# in spe



## guniang

Hej wszystkim,
Czy w angielskim można zastosować wyrażenie 'in spe'? Np: 'I am a translator in spe'. Jeśli nie, znacie jakiś odpowiednik o podobnym ładunku znaczeniowym?

  in spe= w (spodziewanej) przyszłości; określa coś co ma nastąpić, jest spodziewane lub kogoś, kto ma uzyskać jakąś godność, stanowisko (za wikisłownikiem)

Dzięki!
Pozdrawiam
K.


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## dreamlike

Tak jak w polskim, tak i w angielskim, nie każdemu będzie znany ten łaciński zwrot. Mogłabyś z powodzeniem zastąpić go takimi frazami:
*a future translator*, *a would-be translator, a prospective translator.
*
Nie spotkałem się chyba jeszcze z "in spe" w angielskim.


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## LilianaB

Could you kindly provide more context. What kind of position do you have in mind? If somebody just wants to hold a certain position in the future, their current position could be created with the use of the adjective _aspiring _-- _an aspiring translator_, for example. It all depends on the context, though.


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## majlo

Another option: a translator to be.

By the way, I believe _in spe _should be italicized.

I haven't come across it in English either. Nor in Polish.


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## guniang

Many thanks for your feedback!


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## Ben Jamin

majlo said:


> I haven't come across it in English either. Nor in Polish.


It was used in Polish. Many people in Poland know this expression.


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## majlo

Maybe. That doesn't change the fact that I haven't come across it.



> Many people in Poland know this expression.


I think you wouldn't know that.


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## Ben Jamin

Why do you think so?


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## kknd

to give some example: i use from time to time and many of my friends or colleagues know it, few of them also use it.


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## majlo

Ben Jamin said:


> Why do you think so?


Because it's very improbable.


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## LilianaB

I have seen it only in legal contexts, where somebody was almost guaranteed the future position by the contract, for example, or as the name of an Estonian music group. It does not make much sense used with the meaning of aspiring, I think. I could be _a concert pianist in spe _but I will never really learn how to play the piano at such a level of performance, so what sense would it have in such a construction? It is usually used as the _beneficiary in spe_, or similar phrases.


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## dreamlike

I happen to come across it reasonably often, and I sometimes use it myself. I think it's unfamiliar to most people, though. Liliana, to my mind, it's best reserved for the contexts you pointed out, but it is not uncommon to see it used with future professions, for instance - biolog in spe, anglista in spe, tłumacz in spe. I don't know whether it should be considered correct, though.


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## LilianaB

You could ask in the English forum. I am curious myself. I usually see it in legal contexts only.


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## dreamlike

I would, were it not for the fact that it's a Latin phrase - the convention in Poland is that it is used in contexts other than law, but it's not neccessarily correct. Although, I must say, I see no reason against such usage. I don't think I have ever seen it used in English, and most certainly, there's no knowing if it's correct or not.


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## kknd

i would add one more type of situations where it can be found—comical and humoristic ones—probably this is the reason for using of _in spe_ by me and my acquitances… (for example if one of us want to mock a little bit from another! )


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