Не было бы счастья, да несчастье помогло

English translation: every cloud has a silver lining

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Russian term or phrase:Не было бы счастья, да несчастье помогло
English translation:every cloud has a silver lining
Entered by: Inna Edsall

02:00 Mar 18, 2011
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Russian term or phrase: Не было бы счастья, да несчастье помогло
Не было бы счастья, да несчастье помогло.
PaulinaK
United States
Local time: 00:55
there's silver lining to the cloud
Explanation:
не было бы счастья, да несчастье помогло — ≈ there's a silver lining to the cloud
Lingvo Universal

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Note added at 23 hrs (2011-03-19 01:23:39 GMT)
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Correction: every cloud has a silver lining
Selected response from:

Inna Edsall
United States
Local time: 03:55
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2there's silver lining to the cloud
Inna Edsall
4A blessing in disguise
Maria Sergeeva
3luck works in mysterious ways
Roman Bardachev
3If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Dorene Cornwell


Discussion entries: 17





  

Answers


41 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
luck works in mysterious ways


Explanation:
-

Roman Bardachev
Canada
Local time: 01:55
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 12
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20 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all


Explanation:
I agree with Mikhail, some context would make me astoundingly happy.

Nevertheless, I am guessing in the above direction.

Dorene Cornwell
Local time: 00:55
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
there's silver lining to the cloud


Explanation:
не было бы счастья, да несчастье помогло — ≈ there's a silver lining to the cloud
Lingvo Universal

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 hrs (2011-03-19 01:23:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Correction: every cloud has a silver lining

Inna Edsall
United States
Local time: 03:55
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  LanaUK
2 days 21 hrs
  -> Thank you!

agree  cyhul
4 days
  -> Thank you!
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4 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
A blessing in disguise


Explanation:
It was also mentioned in the discussion, I think, but this (along with clouds and their silver linings) seem like good translations.. Depends on the grammatical context as to which works better...

Example sentence(s):
  • At first I was upset by his decision, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise..
  • Don't worry about the bad moments, they're nearly all blessings in disguise.
Maria Sergeeva
United States
Local time: 00:55
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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