# Serbian (BCS): Puna šaka brade



## marcony

I need help finding the equivalents of these two in English:

"Puna šaka brade"
"Bolovati od dečijih bolesti"


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## yael*

I have never used none of them and I am not sure of their meaning, but my guess that the second can be translated as "to suffer from growing pains"... 
Puna šaka brade - does that mean more than expected? Like in "pass with flying colours"? Hmmm... 
Ciao!


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## marcony

Hey, "suffer from growing pains" is exactly what I was looking for, thanks yael! Tj. hvala! 
You got the meaning of the second one right, too, but I'm not sure if "pass with flying colours" is what I need in this case.


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## Duya

There is "above and beyond", but I don't think that the connotation is right; seems too formal.


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## DenisBiH

"Like a million bucks/dollars"? I know, it's not exactly the same, but perhaps in some contexts?

Though that one seems to go only with "look" and "feel".

I can't shake the nagging sensation that there might be some expression that goes "like a X full of Y" that would be an appropriate translation, but that may just be me being influenced by the original.


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## yael*

Like a fistful of dollars... but that only brings Clint Eastwood to mind. 

Anyhow, I am not sure I got the meaning correctly.  Is it like - _too good to be true_? Or is it more like - _to hit the jackpot_? 
I have never heard this expression before.  I know the expression in Italian that might be similarto this one - _Troppa grazia Sant'Antonio! -__Too much grace (or help) Saint Anthony!*_ - meaning we got more than expected or even more than needed, but it's kind of ironic...
Does to_ strike gold/struck gold _sound better?

Marcony, can you please give us the context? 

*Saint Anthony is known as the Patron of Lost Causes


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## DenisBiH

Not "too good to be true". Other meanings "to hit the jackpot" and "to get more than expected" are possible I guess, but I don't think they're the only ones. Actually, "to get more than expected" has its own saying, _Kako sam se nadala dobro sam se udala_. 

 Here is Vukajlija's definition (disregard the erotic remainder of the definition):


> puna šaka brade
> 
> i između prstiju pride,se kaže kad si prezadovoljan sa nečim odrađenim.



Also see the explanations of the expression in HJP entries for šaka and brada. Basically, _puna šaka brade _can imply luck, but it stresses more satisfaction with the end result/state rather than sheer luck, and the end result/state may be due to something else, not just luck. If I invest smartly and I earn a lot of money from that, that would also be _puna šaka brade_.

Here is a claim about the historical background of the saying:



> U folkloru slavenskih naroda zabilježen je običaj vezanja klasja u kojem glavnu ulogu ima žena koja veže klasje. Za tu ženu se u nekim krajevima govorilo da veže Velesovu bradu dok se u drugim krajevima govorilo da veže Perunovu bradu. U narodu je bilo rašireno vjerovanje da je tim činom žetva zaštićena od demona. Od tuda je i nastao izraz "puna šaka brade".


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## marcony

"To hit the jackpot" is definitely the meaning we're aiming at here. I don't have a specific context, there is just the saying I need to translate.


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## yael*

Thanks Denis. I knew something (not much) about Veles, very interesting.
Markony, I thought _to hit the jackpot _might have been too contemporary and that you were looking for something a bit archaic, a bit more traditional... but if you are ok with this solution - good!


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## marcony

It does sound a bit archaic, but is also used in more contemporary contexts.


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