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#52095 01/08/02 08:02 PM
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Geoff, for what it's worth, ventre means both "womb" and "belly" in Portuguese.

Well, gollygeewhizz, AS, I just looked it up in my French dictionary and found that it can mean womb in French also, although it seems that its meaning womb is a generalization rather than the specific original meaning. All this proves is that I didn't learn much in Latin class forty years ago!


#52096 01/08/02 08:16 PM
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> "...after the war, it would be like sharing the fruit of the loom with the enemy..."

now that I've reread all of this and actually® hi mav! thought about it, it seems to me that this could also be rendered as:

sharing the fruit of their labors with the enemy
or, more aptly:
sharing the spoils of war with the enemy


#52097 01/08/02 09:19 PM
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I wonder where the family name of Craig Venter (of DNA fame) came from.


#52098 01/09/02 02:49 AM
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I wonder where the family name of Craig Venter (of DNA fame) came from.

Since the root of his name has to do with wind, or wind making, his family was probably in the bean growing business.


#52099 01/09/02 03:54 AM
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Since the root of his name has to do with wind, or wind making....

Is this posted in the wrong thread? I think I saw this over there ~~~~~~~~~~~~>


#52100 01/09/02 11:30 AM
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Dear tivtrans,
One thing I would like to know: this text, which your friend wants translated, is it written by a native-English speaking author? Speaking from my own experience, I could well imagine that an author who is proud of his acquired skill in idiomatic English actually "creates" a new application of a suggestive expression picked up in a different context. So it would seem vain to look for a historical origin. I am pretty sure the author meant "wealth accumulated by hard work".


#52101 01/09/02 02:25 PM
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Good point, wsieber. I've seen this happen all too often, myself.


#52102 01/10/02 07:29 AM
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Point well taken. Will pass on your message to my translator friend. After seeing the remarks made by all the language enthusiasts on this list, and checking many sources, I do agree that the writer has done some "coining" of his own. THANKS to you, WSIEBER, and to all that have offered their insight.


#52103 01/10/02 09:37 AM
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Howye

I suppose ye've all heard about the woman with the glass navel. She had a womb with a view.

Welcome ta ya Tivtrans. Gallantted, yer trouble shooten, problem solven teddy bear here. I can't find anythin about "fruit of the loom" in me tedasaurus either, but in the context ya've outlined it seems as if it's referen ta sharen the spoils of yer hard earned labour with the enemy. The nearest I can come up with at the moment is somethin akin ta the Little Red Hen syndrom. I'll get back ta ya if I think of anythin else. (It's a bit early in the mornen fer me and I haven't even said me mornen prayers yet. Although, on seconds thoughts, after readen the rest of this post it looks as if I'm covered fer the rest of the week)

Be seein ya

GallantTed



#52104 01/10/02 12:15 PM
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Tivtrans,

Welcome to the board! Nice to see you found your voice after having been a member here longer than anyone else currently active. I do hope you will be posting again soon. Although I hadn't much to offer here, I found the question and ensuing answers quite lively!

Angel


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