Steve
Translation of "If I bend that far, I will break." An expression from "The Fiddler on the Roof" that I'm trying to get right in my mind. There are so many words for "Bend" and none of the ones I'm seeing seem to hold the meaning of something being bent until it breaks. What is a translation that keeps this metaphorical meaning? Thank you.
Nov 30, 2015 4:21 PM
Answers · 1
"If I bend that far, I will break." "bend" is 휘다 or 구부러지다/굽다 (intransitive) or 굽히다/구부리다 (transitive). So a strict translation would be 그렇게까지 휘다간 부러진다 or 그겋게 너무 굽히다간 부러진다. But as a metaphor for "bending over backward" or "overextending", Koreans don't seem to use the same "bend and break" expression. I can't think of widely used expression for that other than 너무 나가다간 다친다 (you'll get hurt if you go too far). For bending and breaking, there is a different but related popular saying which means "if you don't bend you'll break" ("Don't be too inflexible"): 휘지 않으면 부러진다 / 구부러지지 않는 것은 부러진다.
November 30, 2015
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