# A short distance



## ThomasK

What words (metaphors) do you use in your language to refer to a short distance? 

Dutch : 
-*een steenworp *(a stone('s) throw)
- *een boogscheut* (a bow shot)

German: 
- *ein Steinwurf *(stone('s) throw)
- *ein Katzensprung *(a cat's jump/...)


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## snoopymanatee

Turkish:

- _*iki adımlık*_ (2 steps away)


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## DearPrudence

In *French*:
"*être à deux pas*" (to be a stone's throw away) (literally: to be two steps away)

Can't think of anything else...


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## terredepomme

Korean/Chinese/Japanese:
咫尺

尺 is a unit measurement and 咫 means 8 尺s.
A weird expression.


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## swift

Hi, Thomas. 

*Spanish:

- a un tiro de piedra (a stone's throw away)
- a un paso (one step away, one short step from ... to ...)**
- a un brinco (Costa Rica) (a leap away)
*


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## inter1908

Polish: oddalone/a/y o rzut beretem (a beret's throw away)

Not so popular these days though.


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## kirahvi

Finnish:

kivenheiton päässä (a stone's throw away)


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

«Δυο βήματα»
/ð'jo 'vimata/
lit. "two steps"
or
«Ένα τσιγάρο δρόμος»
/'ena tsi'ɣaro 'ðromos/
lit. "a cigarette away" (i.e. as near as the time it takes to smoke a cigarette)


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## Maroseika

Russian: 
The most common: на расстоянии вытянутой руки (lit. on the outstretched arm distance, i.e. at arm's length).
Less common and rude: на расстоянии плевка (on the spittle distance).


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## Explorer41

^Only literally  . Also "нос к носу" (nose-to-nose -- usually about two people) and like. When describing spatial orientation, we use the terms like "в шаге" ("one step away"), or "в двух шагах" ("two steps away") too. For example : "в шаге от метро" (near the metro station). We never mention stones for this task 

EDIT: interesting. *Maroseika*, we heard different things (I mean "в шаге")!..  I often heard phrases like "магазин в шаге от метро" (the store is near a metro station). As for collisions, I agree with you.


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## ThomasK

What an impressive and varied list! I think there are some more in Dutch, but none of the above seems to be idiomatic when I translate them literally. I'd love to find out more about the Chinese measure though...


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## Maroseika

Explorer41 said:


> Only literally  . Also "нос к носу" (nose-to-nose -- usually about two people) and like.


I'm not sure. "To meet nose to nose" rather means a meeting or collision, usually unexpected.



> For example : "в шаге от метро" (near the metro station).


I heard only в шаговой доступности (in the pedestrian distance, meaning no transport needed to achieve the metro station.

But в шаге от (in one step distance from) is really widely used in various contexts: Greece is in one step from default.


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## ThomasK

Oh yes,_* op wandelafstand *_(walking distance), but that is less interesting because it is not a metaphor... ;-)


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## jana.bo99

Slovenian: Kratka razdalja

Croatian: Kratka udaljenost

German: Kurze Distanz


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## ThomasK

Thanks. But no... metaphors?


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## swift

Are Costa Ricans the only people in the world who leap to get across a short distance?


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## catlady60

English:
*a stone's throw away*
*a hop, a skip, and a jump away* (a track and field/athletics metaphor)
*X is right under one's nose*


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## mataripis

Tagalog:1.) Malapit lang (it is near)  2.) Ilang hakbang lang(few steps away)   3.) Tanaw/matatanaw(it is just a view from here)


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## francisgranada

Hungarian:

*egy kőhajításnyira

*egy - a, one
 kő - stone
hajítás - throw
nyi - suffix meaning an "amount or distance"
ra - suffix meaning "at, on ..."


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## bibax

Czech:

Je to, co bys kamenem dohodil. = It is (in a distance) that you would reach it by throwing a stone.

Máš to (přímo) u nosu. = You have it (directly) at (your) nose.

Je to na dosah ruky. = It is within reach of hand.

However the last idiom is more figurative (e.g. victory or success is within hand's reach).


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## federicoft

Italian: _essere a un tiro di schioppo _(to be at a gun shot). 
"Schioppo" is an archaic word for gun, nowadays used mainly in this precise idiom, which makes it a powerful expression.


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## Encolpius

Nice collection of idioms..

