# Give / lend a hand



## Dymn

Do you have any expression in your language with hands meaning 'to help'?

In Catalan:
_donar un cop de mà _(lit.: 'to give a blow of hand')

In Spanish:
_echar una mano _(lit.: 'to throw a hand')
_dar una mano _(lit.: 'to give a hand')


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## ThomasK

Dutch:
- een handje toesteken >>> *Steek [eens] een handje toe* (something like: put in (put closer) a little hand, lit. > extend)


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## ilocas2

Czech:
*
podat pomocnou ruku* - to pass helping hand


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## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Τείνω χείρα βοηθείας»* [ˈtino ˈçiɾa vo.iˈθi.as] --> lit. _to extend a hand of help_; the v. used is *«τείνω»* [ˈtino] < Classical v. *«τείνω» teínō* --> _to extend, stretch out, spread, expand_ (PIE *ten(h₂)- _to draw, stretch_ cf Skt. तनोति (tanóti), _to extend, spread_; Latin tendere)


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## ger4

German has some similar expressions but they are restricted to rather formal speech:
_*
jemandem eine helfende Hand reichen*_ < _*jemandem*_ ('to someone', dative) + _*eine helfende Hand*_ ('a helping hand', accusative) + _*reichen*_ ('to extend')
_*Handreichung(en) *_(feminine noun) < _*Hand*_ ('hand') + _*-reichung*_ (noun) *< reichen* (verb, 'to extend') + _*-en*_ (plural suffix)

In everyday speech, you are more likely to hear:
_Hilfst du mir mal eben?_ < _hilfst du_ ('do you help') + _mir_ ('me') + _mal eben_ (hard to translate: ~ 'for a bit, for a moment')


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## 810senior

Japanese:
手を*貸す*te-wo *kas-u *(*lend *a hand)

There are two ways to interpret depending on the contexts it was used in:
(1) to reach out one's hand in order to get up on his or her feet. (we can as well say *to lend a shoulder*, *lend a back *and so on)
(2) to help or assist someone.

I guess any language that has this expression has use (2) as well as it use (1).


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## ThomasK

ThomasK said:


> Dutch:
> - een handje toesteken >>> *Steek [eens] een handje toe* (something like: put in (put closer) a little hand, lit. > extend)


I am just thinking: I come across 'extend a hand' around here, but I feel that there is a difference between giving a hand and reaching out, at least in some cases:
- *handreiking* in Dutch may mean 'a help', 'an advice', is outdated though
-* reik elkaar de hand* (lit. reach (give) one another the hand) though  implies creating a circle and a bond especially (and of course that may lead to help in some way, but only by implication, not by meaning)


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## Nawaq

_prêter la main (à quelqu'un)_ "lend a hand (to someone)'
like in Catalan, _(donner) un coup de main _"(give) a blow/push with the hand" from _donner un coup de pouce _(I think) "give a push with the thumb"


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## SuperXW

In Chinese (Mandarin, simplified),

帮把手 (to give a hand)
帮=help
把=measure word for a handful of something
手=hand

帮手 (noun, colloquial, someone who assists a person)
帮=help
手=hand


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## ThomasK

I am so surprised about the _prêter/ lend_, which is also common with us in Dutch but not in combination with "a hand". We can _hulp_ _verlenen_, i.e,  offer help. The funny thing is: just imagine the helper wants to get his/ her hand or help back. ;-)

Does anyone know more about this use of lending? That use does not exist  in Japanese or Chinese, does it?


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## jazyk

Portuguese: dar uma mão.


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## DaylightDelight

ThomasK said:


> That use does not exist in Japanese or Chinese, does it?


See the post #6 by 810senior.  Japanese also have 手を貸す (lit. lend a hand) to mean "to help someone".
There is a common wisecrack just as you imagined:
A: Could you lend me a hand?
B: Yeah, as long as I'll get it back.​


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## Ectab

Arabic:
مد يد العون
مد يد المساعدة
بسط يد المساعدة

lit: to extend\stretch the hand of help


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## ThomasK

DaylightDelight said:


> See the post #6 by 810senior.  Japanese also have 手を貸す (lit. lend a hand) to mean "to help someone".


 Maybe there is a semantic link between lending and stretching, extending, but I cannot find any confirmation in etymological sources...


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## ThomasK

810senior said:


> Japanese:
> 手を*貸す*te-wo *kas-u *(*lend *a hand)
> 
> There are two ways to interpret depending on the contexts it was used in:
> (1) to reach out one's hand in order to get up on his or her feet. (we can as well say *to lend a shoulder*, *lend a back *and so on)
> (2) to help or assist someone.
> 
> I guess any language that has this expression has use (2) as well as it use (1).


This use of lending seems strange to me here, but we have a similar use. How do you see the link between lending money (and getting it back) and lending a hand, shoulder (back !?!) - and not ever suggesting really lending and possibly losing it...


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## DaylightDelight

ThomasK said:


> How do you see the link between lending money (and getting it back) and lending a hand, shoulder (back !?!) - and not ever suggesting really lending and possibly losing it...


I'd imagine it's along the lines of "let others use one's belongings/assets" or "let one's belongings/assets avail to someone else's purpose."  We use lend/borrow a lot in this sense.
For example, when we visit a friend's house and want to use the restroom, we'd say "can I borrow your restroom?"  I believe it sounds odd to foreign ears.


