så har hon det till

English translation: so she must suffer

14:43 Aug 10, 2012
Swedish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Swedish term or phrase: så har hon det till
Another fun little sentence from a letter, this time from 1880:

"Det var ledsamt att det verkligen var som jag tyckte med Klara, men som menniskan gör, så har hon det till, så det är hennes egen skuld."

This is proving quite tricky for me. I have been flicking through SAOL looking for clues, such as the phrase 'stå till'/'det står bra till' and trying to find a similar connection with 'ha till', but with no success.

I wonder if any of you fancy sinking your teeth into this one as well to see what we can find.

I'm afraid there really is no further context on this one; the author must be replying to something in a letter he received. The sentences before and after this one refer to different topics.

/Richard
Richard Green
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:09
English translation:so she must suffer
Explanation:
The three idioms that have been suggested sound good to me, although they have a metaphorical quality that is not present in the original, so I'll contribute some more details on the individual problematic words from SAOB:

[HAVA.v 3]
få, erhålla, åtnjuta (ngt)

especially

[HAVA.v 3.d]
i fråga om vedergällning, hämnd eller straff och dylikt
lida, utsättas för, undergå
Ex. „Det kan han just ha.“ (dvs. det är rätt åt honom).

'till' here is probably used as an emphasis particle that can be left out without changing the basic meaning. Compare 'finnas (till)', 'vara (till)'

[GÖRA.v1 IV.2.a]

med avseende på brottslig gärning, förseelse, felsteg, misstag, dårskap, dumhet och dylikt.: göra sig skyldig till, begå.
Ex. Säg mig, hwad har Astrild giordt, / At honom hafwer hängia bort?
Selected response from:

J Christian Odehnal
Czech Republic
Local time: 07:09
Grading comment
While some of the other answers were very good, they were perhaps too idiomatic for the context of this particular text, hence why I have finally decided on this, more simple solution. Thank you once again Christian for your etymological approach.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3what goes around comes around; as you sow, so shall you reap
Sven Petersson
4 +2the chickens come home to roost
Leif Henriksen
3 +1so she must suffer
J Christian Odehnal
4that's how it is for her
Cynthia Coan
4 -1That's the way it is for her
Liz Ottosson
3so are the consequences
Ann Kapborg
1 -2that way she has it
aventura22


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5 peer agreement (net): -2
that way she has it


Explanation:
Gissning.

aventura22
Sweden
Local time: 07:09
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Michele Fauble: totally meaningless
1 hr

disagree  Marie Andersson (Allen): I agree with Michele
1 hr
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
That's the way it is for her


Explanation:
I have always understood "ha det till" to mean "how it is".

Liz Ottosson
Local time: 06:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Marie Andersson (Allen): wrong interpretation
1 hr
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
what goes around comes around; as you sow, so shall you reap


Explanation:
men som menniskan gör, så har hon det till => what goes around comes around; as you sow, so shall you reap

Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 07:09
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 118
Notes to answerer
Asker: A very good solution, just slightly too idiomatic for this particular text I feel. Otherwise it would have fitted perfectly. Thank you for your valuable contribution to the discussion, Sven.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michele Fauble
7 mins
  -> Thank you very much!

agree  Marie Andersson (Allen): you reap what you sow, definitely
9 mins
  -> Thank you very much!

agree  Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
17 hrs
  -> Thank you very much!
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
so are the consequences


Explanation:
She does something and it seems like she suffers the consequences "having them".


Ann Kapborg
Sweden
Local time: 07:09
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
so she must suffer


Explanation:
The three idioms that have been suggested sound good to me, although they have a metaphorical quality that is not present in the original, so I'll contribute some more details on the individual problematic words from SAOB:

[HAVA.v 3]
få, erhålla, åtnjuta (ngt)

especially

[HAVA.v 3.d]
i fråga om vedergällning, hämnd eller straff och dylikt
lida, utsättas för, undergå
Ex. „Det kan han just ha.“ (dvs. det är rätt åt honom).

'till' here is probably used as an emphasis particle that can be left out without changing the basic meaning. Compare 'finnas (till)', 'vara (till)'

[GÖRA.v1 IV.2.a]

med avseende på brottslig gärning, förseelse, felsteg, misstag, dårskap, dumhet och dylikt.: göra sig skyldig till, begå.
Ex. Säg mig, hwad har Astrild giordt, / At honom hafwer hängia bort?


J Christian Odehnal
Czech Republic
Local time: 07:09
Native speaker of: Swedish
PRO pts in category: 15
Grading comment
While some of the other answers were very good, they were perhaps too idiomatic for the context of this particular text, hence why I have finally decided on this, more simple solution. Thank you once again Christian for your etymological approach.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ann Kapborg: Snygg analys, viktigt att hålla sig till tonen i originalet!
7 hrs
  -> Thank you! :-)
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3 days 5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
that's how it is for her


Explanation:
The wording is best kept short and simple, as in the source text.

Cynthia Coan
United States
Local time: 23:09
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 19
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
som menniskan gör, så har hon det till
the chickens come home to roost


Explanation:
The same idiom in Swedish and English. The Norwegian version as a bonus: 'Som man reder, så ligger man."

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Note added at 22 mins (2012-08-10 15:06:00 GMT)
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I forgot to add a reference - probably not needed for English speakers, but it might be useful for the Swedes: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/chickens come home to ro...

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Note added at 2 hrs (2012-08-10 16:54:28 GMT)
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I guess it is more used in the US than in the UK.

As for poor Klara, a wild guess could be that she has involved herself with someone, leading to the inevitable result that could be really hard to handle in those days. Maybe a later letter, if any, will give a clue?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2012-08-14 20:04:41 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

No problem with the points - my driving force is to try to find the correct interpretation. One thing I did not consider, is that my suggestion probably is commonly used in the US, but not very well known in other parts of the world.

I should say one thing, though, and that is how suprised I am to see that very few of those involved here seem to understand that 'hon' in 'så har hon det till ' does not point back to Klara, but to 'människan'.


Leif Henriksen
Norway
Local time: 07:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in NorwegianNorwegian, Native in Norwegian (Bokmal)Norwegian (Bokmal)
PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you Leif. The reference is very handy too since I haven't heard of this particular idiom before. It's just such a shame that we'll never know what poor Klara did!

Asker: I really liked your answer, Leif, so thank you for your contribution to the discussion. Ultimately, I wanted to opt for something slightly less idiomatic, but which still conveyed the idea. If points could be awarded to more than one answer, I would have done so. Thank you once again.

Asker: The last point you make about 'hon' is a very valid one, Leif, and deserves some credit. It's very easy to miss when reading the sentence quickly, and I only spotted it myself after a few days of going over it. This sentence could be translated in all manner of ways, and by taking different elements from different points in the discussion here, I hope I have come to the best solution.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lene Johansen: I was going to suggest as one makes one bed, one has to lie in it. Leif beet me to the punch.
44 mins

agree  Michele Fauble
1 hr
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