# דתי מהבית



## amikama

Hello,

An actor, who plays a religious guy in an Israeli TV show, is interviewed about his role:
-ואיך זה לשחק ככה דמויות דתיות?
-לי זה היה מוכר, כי אני כאילו דתי גם מהבית וזה לא חדש לי, אבל זה היה כיף לחזור, ו... לא יודע, הרגשתי שיש לי הרבה מה לתת כאילו לדבר הזה, שאני יודע מאיפה להביא את הדברים.
Not sure how to translate אני דתי מהבית. "I came from / grew up in a religious home/family"?


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## Drink

I come from a religious home.

If you use "come from", I think present tense fits better.


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## elroy

Is he saying that he grew up religious, or that he grew up in a religious household?
And is he saying that he's currently religious, or not necessarily?


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## amikama

elroy said:


> Is he saying that he grew up religious, or that he grew up in a religious household?


Erm, what's the difference?  



elroy said:


> And is he saying that he's currently religious, or not necessarily?


Not necessarily, I think. The actor (נוה צור) isn't religious as far as I know.


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## elroy

He grew up religious. = He himself was religious growing up.

He grew up in a religious household. = He grew up in a religious household, but maybe he himself wasn’t religious.  For example, if he was rebellious, or if his parents were religious but didn’t impose it on him and let him make his own choices.


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## Abaye

elroy said:


> He grew up religious. = He himself was religious growing up.
> 
> He grew up in a religious household. = He grew up in a religious household, but maybe he himself wasn’t religious.  For example, if he was religion, or if his parents were religious but didn’t impose it on him and let him make his own choices.


That is: דתי מהבית vs. מבית דתי.


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## elroy

In that case: _I grew up religious. _


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## Abaye

elroy said:


> In that case: _I grew up religious. _


This is accurate in regard to meaning but less in regard to register. You can say in Hebrew גדלתי בבית דתי or גדלתי דתי which convey the same meaning as אני דתי מהבית, and yet the latter is less formal, more colloquial.


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## elroy

“I grew up religious” is not very formal at all.  In fact, if anything it’s more colloquial/conversational.  So I would say it fits the bill. 

More formal alternatives would be “I was religious as a child and adolescent” and “I was religious in my formative years.”


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## Abaye

This becomes too subtle. For me "I grew up religious" equals גדלתי (בבית) דתי, while אני דתי מהבית is somewhat, just a little, different. However I am not sure how to formulate the difference.


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## elroy

I think I know what you mean.  אני דתי מהבית doesn’t just say that he grew up religious; it also says that he grew up in a religious household.  In English, technically “I grew up religious” could mean that you were religious but no one else in your family was. 

I think the solution might be “My family was religious growing up.”  This covers both elements (“I grew up religious” + “I grew up in a religious household”), and is actually a very common way to say this.


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## Drink

I believe that "I come from a religious home" is also a common way to essentially convey the same idea. It's ambiguous as to when the speaker stopped being religious, but it does make it clear that at some point the speaker was religious, and that they are familiar with a religious lifestyle.


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## elroy

Drink said:


> it does make it clear that at some point the speaker was religious


I don’t agree.  To me, it’s the same as “I grew up in a religious household”:


elroy said:


> He grew up in a religious household. = He grew up in a religious household, but maybe he himself wasn’t religious. For example, if he was rebellious, or if his parents were religious but didn’t impose it on him and let him make his own choices.



“My *family* was religious growing up” solves the problem because “family” includes the speaker.


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## Drink

It's pretty much impossible to grow up in a religious household without being religious at some point, before you make a conscious choice not to be. The only way for that to happen is if your religious parents choose to raise you non-religious. In practice this is rare enough that people don't consider this possibility in conversation.

But regardless of the logic, in _practice_, many people I know do say these words with this intended meaning, so if you think it's illogical, you can take it up with them.


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## elroy

I don’t want to argue with you about what’s implied, what’s rare, and what’s intended. 

I see no good reason to choose a less precise formulation when there is a precise formulation that is also idiomatic and commonly used.  Furthermore, in my experience the specific sentence “I come from a religious home” is not something people are likely to say in conversation.


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## Drink

elroy said:


> Furthermore, in my experience the specific sentence “I come from a religious home” is not something people are likely to say in conversation.


I guess our experiences are different. Perhaps it's a phrase more commonly used by Jews.


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## elroy

That’s possible, of course.  As I said, I was only referring to my own experience.  In any event, that was only a secondary comment.  Whether or not the phrase is commonly used in conversation, my main issue with it is that it doesn’t precisely/unambiguously convey the intended meaning.


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