I am puzzling how to translate an expression in Dutch to English. There is a way of saying something in German and Dutch that is literally translated to: Do you feel (as) spoken to? For example you complain about people proselyting their point of view on politics or religion, on a website that is intentionally about information exchange. Then somebody gets mad, and you want to say something like: When you get this mad about is, you probably feel offended, you probably do the same, you feel as we were speaking about you. How can I express that?
Learn English – In English can you say something like: To feel addressed
translation
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I asked a local Brazilian and she said that the phrase is more commonly used to just mean the Brazilian way of doing things:
We put garlic in our rice; it's just the Brazilian Way.
When I mentioned the specific meaning you were aiming for she frowned and took offense. And then offered these suggestions:
Opportunist — unprincipled resourceful person: somebody who takes advantage of something, especially somebody who does so in a devious, unscrupulous, or unprincipled way
Shyster — unethical person: an unscrupulous person, especially a lawyer or political representative
Adding a few of my own:
Circumventing — get around restriction: to find a way of avoiding restrictions imposed by a rule or law without actually breaking it
Loophole — gap in law: a small mistake or omission in a rule or law that allows it to be circumvented
Workaround — way to bypass a problem: a technique that enables somebody to overcome a problem without actually putting things right
Translation is difficult, and translation of slang is even more difficult because of all the non-shared cultural context and nuances involved. So there's usually not a direct translation (one-to-one always) that fits for slang. Often that results in a direct loan word, like 'kow tow' or 'kung fu', or loan translation, like 'brain washing' or 'lose face'. This happens more often than a direct loan because the phonology and culture are so different between English and Chinese.
For these two terms, 学霸 ('school tyrant') and 学婊 ('school whore/bitch') (those are the character for character translations, the nuance of the individual words may or may not be very misleading), there are no such terms for the direct corresponding cultural situation, especially for the second one which seems to be a recent invention. Of course there are terms in the same area of concern (academic excellence):
- valedictorian (n, formal) - the best in the class
- overachiever - someone who looks like they're trying really hard (and is succeeding at everything)
- teacher's pet - slang, the student that the teacher seems to favor over all others (maybe academically or because they are controllable) not derogatory but usually used disparagingly or enviously.
- kiss-ass (n) slang, (not primarily academic) someone who does things just to please a superior (a teacher's pet might be a kiss-ass, but that is not at all necessary)
- nerd - academically oriented to the exclusion of all else (compare with dweeb and dork).
- swot (n) swotty (adj) - chiefly Br slang, very studious
- cutthroat (adj) for a person or atmosphere, a very competitive academic environment, where people will break the rules to get ahead
I'd prefer to have many more terms in that area of which there are many I am sure, I just can't think of them.
Best Answer
Are your ears burning? is pretty close.
It comes from the old legend that you could tell if someone was discussing you out of earshot by the ears getting warm.