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Glossary entry

Turkish term or phrase:

tadı kaçmasın

English translation:

so we don\'t spoil the story

Added to glossary by Hellinas
Feb 8, 2014 12:31
10 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Turkish term

tadı kaçmasın

Non-PRO Turkish to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Phrase meaning in context
In this passage about a well-known English detective, I should like to know the meaning in context of this phrase. Is its meaning negative or positive:-
cinayetleri çözmesi için sadece beynindeki küçük gri hücreleri kullanması gerektiğini söyleyen bir deha. Agatha Christi'nin bir kitabında cinayeti o işlemiş (adını söylemeyelim de tadı kaçmasın).
Does it mean 'let's not mention his name, it would spoil the pleasure' or 'it would let the cat out of the bag'?
Proposed translations (English)
5 +4 so we don't spoil the story
3 it does not go sour
5 -2 Let's not pall it!

Discussion

Tim Drayton Feb 12, 2014:
Valid point Valid point.
Hellinas (asker) Feb 10, 2014:
To pall There is a verb 'to pall' which has an intransitive & a transitive use. Intransitively it means:-
1
: to lose strength or effectiveness
2
: to lose in interest or attraction <his humour began to pall on us>
3
: dwindle <our enthusiasm soon palled>
Or transitively:-
1
: to cause to become insipid
2
: to deprive of pleasure in something by satiating
But neither of these uses is relevant to the way Salih translates the sentence. 'Let's not pall it' sounds strange in English.
Neda Namvar Kohan Feb 9, 2014:
I think if you're going to use ki, then it's better to eliminate de from soylemiyelim de ki. Simply say, soylemiyelim ki.
Hellinas (asker) Feb 8, 2014:
Salih's 'let's not pall it' doesn't make any sense. I think that the whole phrase I submitted is comprehensible if we compare it with an example:-'kızlar da al askere/ olsun askerlık kolay' . The two clauses are in juxtaposition i.e. 'Let's not also tell so that it won't spoil the story'. Similarly, ' Get girls also into the army so that military service may become easy'. I suppose you could use ki, thus:- adını söylemeyelim de ki, tadı kaçmasın. Am I right?
Hellinas (asker) Feb 8, 2014:
Sağ ol, Nedahanım.
Neda Namvar Kohan Feb 8, 2014:
So we don't spoil the story is not a literal translation actually. This is a functional translation to show the meaning of this phrase. A literal translation is something like "let it not lose its taste". So sin is imperative here. This has the meaning that you want the sotry not to be spoiled in an imperative way.
Hellinas (asker) Feb 8, 2014:
What is the force of the -sin in kaçmasin? Does it mean 'you' ? Or is it imperative? Is 'so we don't spoil the story' a literal translation? I am uncertain on this point. Your translation is first rate but can you give me a literal translation too?

Proposed translations

+4
6 mins
Selected

so we don't spoil the story

I think using this phrase here suits the context because it talks about a story spoiler. It is somehow negative, because the writer of this paragraph believes that if he mentions the name of the main character, it would be a story spoiler, which many people do not like.
Peer comment(s):
agree Babelfisk
42 mins
Tesekkurler
agree Alp Berker : Let's not drop the name to not give away the story
6 hrs
Tesekkurler
agree Sıla Çırpan
13 hrs
Tesekkurler
agree Tim Drayton : Spot on (or "so as not to spoil the story")
2 days 1 hr
Tesekkurler
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Neda's translation makes the most sense in the context & in English. I have learnt much about this construction. My entry on 'adını söylemeyelim de ki, tadı kaçmasın' was excellently answered by Neda! 'Ki' clearly I was used wrongly by me because here 'de' means '& so'. So literally the sentence means 'let us not tell '& so let it not spoil the taste' i.e. 'let us not tell & so let it not spoil the taste'. 'Ki' & 'de' in this context would mean the same thing. Instead of either, we could perhaps used 'diye' thus:- 'tadı kaçmasın diye, adını söylemeyelim?"
1 hr

it does not go sour

... lets not tell the name so it does not go sour ...
There can be a number of expressions giving that meaning. It is of course up to you to pick one.
Something went wrong...
-2
1 hr

Let's not pall it!

IMO
Peer comment(s):
disagree Kim Metzger : "pall it"? What's that?
1 hr
disagree Tim Drayton : I have never heard of a verb "to pall"
1 day 23 hrs
Something went wrong...
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