# יצא קירח מכאן ומכאן



## vonmarrviii

שאלה שאלתית - איך אומרים באנגלית​ 
"יצא קירח מכאן ומכאן"​ 
 
"להרוויח מההפקר"

בין הפותרים תוגרל שאלת בונוס​ 
ד"ש מהגולה​ 
דידי​


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## elroy

Welcome to the forums, Vonmarrvii. 

Please do not ask more than one question in each thread.  Also, please give your threads informative titles that will help us in performing searches and in locating your threads in the future.

Thanks for your cooperation.


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## elroy

As for your question, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that particular idiom in Hebrew.  I can understand the literal meaning (kind of) but I wouldn't know when it's used.  Could you perhaps explain when it's used, so that I can try to come up with an English equivalent?


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## amikama

elroy said:
			
		

> As for your question, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that particular idiom in Hebrew. I can understand the literal meaning (kind of) but I wouldn't know when it's used. Could you perhaps explain when it's used, so that I can try to come up with an English equivalent?


יצא קירח מכאן ומכאן is said on a person who tried to gain two different things but lost both of them.

The idiom is based on a story about a man who married two women, one young and the second old. The young wife didn't want her husband to look too old, so she plucked his white hair. And the old wife didn't wanted her husband to look too young, so she plucked his black hair. The result was that the man was bald on each side of his head.


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## morgoth2604

How about "he tried to bite off more than he could chew"? Obviously it's not exact...but it's close.


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## elroy

morgoth2604 said:
			
		

> How about "he tried to bite off more than he could chew"? Obviously it's not exact...but it's close.


 
Hm...that's not quite the same.  I would use that to describe someone who takes on more responsibilities than he can manage, someone who winds up overwhelmed with duties - not really someone who reaches too high and ends up with nothing.

I'm still trying to come up with an equivalent.  If I think of something, I'll report back.


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## JLanguage

elroy said:
			
		

> Hm...that's not quite the same. I would use that to describe someone who takes on more responsibilities than he can manage, someone who winds up overwhelmed with duties - not really someone who reaches too high and ends up with nothing.
> 
> I'm still trying to come up with an equivalent. If I think of something, I'll report back.


 
Maybe - "you can't have your cake and eat it (too)". But then again, that just means you can only have one of two, not have two and lose them both.


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## amikama

JLanguage said:
			
		

> Maybe - "you can't have your cake and eat it (too)".


In Hebrew אי-אפשר לאכול את העוגה ולהשאיר אותה שלמה, but it's not an equivalent of יצא קירח מכאן ומכאן.


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## amikama

This file (.pdf) suggests "fall between two stools" as translation for קירח מכאן ומכאן. What do you think?


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## chaya

YATSA KAREACH......

HOW ABOUT

.... you can't  have it both ways   OR

.... wants her bread buttered on both sides


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## aarono

You can't please everyone.

Grass is greener on the other side.


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## elroy

amikama said:
			
		

> This file (.pdf) suggests "fall between two stools" as translation for קירח מכאן ומכאן. What do you think?


 
I was not familiar with that idiom, so I looked it up.  It appears to be mainly British.

Here's how one site defined it:



> if something falls between two stools, it fails because it is neither one type of thing nor another and if someone falls between two stools, they fail because they try to combine two different types of thing that cannot be combined. _For me, it fell between two stools, being neither romantic fiction nor serious literature._ _If you try to organize an event that will appeal to both young and old, you can end up caught between two stools._


 
Does that seem to work?


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## elroy

chaya said:
			
		

> YATSA KAREACH......
> 
> HOW ABOUT
> 
> .... you can't have it both ways OR
> 
> .... wants her bread buttered on both sides


 
I don't think these work because they don't refer to the actual outcome.



			
				aarono said:
			
		

> You can't please everyone.
> 
> Grass is greener on the other side.


 
I'm sorry; I don't think these two work at all.


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## ForeignNative

I'm not familiar with the stool idiom.  

Taking on more responsibilites than you can handle would be "he bit off more than he can chew" 

Not sure if that's what you're looking for.


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