The mass of men

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Synalepha
The mass of men

Postby Synalepha » 2020-02-02, 20:34

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation

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Re: The mass of men

Postby linguoboy » 2020-02-03, 15:59

Might as well mention the source: Henry David Thoreau's Walden.

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(ga) Tá saol éadóchais ag an mórchuid daoine.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Synalepha » 2020-02-05, 19:05

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(ga) Tá saol éadóchais ag an mórchuid daoine.

(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Naava » 2020-02-05, 19:51

I found the quote online, but it had a reference to an actual book so I think it might be an official translation.

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(ga) Tá saol éadóchais ag an mórchuid daoine.

(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

(fi) Suuri joukko ihmisiä elää elämäänsä hiljaisessa epätoivossa.

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Dormouse559 » 2020-02-05, 20:06

Attempting French

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(ga) Tá saol éadóchais ag an mórchuid daoine.

(fr) La masse des hommes vit une vie de désespoir silencieux.
(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

(fi) Suuri joukko ihmisiä elää elämäänsä hiljaisessa epätoivossa.
N'hésite pas à corriger mes erreurs.

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Re: The mass of men

Postby linguoboy » 2020-02-05, 20:10

I found several Chinese versions and went with the most literary of them.

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(cy) Mae'r mwyafrif o ddynion yn byw bywyd llawn anobaith tawel.
(ga) Tá saol éadóchais chiúin ag an mórchuid daoine.

(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

(fi) Suuri joukko ihmisiä elää elämäänsä hiljaisessa epätoivossa.

(ko) 대부분의 사람들은 많은 것을 포기하고 살아간다.

(zh-tw) 芸芸眾生苟活于平静之絕望中。
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Linguaphile » 2020-02-06, 3:11

Well, in terms of official/professional translations, it seems this phrase has already been translated in many different ways. In both Spanish and Estonian I found two types: those that translate "the mass of men" literally as a "mass" (which is a cognate in both languages) and those that interpret it as "the majority of men" (or sometimes "almost all men"). And within those two types, another two types: those that translate "men" as "people" and those that translate it as "male people" (men as opposed to women). Which gives at least four interpretations from which to choose....
I'm going with "the majority of people" for Spanish, Estonian, and Võro. Giving Votic a try as well.

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(cy) Mae'r mwyafrif o ddynion yn byw bywyd llawn anobaith tawel.
(ga) Tá saol éadóchais chiúin ag an mórchuid daoine.

(es) La mayoría de las personas llevan vidas de silenciosa desesperación.
(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

(fi) Suuri joukko ihmisiä elää elämäänsä hiljaisessa epätoivossa.
(et) Enamik inimesi elab vaikse meeleheite elu.
(vro) Inämbjago inemiisi eläs vagadsõ meelehiitmise elo.
(vot) Suurõp ulkk ihnemiziit eläb ommaa elloa iľľass tuzgass. :?:

(ko) 대부분의 사람들은 많은 것을 포기하고 살아간다.

(zh-tw) 芸芸眾生苟活于平静之絕望中。

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Dormouse559 » 2020-02-06, 3:49

Re-adding French

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(cy) Mae'r mwyafrif o ddynion yn byw bywyd llawn anobaith tawel.
(ga) Tá saol éadóchais chiúin ag an mórchuid daoine.

(es) La mayoría de las personas llevan vidas de silenciosa desesperación.
(fr) La masse des hommes vit une vie de désespoir silencieux.
(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

(fi) Suuri joukko ihmisiä elää elämäänsä hiljaisessa epätoivossa.
(et) Enamik inimesi elab vaikse meeleheite elu.
(vro) Inämbjago inemiisi eläs vagadsõ meelehiitmise elo.
(vot) Suurõp ulkk ihnemiziit eläb ommaa elloa iľľass tuzgass. :?:

(ko) 대부분의 사람들은 많은 것을 포기하고 살아간다.

(zh-tw) 芸芸眾生苟活于平静之絕望中。
N'hésite pas à corriger mes erreurs.

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Linguaphile » 2020-02-06, 4:32

Dormouse559 wrote:Re-adding French

Sorry, no idea how that happened! Désolé! :oops:

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Dormouse559 » 2020-02-06, 7:14

Linguaphile wrote:Sorry, no idea how that happened! Désolé! :oops:

T'inquiète, it wasn't you. I think linguoboy and I just posted so close together that French got lost.
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Re: The mass of men

Postby h34 » 2020-02-06, 21:10

Adding a Latvian translation I found online.
Literally: The larger/largest part of people/humans live their life (singular) in silent desperation.

(en) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

(de) Die Masse der Menschen führt ein Leben in stummer Verzweiflung.

(cy) Mae'r mwyafrif o ddynion yn byw bywyd llawn anobaith tawel.
(ga) Tá saol éadóchais chiúin ag an mórchuid daoine.

(es) La mayoría de las personas llevan vidas de silenciosa desesperación.
(fr) La masse des hommes vit une vie de désespoir silencieux.
(it) Le masse degli uomini conducono vite di quieta disperazione.
(lld) La mòtera di omegn vif vites de acorta disperazion.

(lv) Lielākā daļa cilvēku dzīvo savu dzīvi klusā izmisumā.

(fi) Suuri joukko ihmisiä elää elämäänsä hiljaisessa epätoivossa.
(et) Enamik inimesi elab vaikse meeleheite elu.
(vro) Inämbjago inemiisi eläs vagadsõ meelehiitmise elo.
(vot) Suurõp ulkk ihnemiziit eläb ommaa elloa iľľass tuzgass. :?:

(ko) 대부분의 사람들은 많은 것을 포기하고 살아간다.

(zh-tw) 芸芸眾生苟活于平静之絕望中。

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Re: The mass of men

Postby Yasna » 2020-02-06, 21:31

linguoboy wrote:I found several Chinese versions and went with the most literary of them.

[...]

(ko) 대부분의 사람들은 많은 것을 포기하고 살아간다.

(zh-tw) 芸芸眾生苟活于平静之絕望中。

Literary? Is that not pure Classical Chinese?

The Korean translation is interesting for how liberal it is.
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka

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Re: The mass of men

Postby linguoboy » 2020-02-06, 21:40

Yasna wrote:(zh-tw) 芸芸眾生苟活于平静之絕望中。

Literary? Is that not pure Classical Chinese?[/quote]
I'm one of those insufferable pedants who distinguishes between "Classical Chinese" and "Literary Chinese".

Yasna wrote:The Korean translation is interesting for how liberal it is.

Yeah. I found other translations as well but they tended to translate "men" as 남자들, which seems overly specific to me. I doubt Thoreau meant to say that the majority of women lead more fulfilling lives.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons


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