# Swedish: överskrida



## Gavril

Hi,

How should _överskrida_ be interpreted in the following sentence?

_Vad det gäller andelen hovslagare i staden, där överskrider jämtlänningar._

Does _överskrida_ in this case mean that people from Jämtland are predominant in the horseshoe business (in the city in question), or just that they excel relative to their numbers?

Thanks


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## Gavril

In other words, should _överskrider_ in this context be translated as "predominate", or should it be translated as "are overrepresented" (or neither)?


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## MattiasNYC

To me it looks a bit odd. I've been talking mostly English for quite some time, but the word to me translates more closely to "exceed" than "overrpresent". However, without further context it does look like people from this region are overrepresented within the group of "hovslagare" in this town in question. I would actually prefer to see:

"_Vad det gäller andelen hovslagare i staden, där är jämtlänningar överrepresenterade."_

I think my objection to "_överskrida"_ in this case is that it sounds as if the group, "_jämtlänningar ", _are actually actively exceeding something. It is to me a bit like how you'd use "exceed" to talk about me exceeding the speed limit, or exceeding your expectation when I actively do something like run a marathon; it's something I actively do.


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## Hans Molenslag

_Överskrida_ is a transitive verb, just like corresponding verbs in the other Germanic languages, isn't it? It's used as an intransitive verb in the example sentence, which sounds wrong to me. (But then again, I'm not a native speaker.)


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## raumar

Hans Molenslag said:


> _Överskrida_ is a transitive verb, just like corresponding verbs in the other Germanic languages, isn't it?



Precisely, and that was Mattias' main point as well: You can't just "exceed", you have to exceed something. An object seems to be omitted. It might be omitted because it was mentioned in the previous sentence. Maybe it seemed unnecessary to repeat it. Therefore, I think we need the previous sentences and maybe some context to make sense of this sentence.


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## Wilma_Sweden

I also have a problem with "*andelen* hovslagare" - it suggests a share or subgroup of a larger entity, but we don't know which - are we talking about farriers compared with other traders, or the number of farriers compared with the total number of residents? I agree with previous posters - the sentence in itself is sloppily concocted, and further context is definitely needed to interpret its intended meaning.


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## Gavril

In the original context, the sentence was followed by some percentages:

_Vad det gäller andelen hovslagare i staden, där överskrider jämtlänningar. 70% mot 10%._

The 70% seems to pertain to the _jämtlänningar_, but it is not stated explicitly what the 10% refers to.

It might be significant (for the interpretation of _överskrida_) that the two percentages don't add up to 100.

(NB -- the original sentence was not about _hovslagare_ or _jämtlänningar_: I changed the original words for confidentiality's sake. However, I did not change anything about the structure of the sentence.)


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## Wilma_Sweden

Gavril said:


> In other words, should _överskrider_ in this context be translated as "predominate", or should it be translated as "are overrepresented" (or neither)?


We are getting an unnecessary discussion here because we don't have access to the full text. What other groups are discussed/compared? Is this a mere statement of statistical facts, where the author is simply saying that Jämtlanders outnumber other groups among farriers in the city? Or is the author complaining that it is a negative situation that so many of the farriers are Jämtlanders? This is something that is not possible to see from the context sentence, because it contains an odd choice of words. It might be possible to tell from the surrounding text, but we don't know because we don't have access to it. 

Generally speaking, I think 'overrepresented' as well as 'överrepresenterad' include a negative value judgement, that there are too many of them. 'Predominate' and 'överskrida' don't include such value judgements, they just say that they are more numerous.


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## MattiasNYC

Well, on the note of negative connotations, which is a point well taken Wilma, I can't help but wonder just what the original text was about. While it could certainly be about "confidentiality" it sure sounds somewhat familiar.

Gavril,

You say that what the 10% figure refers to isn't explicitly defined, but I can't help but wonder if the larger context makes that clear. There are certainly contexts in which words and comparisons similar to what you're quoting are made pretty clear. Though I would see a reason for not being explicit when asking about them on a forum such as this one.... [<- not too subtle I hope]


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## Gavril

To clear up any misunderstanding, the original text was about the success of immigrants in certain business fields. It presented this as a positive rather than negative fact.

My guess is that the 10% refers to non-immigrants (in the area in question).

Does that give any further clue about what _överskrida _means here ("overrepresented" vs. "predominant")?


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## MattiasNYC

I figured it had to do with immigration one way or another. 

But I don't think it changes our objections to how it's written though. I would encourage you to link to the source so we could look at more of it. I think it could be telling.


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## Wilma_Sweden

Gavril said:


> To clear up any misunderstanding, the original text was about the success of immigrants in certain business fields. It presented this as a positive rather than negative fact.
> 
> Does that give any further clue about what _överskrida _means here ("overrepresented" vs. "predominant")?


As I suggested above - use whatever English word you feel has positive or neutral connotations.


MattiasNYC said:


> But I don't think it changes our objections to how it's written though. I would encourage you to link to the source so we could look at more of it. I think it could be telling.


I couldn't agree more. Context is everything.


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## Gavril

Thanks again, everyone.


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