Help checking a translation?

Prudence_Dear

Hi folks, a friend had her cousin translate the following into Irish for me and I was wondering if anyone could check it out and confirm whether or not it's accurate? I've never met the cousin and have no idea what his level of fluency is (google translate seems to think it's right but I don't trust it

To refuse to fight would have been to lose; to fight is to win

A dhiúltú chun troid bheadh a chailleadh; le dul i ngleic go bhfuil a bhuachan

Cheers!

Insect Overlord

Google Translate trusts it because that's what was used to translate it in the first place! It doesn't read properly at all.

Prudence_Dear

Ah ha, I knew it was a good idea to check it out. Any ideas as to how it should go? (apologies if that's not what this forum is for, just looking for some info and happy to go elsewhere if that's the case)

Gumbi

Please note that a literal translation is not always the best option (it generally isn't, in fact). In order to preserve the meaning of the phrase, words must be changed. What makes this particular one tricky is that Irish doesn't have infinitives, and so succinctly translating this is going to be a bit tricky. Here's my attempt:

Is ionann diultiú troda agus géilleadh; is bua é an troid féin

Do wait for more opinions on this, corrections, more suggestions.

Prudence_Dear

Awesome, thanks for the help! I know translation is never an exact science but it's for a tattoo design so I'd like to get as close a correct translation as possible so I don't turn out to be one of those idiots with a messed up phrase

An gal gréine

There is a seanfhocal
'Ná seachain agus ná h-agair an cath'
which means
'Dont either shun or provoke a fight'.

I know it's not what you are looking for but I thought
you might be interested.

Gumbi

An gal gréine wrote: »

There is a seanfhocal
'Ná seachain agus ná h-agair an cath'
which means
'Dont either shun or provoke a fight'.

I know it's not what you are looking for but I thought
you might be interested.

Very good suggestion!

Prudence_Dear

Thanks for the suggestion but this quote is from a specific source that I want to use. I received this translation from someone involved in Irish classes here in Canada, how does it sound?

"Bheadh a dhiúltú chun dul i ngleic go raibh a chailleadh le dul i ngleic go bhfuil a bhuachan"

It's obviously quite different from the one Gumbi posted above and now I don't know what to go with. Maybe this is why tattoos in languages you don't speak is a bad idea

Insect Overlord

Prudence_Dear wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion but this quote is from a specific source that I want to use. I received this translation from someone involved in Irish classes here in Canada, how does it sound?

"Bheadh a dhiúltú chun dul i ngleic go raibh a chailleadh le dul i ngleic go bhfuil a bhuachan"

Jesus. That one's even worse. :eek:

Gumbi

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Jesus. That one's even worse. :eek:

Than Google's original or mine?

An Sionnach Glic

If you learn just one thing from reading this thread, it should be that 'Google Translate' is the spawn of Satan and should never be used for translating more than individual words.

An gal gréine

Gumbi wrote: »

Is ionann diultiú troda agus géilleadh; is bua é an troid féin

Gumbi's is the one to go with (above).
I was just offering a different philosophy with my suggestion.

Prudence_Dear

Thanks to everyone for their input on this! After many consultations with my tattoo artist I'm actually thinking about trimming the quote down to work better with the art work and am looking at including just "to fight is to win". I'm assuming Gumbi's translation of "is bua é an troid féin" still holds up on it's own, any thoughts?

deirdremf

Prudence_Dear wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for their input on this! After many consultations with my tattoo artist I'm actually thinking about trimming the quote down to work better with the art work and am looking at including just "to fight is to win". I'm assuming Gumbi's translation of "is bua é an troid féin" still holds up on it's own, any thoughts?

Sounds good to me, anyway!