# הליכה לקנוסה



## cheshire

הליכה לקנוסה

I'm wondering what the equivalent English words. 

I do know that it's Hebrew "Walk to Canossa" but like to know what it actually means. Is it "walk" "way" or "penitence"?


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## Flaminius

_Halikha_ is a gerund for _kalakh_, or "to walk."  The best English translation for the word is _walk_ (n.).


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## cheshire

Thanks!
Only French and Japanese seem to have "penitence" in their translation.


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## Nunty

Hi Cheshire, nice to see you here! 

Is Canossa the name of an actual place? Does it have some other connotation besides the name of a destination to walk to? Depending on the answers, some other translation might work, but in Hebrew the root "walk" can also mean conduct in general.


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## cheshire

Cats of a fur meow together, indeed!

Yes, it's the name of the city in Italy. The incident where German king then had to apologize to Pope.


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## Nunty

In Hebrew the phrase is not an idiom and does not bear the weight of a set phrase, so just plain old "walking" would do. Israelis would probably just understand it literally (like me, who should know better  )


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## amikama

Nun-Translator said:


> In Hebrew the phrase is *not an idiom* and does not bear the weight of a set phrase, so just plain old "walking" would do. Israelis would probably just understand it literally (like me, who should know better  )


Not an idiom!? But it _is_ an idiom. _Literally_ it means "walk to Canossa" but actually means "בקשת מחילה תוך השפלה עצמית" (sorry, I'm not sure how to translate it into English). 

You can read more about the idiom here (there is also a brief paragraph about its usage in Israel).


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## Nunty

Thank you, amikama. I have never heard it before. 

Cheshire, the Hebrew translation amikama gave us is literally: asking for forgiveness while humiliating oneself.

Apt, and I'm amazed I don't know it.


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## Nunty

amikama said:


> Not an idiom!? But it _is_ an idiom. _Literally_ it means "walk to Canossa" but actually means "בקשת מחילה תוך השפלה עצמית" (sorry, I'm not sure how to translate it into English).
> 
> You can read more about the idiom here (there is also a brief paragraph about its usage in Israel).



Thanks again, amikama. I'm still amazed, but I cannot recall ever hearing the expression used. The example in your link is very clear. I guess I don't listen to enough politics.


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## amikama

Nun-Translator said:


> Thanks again, amikama. I'm still amazed, but I cannot recall ever hearing the expression used. The example in your link is very clear. I guess I don't listen to enough politics.


Don't worry too much, Nun. This expression is not _very_ common, and I believe that only few people really know the story behind the expression (until this thread I hardly knew the details of the story ).


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