*Hungarian *(the not mentioned rest): 

egy ugrásra [ugrás - jump]
egy köpésre [the most sophisticated one ; köpés spitting "spitting distance" ]
az orrod előtt [in front of your nose; after reading the Czech idiom]
két lépésre [two steps]


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## kaverison

Tamil
Words
Kitta - close, aruge - near, arugaamaiyil, pakkatthil; sirithu thuuran - short distance

Expressions
Koopidu thuuram - calling distance (hearing distance, when you yell)

KalleRi thuuram - kal - stone eRi - throwing rhuuram - distance


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## 810senior

Japanese
目と鼻の先 me to hana no saki (ahead of eyes and nose)
目と鼻の間 me to hana no aida (between eyes and nose)


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## Messquito

Chinese:
一步/箭之遙(a step/bow away)
近在咫尺(see #4)
觸手可及(hold your hands out and you can reach it)
朝發夕至(set out in the morning, arrive at dawn)


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## 810senior

Messquito said:


> Chinese:
> 觸手可及(hold your hands out and you can reach it)



We say it in Japanese like 手の届く範囲(within a range where my hands reach) or 手の届く距離(within a distance where my hands reach).


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## ElFrikiChino

Italian, besides 





federicoft said:


> essere a un tiro di schioppo



* essere dietro l'angolo (behind the corner)
* essere a due passi (two steps away)

EFC


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## ger4

Some more German expressions:
_Direkt vor deiner Nase_ - lit.: straight in front of your nose - colloquial expression, often used jokingly when someone can't find something that is very close.
_Gleich um die Ecke_ - lit.: straight around the corner (even if there is no corner)
_In Reichweite_ - lit.: in reaching distance


kaverison said:


> Tamil [...] Koopidu thuuram - calling distance (hearing distance, when you yell)


_In Rufweite*_ - lit.: in calling distance
_In Hörweite*_ - lit.: in hearing distance

*Edit: _Weite_ is another possible way to express the idea of distance in German


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## franknagy

_I have inserted into the quote the Hungarian counterparts in red color._


Holger2014 said:


> Some more German expressions:
> _Direkt vor deiner Nase_ - az orrod előtt - lit.: straight in front of your nose - colloquial expression, often used jokingly when someone can't find something that is very close.
> _Gleich um die Ecke_ - lit.: straight around the corner (even if there is no corner)
> _In Reichweite_ - kézközelben - lit.: in reaching distance by hand
> _In Rufweite*_ - lit.: in calling distance
> _In Hörweite*_ - hallótávolságban - lit.: in hearing distance


(+1) Látótávolságban = in seeing distance.


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## ger4

franknagy said:


> (+1) Látótávolságban = in seeing distance.


 German: _in Sichtweite_ = in seeing distance, within sight


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## kaverison

^Interesting. In Tamil, we say *kaNNukku ettina thuuram - *distance eye can reach, to refer to a short range.

Thuuram - distance, very much in use. There is an old Tamil word, tholaivu also in use. Former may be of Sanskrit origin.


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## igusarov

Maroseika said:


> Russian:
> The most common: на расстоянии вытянутой руки (lit. on the outstretched arm distance, i.e. at arm's length).


Idiomatic form of this one is much shorter: "рукой подать" (roo-koy po-dat'). Literally: "hand pass". As if someone is talking about a thing located so close that he can pass it over to you with his hands.


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## Panceltic

Slovenian metaphors:

Na dosegu roke (at the hand's reach)
Lučaj stran (a _[stone's]_ throw away)
Korak stran (a step away)
Pred nosom (before the nose)


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## ThomasK

I had forgotten about one: *een duimbree*d (an inch-large), as in "geen duimbreed wijken" (not to give way [for ???] an inch-large). 
Within reach: *binnen handbereik*


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## Frank78

ThomasK said:


> German:
> - *ein Steinwurf *(stone('s) throw)
> - *ein Katzensprung *(a cat's jump/...)



There are even more:

"eine Handbreit" (a hand's breadth - originally a measurement)
"um Haaresbreite" (by a hair's breadth)


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## franknagy

igusarov said:


> Idiomatic form of this one is much shorter: "рукой подать" (roo-koy po-dat'). Literally: "hand pass". As if someone is talking about a thing located so close that he can pass it over to you with his hands.


Hungarian "karnyújtásnyira" = "At stretched arm".


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## toocool

Croatian

Pred nosom. = In front of one's nose.

Na dva koraka = Two steps away.

Mo'š pljunut do tamo. = Within spitting distance. (Colloquial of course)


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