# things you do by the way, in-between other things



## ThomasK

What expressions do you use in your language when referring to things you do by the way, in-between other things ? 

*"Entra la poire et le fromage*", in French, so I read a few minutes ago. 

*"Tussen de soep en de patatten"* in my Flemish dialect (the first course [soup] and the [ingredient of the] main course [potatoes]). 

Any others ?


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## ThomasK

One addition: I discover the phrase has been dealt with in French (http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=834022), not in other languages, I think.


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## delilahinsomnia

Polish = swoją drogą


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## ThomasK

Beg your pardon ? What do the words mean, DI ?


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## Encolpius

nothing in Hungarian...


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## arielipi

Hebrew: על הדרך
al hadere/x/ - on the way (= by the way)

תוך כדי
to/x/ kedey - during in between (= doing between two actions another action)


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## AutumnOwl

_Swedish:
göra i förbifarten _- do in the passing by


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

1/ *«Μεταξύ τυρού και αχλαδιού» [meta'ksi ti'ru ce axla'ðʝu]* < French loan _"entre la poire et le fromage"_
_"Between cheese and pear"_

 2/ Fossilized from ancient Greek, expression, *«μεταξὺ χειλέων καὶ κύλικος»* (in modern pronunciation) *[meta'ksi çi'le.on ce 'cilikos]*
_"Between the lips and the drinking cup"

_The former is more popular, the latter is bookish.


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## Grefsen

AutumnOwl said:


> _Swedish:
> göra i förbifarten _- do in the passing by


*Norwegian:
*
gjør i forbifarten - do in passing


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## Gale_

In Russian they say "_между делом_" (like "_in between times", _literally "_between business_").


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## ThomasK

I am especially interested in expressions, metaphors. Anyone who can translate the Polish version?


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## Gale_

_"swoją drogą"_ means _"by the way_".


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## ThomasK

Thanks! I think we are looking for expressing containing 'between' but I have not found an equivalent in English ('in passing', but that is not a metaphor really).


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## ger4

German: _Zwischen Tür und Angel_

- _zwischen_ - (in) between
- _Tür_ - door
- _und_ - and
- _Angel_ - hinge

... probably expressing the idea of somebody saying something as (s)he is busy doing something else, about to leave (or about to pass the door --> 'in between door and hinge')


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## 810senior

In Japanese
息抜きに　ikinukini  lit. to take one's breath out


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## ThomasK

I am not sure I understand, 810sr. How would you then translate: '[I did not have much time, but]I did the job in passing'?


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## 810senior

Well... ikinukini is used under this situation in which you do something as an aside in case when you have enough time. e.g. 息抜きに本でも読もう(I'm reading a book in passing)
We generally translate it(doing in-between other things) to ついでに_tsuideni_

The sentence you showed can be translated: 時間にそこまで余裕はなかったが、物の*序でに*やっておいた。(zikan ni sokomade yoyuu wa nakattaga monono *tsuide ni* yatte oita)


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## ThomasK

One last question if I may: could you translate the first sentence very literally, as literally as possible? Thanks a lot !


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## 810senior

ThomasK said:


> One last question if I may: could you translate the first sentence very literally, as literally as possible? Thanks a lot !



息抜きに to take breath out/ikinuki ni
本でも even a book[object]/hon demo
読もう will read[volition]/yomou


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## DEHER

ThomasK said:


> What expressions do you use in your language when referring to things you do by the way, in-between other things ?
> 
> *"Entra la poire et le fromage*", in French, so I read a few minutes ago.
> 
> *"Tussen de soep en de patatten"* in my Flemish dialect (the first course [soup] and the [ingredient of the] main course [potatoes]).
> 
> Any others ?


L'expression exacte en français est "entrE la poire et le fromage"...
Une autre équivalente : _"à la va-vite"_ ou "_entre deux portes"_...


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## Włoskipolak 72

ThomasK said:


> Beg your pardon ? What do the words mean, DI ?


Polish 

Sorry guys I just didn't know we had all these adverbs ..! 

by the way = 

przy okazji 
nawiasem mówiąc 
na marginesie 
à propos 
notabene 
mimochodem 
a tak przy okazji to 
tak na marginesie 
swoją drogą 
a tak przy okazji 
a tak swoją drogą


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## Welsh_Sion

Where are the chess players when you need them?

_En passant _

surely?


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## ThomasK

Włoskipolak 72 said:


> Polish
> 
> Sorry guys I just didn't know we had all these adverbs ..!
> 
> by the way =
> 
> przy okazji
> nawiasem mówiąc
> na marginesie
> à propos
> notabene
> mimochodem
> a tak przy okazji to
> tak na marginesie
> swoją drogą
> a tak przy okazji
> a tak swoją drogą


Please help. It only becomes interesting if we get some background information (etymological or lexical). Thanks in advance!


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## Włoskipolak 72

ThomasK said:


> Please help. It only becomes interesting if we get some background information (etymological or lexical). Thanks in advance!



przy okazji / a tak przy okazji = literally: by occasion, by the way , by the by, round. 
nawiasem mówiąc = lit. in parenthesis.
na marginesie / a tak na marginesie = lit. in the margin, parenthetically.
à propos - from French
notabene = nota bene from Latin
mimochodem = casually , in passing.
swoją drogą / a tak swoją drogą = lit. it's way,  by the way


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## elroy

German: zwischendurch (literally “between-through”)


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## AutumnOwl

Welsh_Sion said:


> Where are the chess players when you need them?
> 
> _En passant _
> 
> surely?


En passant for me at work means that a doctor dictates they "removed the appendix en passant" while they did abdominal surgery for some other reason.


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## Trisia

Romanian "printre picături" (among droplets) -- this means intermittently but also sometimes, every now and then, in your spare time, whenever you get the chance.


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