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## ThomasK

You  might be quite right. Using is also some kind of lending, one could say. But then; you can say in Japanese that you want to "borrow the restroom"? However, hands and restrooms??? But maybe OK: help as a (reversed ?) metonymy of hand, perhaps...

It reminded me of "native peoples' " worldview: they are allowed to borrow the earth, use it, but not "consume" it? Maybe I am carrying it too far.


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## DaylightDelight

ThomasK said:


> However, hands and restrooms???


Yup, we can lend and borrow those things and a lot more

To lend one's face = to meet someone on a request of someone else
To lend one's chest = to help a less skilled person to practice something (for example sports)
To lend one's name = to let others use one's name (for example for a signature-collecting campaign)
To lend one's strength = to help someone to do something
and so on...


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## ThomasK

Are those all in Japanese? We might perhaps lend a name, but the rest: no, impossible. Would you have a different view on lending? I don't think so as the concept, as far as I can see, always seems to refer to giving for some time and getting it back...


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## DaylightDelight

ThomasK said:


> the concept, as far as I can see, always seems to refer to giving for some time and getting it back...


That's right.
I have a feeling that this thriving of lend/borrow in our language is in part because of our cultural preference for lend/borrow over give/given (though I may be quite wrong because I'm not an anthropologist).
In our language, when one owes a favor to someone else, it's "one is borrowing (a favor) from someone else".
And there is yet another case you might find funny: When a beggar or a hoodlum begs or demands money from strangers, they might as well say "let me borrow some money from you", even though they have no intention of ever repaying it at all.


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## Armas

Finnish: _ojentaa auttava käsi_ "to extend a helping hand".


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## sound shift

In English, "Can you lend a hand?" doesn't require an indirect object (but it's possible to include one: "Can you lend me a hand?").
"Give a hand" _does _require an indirect object.


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## ThomasK

DaylightDelight said:


> That's right.
> I have a feeling that this thriving of lend/borrow in our language is in part because of our cultural preference for lend/borrow over give/given (though I may be quite wrong because I'm not an anthropologist).
> In our language, when one owes a favor to someone else, it's "one is borrowing (a favor) from someone else".
> And there is yet another case you might find funny: When a beggar or a hoodlum begs or demands money from strangers, they might as well say "let me borrow some money from you", even though they have no intention of ever repaying it at all.


 It is amazing, but intriguing. I would then wonder whether the word "have" or "give" are used in a different sense.

_I suppose we cannot really go into this here. Could it be that having, giving, holding, are too definite, too final??? Some languages do not have "have" as such: they consider it more like a relationship from the object to the owner, or something the like. But we do use "lending help", so I suppose there is something more universal to it. 
(I'll send you a pm to see whether we can turn that into a good thread at All Languages or at another forum...)_


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## 810senior

ThomasK said:


> This use of lending seems strange to me here, but we have a similar use. How do you see the link between lending money (and getting it back) and lending a hand, shoulder (back !?!) - and not ever suggesting really lending and possibly losing it...



Yes it's right that we cannot physically provide someone with some parts of our body such as ears, eyes and shoulders, but this use of lending that I mentioned here before is surely *figurative things* portrayed as someone's competence or capacity for something e.g. sense of hearing, touching and smelling.


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## spindlemoss

Welsh: *rhoi help llaw* _give a hand's help_ i.e. _give a (helping) hand_


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## SuperXW

DaylightDelight said:


> That's right.
> I have a feeling that this thriving of lend/borrow in our language is in part because of our cultural preference for lend/borrow over give/given (though I may be quite wrong because I'm not an anthropologist).
> In our language, when one owes a favor to someone else, it's "one is borrowing (a favor) from someone else".
> And there is yet another case you might find funny: When a beggar or a hoodlum begs or demands money from strangers, they might as well say "let me borrow some money from you", even though they have no intention of ever repaying it at all.


In Chinese, the two basic characters “borrow” and “assist, help” can be combined into a common word “with the help of”.
_借 borrow + 助 assist = 借助 with the help of_
So 借 itself has develop a common meaning of "assist", "rely on" etc.
(We use 借 for both borrow and lend. The context will decide which one it means.)
As long as something does not belong to someone, he/she needs to use it, and it is in fact still other's property, we call it 借. The one does not really need to return it back.

So we have:
_借火 lend fire = help to light a cigarette
借光 lend light (to me) = please excuse me (as I need some space or enlightenment from you)
借力 borrow strength = get strength/power/capacity from elsewhere _
and many other words and expressions using the basic character 借.

The combination of words are fixed though. We don't have words like "lend/borrow hand", "lend/borrow face" etc.


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## 810senior

What's else funny is I found that there aren't any instance in Kanji-compounded words, as far as I know, about lending in the sense of helping and assisting. It's only allowable for some fixed idioms.


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## ilocas2

*Pomocnou ruku najdeš na konci svého ramene.*

You will find a helping arm on the end of your shoulder.


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## Encolpius

Holger2014 said:


> German has some similar expressions but they are restricted to rather *formal speech*:...



The same in Hungarian. And used in figurative sense and seldom never in dialogues.


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## mataripis

It is Matulungin in Tagalog.Other term is Bukas ang Palad( open hands).


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## Floridsdorfer

Also in *Italian*, _dare una mano_.

On the contrary, in *Sardinian *this expression is not really used. You could hear it, but it sounds just like a plain copy from Italian. 

About *Spanish*, I can add that _echar una man_o is surely more common in Spain than in South America, at least in *Argentine *it is _dar una man_o what you will hear.


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