# combining 이제 & 라도



## vientito

as i understand it 라도 is used mostly to mean "even" but today i am seeing this,

이제라도 재미 붙여봐! 너 진짜 꾸미는 맛 날듯

now that i think of it 뭐라도 means just about anything

so in this sentence, 이제라도 does it mean "any day now"? with no specific moment in time being implied except that it is not in the past.


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## boomluck

That is one difficult expression to be translated. I cannot think of any English expression that exactly matches 이제라도, but the followings may be similar ones.

Try having fun with it *from now on*! 
or
You could have fun *even if you start it now*! (even from now!)

I'd like to have something whose nuance is between the two above, but it is hard to make.


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## vientito

Would not one translate "even if you start it now" as 이제부터해봤자?

Probably we may not find an apt english expression but i think it is important to capture the essence of its intrinsic meaning by having a few contrasting examples.

From dictionary here is what it tries to define 라도:

여럿 중에서 특히 그것을 가리거나 가리지 아니함을 뜻하는 보조사. 

it seems to me it roughly equates the concept of "any" in english, without or with special attention within a group in picking out the target object. So i have a feeling that any time will do as long as it is starting from the present moment.


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## DicMan

vientito said:


> as i understand it 라도 is used mostly to mean "even" but today i am seeing this,
> 
> 이제라도 재미 붙여봐! 너 진짜 꾸미는 맛 날듯
> 
> now that i think of it 뭐라도 means just about anything
> 
> so in this sentence, 이제라도 does it mean "any day now"? with no specific moment in time being implied except that it is not in the past.



One Korean saying us like this:
물에 빠지면 지푸라기라도 잡는다. [If you fall into the water (river or sea), you will catch a straw even though it is not good enough.] 
As you see in the blanket, 라도 in this saying has consessive meaning.

On the other hand, you can find sentence like this:
가만히 있지 말고 뭐라도 해라. [Do not stay still and do anything, even though it is not good enough.]

Your sentence "이제라도 재미 붙여봐! 너 진짜 꾸미는 맛 날듯." means "Take interest[literally, pleasure] in it now! Even though it cannot be early, you can take pleasure in decorating."

Therefore, '라도'  can be used when you say something or someone is not the best, but it's okay among some options. Of cause it is one main usage.


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## Hyperpolyglot

vientito said:


> Would not one translate "even if you start it now" as 이제부터해봤자?
> 
> Probably we may not find an apt english expression but i think it is important to capture the essence of its intrinsic meaning by having a few contrasting examples.
> 
> From dictionary here is what it tries to define 라도:
> 
> 여럿 중에서 특히 그것을 가리거나 가리지 아니함을 뜻하는 보조사.
> 
> it seems to me it roughly equates the concept of "any" in english, without or with special attention within a group in picking out the target object. So i have a feeling that any time will do as long as it is starting from the present moment.


well, if you use 봤자, that would be like using 就算 in Cantonese, only in a useless manner, it's in an useless concept such as "even if you do something, there's no use"


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## boomluck

vientito said:


> Would not one translate "even if you start it now" as 이제부터해봤자?



Yes, in some cases, it could be translated like 이제부터*해봤자*, but the nuance differs depending on the context.

even if : whatever(whenever) you do, the result will be the same.

Even if you take a taxi now, you will be late. 지금 택시를 *타봤자*, 너는 늦을거야.
It's not late, even if you start it now. So, just try. 지금 시작*하더라도 *늦지 않아, 그러니 그냥 해봐.

In the context you gave, I thought it was closer to the meaning of latter example above.



vientito said:


> it seems to me it roughly equates the concept of "any" in english, without or with special attention within a group in picking out the target object. So i have a feeling that any time will do as long as it is starting from the present moment.



I agree. One could use "any" for this case in a condition that the rest of the sentence be rephrased properly. But "any day now," I think, would sound a little bit far from the original meaning.


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## Hyperpolyglot

I think if you want to use"any" in this case, it'd be better to use 아무


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