# de wereld te slim af zijn



## sound shift

Goede (na)middag!

I am having trouble translating _*de wereld te slim af was*_.

This expression occurs in the following, which is an extract from a car road test:

_Dit praktische en vierkante wondertje _[the old Fiat Panda] _waarmee een pienter mannetje *de wereld te slim af was* heeft het pakweg twintig jaar volgehouden.

This practical, boxy, marvel, in which the clever person got the better of the world (??), remained in production for the best part of twenty years._

Deugt mijn vertaling, goede mensen?


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## Joannes

Ja, lijkt me een goede vertaling. *Iemand te slim af zijn* means 'to outwit someone', or indeed 'to get the better of someone' but with the connotation of 'in a clever/crafty kind of way'.


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## sound shift

Bedankt, Joannes!

Does it make sense to say "Het vierde pilske was mij te slim af"? Does that mean "The fourth beer was one too many for me"?


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## Joannes

That sounds weird to me. Common would be *het vierde pilske was er teveel aan*.

PS: Remember that -*ke* diminutive suffix is not Standard Dutch.


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## Suehil

_Dit praktische en vierkante wondertje _[the old Fiat Panda] _waarmee een pienter mannetje *de wereld te slim af was* heeft het pakweg twintig jaar volgehouden_
_This practical, boxy little miracle, with which some clever little fellow put one over on the world, has been around for some twenty years._


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## cholandesa

A suggestion: Another way to translate "heeft het pakweg twintig jaar volgehouden" would be: was on the market for the best part of twenty years.

And I would definitely use Suehil´s translation to describe een pienter mannetje, because using "the clever person" doesn´t translate the feel of the original sentence that well.

Succes!


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## sound shift

Thank you all for your replies.


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