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The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2009-09-25 13:54:06 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Norwegian to English translations [PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Proverbs
Norwegian term or phrase:Prikken over i-en
I need a good way of saying "prikken over i-en" in English. Things like "the icing on the cake" won't work, as this more conveys something that is nice to have, but that is not strictly necessary, while everyone would agree that the dot above the "i" is necessary (at least when writing in lower case letters).
Explanation: Strictly speaking, a dot over a lower case i would make a total of two dots. Prikken over i'en is used to say the finishing touch, the little extra that makes the item special.
I have sent you a private message to address some of your issues.
Apart from this, I don't know why the message says "The asker has left it up to the community..."
I selected your answer as my preference, and apart from this, I'm not sure why the system decided to do it this way.
I agree with your comment finding an option to "prikken over i-en" is not hard. But this is also why I said that I wasn't looking for someone to tell me "what to write" - I simply wanted to see what others would come up with. I think I stated that before as well.
Apart from this I have nothing to add to this now, so have a nice day, and thank you to everyone that contributed.
"The asker has opted to leave it to the community to determine (through peer agreement) which answer will be awarded points." Your choice, so don't whine if it bugs you. Points are not important to me, nor indeed to most other people, as evidenced by the suggestion to make this non-PRO. This would make any points gained useless in rankings. No doubt you're a professional, but face it - most 10-year olds could have provided an alternative way of saying prikken over i'en. Me, I kinda like it when Kudoz issues heat up. Makes for a useful break from the routine. But make no mistake - several of your replies were held in a tone of voice that many would think rude, and it's a credit to the system that none of them were squashed - or even that your question wasn't bumped down to non-PRO, which it could have (and probably should have) been by any moderator or anyone with 500 Kudoz points to his name (or hers).
If you're still monitoring this, please note that the tone in your recent remarks isn't going to earn you a lot of response to your next Kudoz question. And if you're concerned about debating this further, just close the darn question, without going for the minimum effort solution. For future occasions of a similar nature, Brigid's suggestion to make your question non-PRO is a good one. It's a sure-fire way of keeping interest low. Add up the number of email messages this post has caused, and we're easily into thousands...
"If my intention had been for people to suggest a phrase for me to use, then yes. This was not my objective", then I'm a bit puzzled about what your objective was here... Anyway, it might be helpful if next time you entered similar questions as "non-pro" so that all those helpful souls out there can decide whether they want to spend their valuable time helping you out. Glad to hear you found your solution, anyway.
Obviously you did have a context in mind. You had a specific text and you knew that "icing on the cake" wouldn't work, so clearly you could have narrowed things down to make it easier for the contributors and saved a lot of beating round the bush.
Uttrykket brukes ofte i humoristisk sammenheng. Prikken over i-en er det spesielle som gjør opplevelsen fullkommen eller ekstraordinær. Eksempel: -"Jeg så en skrekkfilm om svigermødre som drepte den ene etter den andre. Jeg satt med frysninger da filmen var slutt, og vet du hva som skjedde? Akkurat da ringte svigermor! Det var prikken over i-en."
... you might be amused to note that a term that's been creeping into the lingo is indrefilet, or tenderloin. I am not suggesting you might use it; just saying that a different Norwegian scribe might have said the golf course is the tenderloin of the property.
without splitting hairs about the number of dots involved.... 1. As Andy mentions, while the Norwegian idiom (prikken over i'en) takes the nominal form (i.e. it functions as a noun), the English equivalent - in sense at least - is not: "to dot the i's and cross the t's" is the full idiom in English, so to say "the dot over the i" is really stretching it too thin. 2. While it is a well-known saying in Norwegian, it can be used in all kinds of contexts (as most idioms can). In your example sentence, Andy, are you saying that having a golf course on a property is a necessity rather than icing on the cake? I do not understand the Norwegian idiom to imply something that is necessary, it's just nice to have.
It is a well known idiom, both in Norwegian and English. Example: "The multidimensional and wonderful vocals of Izaline Calister, the Caribbean bundle of enrgy, is the dot over the i of PILI-PILI's music." http://www.jaro.de/php/endex.php3/page/content:artist/artist...
would look like a short vertical line with a colon (i.e. two dots) over it. An extra dot above the i certainly isn't necessary; all the required dots are already there, or it isn't an i.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
4 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
the dot over the i
Explanation: .
Egil Presttun Norway Local time: 02:58 Works in field Native speaker of: Norwegian PRO pts in category: 30
12 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
the finishing touch
Explanation: Strictly speaking, a dot over a lower case i would make a total of two dots. Prikken over i'en is used to say the finishing touch, the little extra that makes the item special.
Per Bergvall Norway Local time: 02:58 Works in field Native speaker of: Norwegian PRO pts in category: 98
Explanation: there must be many similar idioms like this, for example ...the rest is gravy!
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2009-09-22 13:05:59 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Yes, but when you deviate from a standard, you should still have the standard as an option. After all your struggles and efforts, it may be that you return to the standard - which may have been good enough for your translation - and saved the time you spent searching.
jeffrey engberg Norway Local time: 02:58 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 35
Notes to answerer
Asker: I believe I stated explicitly in my question that I didn't want to use "icing on the cake" :)
Asker: Response to note added at 2 hrs: It seems rather pointless for translators to suggest something that I already wrote in my original question that I didn't want. This is like saying what's a good word for potato other than potato, and giving the answer as "Potato!" So I'm sorry, but you won't be getting any points for that one. My guess is you didn't read the entire question, just the headline! :)
Explanation: When in doubt, trust Latin. You want your golf course to be the best of the best? Use the Latin for the best of the best, creme del la creme. That without which...
jeffrey engberg Norway Local time: 02:58 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 35
Explanation: This is a really common and useful expression in North America to convey a negative limit (exasperation); similar to "the straw that broke the camel's back".
lingo_montreal Local time: 21:58 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
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