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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jack Clarke who wrote (959)	3/30/1998 7:30:00 PM
From: Wizzer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

I am an engineer by education, however, languages fascinate me. I have a different take on that French quote. That quote is full of imagery which is the most beautiful aspect of language, in my opinion. It is applicable in your example. I believe that "Tout le monde a raison" means "everyone makes sense". So it would roughly mean "When everyone has wrongs [possibly it could mean has faults, has hurt, has mistakes], everyone makes sense". Perhaps, the context it was said in would describe it better. In other words, I take it to mean "When everyone has human faults [meaning they show human qualities and are not above that], everyone makes sense. I would have to see it in the context it was used to understand it fully as it could mean several things. It may make a difference if there is an accent on the first or second "a" as that may change it from avoir. Do they have accents? To me language is always about context. Below I have an example in Arabic that is used in different contexts but has no literal translation into English. I'm sure you appreciate how difficult it is to translate effectively into another language. Many times, the imagery is lost in the phrase. In Arabic, there are many words and phrases that have no meaning in English. They can merely describe an event. For example, when a person comes out of the shower, or shaves, or gets a haircut we say the same word "nay-ee-mun" [I have hyphenated it to show the separate components but it is said as one word. The "nay" part is pronounced n-eye]. The only thing that is close is something like "I hope your shower/shave/haircut was refreshing or pleasant (almost like it has brought out a new person or look)". The person will respond "yin-um aleyk" which acknowledges the person's comment and wishes them back the same pleasantries. Nothing adequately describes it though, but perhaps there are similar expressions in other languages.