According to [EMAIL PROTECTED] in his/her(?) Re: Terms Was: Re:
Crackerjack (5/31/2002) :
:
<<On 31 May 2002 13:40:28 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Herman
Rubin) wrote: The French word for "expectation", "esperence", literally
means "hope">>.
Assuming that the excerpt is accurate, Rubin is not. "Esperence" doesn't
exist in French. "Esp�rance" does It *derives* from the Latin "espero"
("to hope"), but has literally (in the sense of "actually;" i.e, in point of fact)
come to mean *either* "hope" or "expectation" -- depending upon the
context in which it appears. There are other words for "hope" ("espoir") and
"expectation" (expectative") as well. Oh well!! (Btw., how many wells does
it take to make a river?)*
As for:
<<In Spanish "esperar" is also related to the word for "wait" which
makes translating "Waiting more in hope than expectation" particularly
difficult.>>
All of that simply makes no sense whatsoever. How about (instead):
"Esperar" is the infinitive of either: to "wait for." hope for," or "expect" --
depending upon the context in which 'tis used. Even so, translating the
locution at issue should pose no difficulty at all for a reasonably literate
writer of Spanish. (Of course, the reader must have a fairly good
understanding of said language as well.)
A word for word translation would become: "Esperando m�s en esperanza,
que en la expectativa." "Esperanza" can signify either "hope" or
"expectation" However, in the present usage it clearly takes the first
meaning by virtue of being opposed to "expectativa." (Note that the
suffix "-ando" in Spanish, is the equivalent of the suffix "-ing" in English.)
And, of course, the same *thought* could also be expressed en otras
palabras** -- as witness the off the cuff (and somewhat cutesy) attempt in
my Re: Terms Was: Re: Crackerjack (5/31/2002
Adieu and adios, y'all
Harley
*One, if its big enough.
**In other words.
Ps: As I remember (perhaps incorrectly) 'twas suggested in another thread
that 'tis meaningless to speak of an "average." Well maybe, but I have
reached that time of life whereat when people ask me "How does ya feel
today?" I usually answer:"Oh, about average. A little worse than
yesterday, and not quite as bad as tomorrow."
Finis (literally)
