If we takes some pretty extreme liberties maybe, "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission"--but that's quite a stretch.

Oh. You mean it's not to be taken as literal murder/mercy, even as an adage.

 

[parmalee]

Oh. You mean it's not to be taken as literal murder/mercy, even as an adage.

I am so confused at this point that I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic here.

But I think Olga cleared it up in subsequent posts, so it does seem to actually refer to execution and pardoning. It just doesn't work when translated as an illustration of the importance of commas.

In my experience, Arabic speakers (Arabic being a language without punctuation) learning English seem to fully grasp the comma only after they've pretty much mastered everything else. It's fascinating to see a person go from randomly throwing commas everywhere to grasping the correct usage almost instantly.

 

[DaveC426913]

I am so confused at this point that I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic here.

I was not. I was interested in your interpretation of Olga's adage.

It's fascinating to see a person go from randomly throwing commas everywhere to grasping the correct usage almost instantly.

I know a lot of people, who sprinkle commas in their text, like salt on their dinner. Drives me crazy.