# Slovene: mere



## *cat*

Pozdravljeni,

Zanima me ali prevajate imena tujih mer ali pa jih tudi pretvorite.
Primer:
- 100 foot = 100 čevljev ali 30.47999902464 metrov
- 100 yards = 100 jardov ali 91.440275783872 metrov
- ...

Hvala.


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## Orlin

Ja bih objasnio praksu u nekim drugim jezicima (npr. u bugarskom, ruskom i dr.): u prevodu se koriste originalne jedinice mere (npr. u bugarskom imamo 100 фута/ futa, 100 ярда/yarda) i daje se pojašnjenje na 2 načina:
1. Metrički ekvivalent (30.47999902464 метра/ metra, 91.440275783872 метра/ metra respektivno - samo najčešće bez toliko mnogo decimalnih znakova).
2. Koeficijent transformacije: 1 фут/ fut=0.3047999902464 метра/ metra, 1 ярд/yard=0.91440275783872, naravno takva preciznost takođe nije potrebna.
Mislim da je takav stil razumljiv i logičan na bilo kom jeziku, pretpostavljam da je dovoljno dobar i u slovenačkom. Izbor da li ostaviti čitaocima da sami računaju metrički ekvivalent ili dati gotov ekvivalent zavisi ot njihovog profila.


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## Bojan

@Cat

I would convert foreign units, unless your readers will convert on their own or you can cause some numerical error by converting on your own, because readers prefer units they are accustomed to and can understand easily, but sometimes you can leave original units to leave US/UK feeling in the translated text (example "Cowboy rode ten miles...") If you convert units you can round the values if the exact measurement is irrelevant.

@Orlin

How about the translation of "Twenty thousand leagues under the sea"? Sometimes the units should be converted.


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## Orlin

Bojan said:


> @Cat
> 
> 
> How about the translation of "Twenty thousand leagues under the sea"? Sometimes the units should be converted.


 
Naravno, postoje izuzeci, ja govorim o "normalnim" tekstovima, mislim da je moja varijanta kompromis između blizine do originala i razumljivosti za masovu upotrebu.


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## sokol

Hello Cat,

wether you should translate measures or not hugely depends on the text you are translating.
If it is a scientific text you may translate (but at least I would give both feet and metres) - especially as those non-metrical units aren't exactly the same in England and the US: there might even be a misunderstanding about them. On the other hand, in scientific publications metrical units probably are used even in English speaking nations.

If it is a novel you're translating you may either leave measures as they are given (foot, miles, etc.) or translate to metrical measures but give round figures: after all it would sound odd to write "He ran a good 8,25 kilometres in the morning" - if anything it should be 8 kilometres, or just leave it at 5 miles as the exact distance most likely don't matters too much.

In general I think that in novels it is better to stick to the original non-metrical measures if you think it adds atmosphere to the text, else you may as well convert to "approximate" measures in the metrical system.


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## *cat*

Thank you all.
*Sokol*, I think your suggestion is really good. I'm translating some old Indian weird stories and I believe that foot and yard would do just fine with these kind of stories.


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## sokol

Something else came to my mind, Cat: the German translation of Tolstoi's Война и мир (War and Peace, Krieg und Frieden) uses the Russian unit of Верста = Werst which is approximately one kilometre: it would be strange to use kilometres in this historical setting, and after all Werst adds atmosphere. 

But when Werst was mentioned the first time in the German edition there was a footnote explaining that one Werst is approximately one kilometre: that's also something you could do if you think that the readers of your translation probably don't know how long a mile actually is.


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## *cat*

*Sokol*, that's a very good suggestion! Thank you very much!


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## Desert Soul

Hi, Cat! If you're talking of an old Indian story, and not a scientific text, I would absolutely leave the original units; maybe only, as Sokol suggested, adding a footnote.


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