# larger than life



## TOTO KAKA

Hello Everyone
Please forgive my probable misspelling in thread title. I tried to say "larger than life" in Turkish and I am waiting for your correction if necessary. 

In a translation from a Turkish short story "The House on the Border" by Aziz Nesin, I found a sentence which seemed to me a bit unusual. I am wondering if the size of a man is compared to life in Turkish.
My question:Is the root of this comparison in Turkish or through being translated to English it has been changed? 
The origin sentence reads:"There in the middle of the room stood a man *larger than life* -twice my size I mean."

Thanks In Advance


----------



## adelan

Larger than life = efsanevi (epic, heroic, mythical) but i guess it is about the size of the man not what he had done in his life. Therefore it could be "devasa" as well.


----------



## TOTO KAKA

Dear Adelan
Thank you for making time and sharing your good notions
I want to know that is there such a comparison in Turkish? As you may have guessed I am not a turkish native speaker. 
My question could be posed this way: Do you have in your language simile in which a bulky man be told bigger than life. (Heyat den boyuk -I just try to say it in Turkish and If I am wrong in writing Turkish, please correct me)
Best Wishes


----------



## adelan

You're welcome.

Heyat den boyuk = Hayattan büyük.

No I have never heard such but you may see likes of these exaggerations in poetry, maybe.

You may say devasa, kocaman, çam yarması, dev gibi, iri kıyım and such in Turkish if you want to emphasize or exaggerate the size of sb.


----------



## TOTO KAKA

Dear adelan
Thanks for your corrections.
All your hints are useful.
Best Of Best


----------



## bouquinistesofunderworld

The exact Turkish version of the lines you've mentioned from the story Sınır Üstündeki Ev

Çıt, elektrik düğmesinin sesi duyuldu, oda aydınlandı. Ben yere düşünce masanın altına girmişim,  karımda karyolanın altına.* Karşımda dimdik, benim iki boyumda bir adam vardı. *Ayağa kalksam, herifi korkutamayacağım. Yattığım yerden ne olduğumu anlamaz diye sesimi kalınlaştırıp...

*larger than life actually means someone who has a very strong or lively personality that  impresses people very much.* They interpreted "dimdik" this way.


----------



## TOTO KAKA

Dear sertz
Thank you for making time and finding the original text
You did me a big favor. Please make it double by translating the following selected part word by word if possible.
I can understand three last words (*bir adam vardı*) and (*iki) *because they are nearly the same as Azebaijani -a little I know about this language - but I am not able to realize four other highlighted words.
Truly Yours
1- bir=one
2-adam=human
3-vardi=was
4=iki=two
*5=karsimda=?
6=dimdik=?
7=Benim=?*(Isn't this MY or Mine)
*8=boyomda=?*
*Karşımda* *dimdik*,* benim* iki *boyumda* bir adam vardı.


----------



## spiraxo

Hello serzt,

Where did you get following lines? From the book or a blog?


serzt said:


> The exact Turkish version of the lines you've mentioned from the story Sınır Üstündeki Ev
> Çıt, elektrik düğmesinin sesi duyuldu, oda aydınlandı. Ben yere düşünce masanın altına girmişim,  karımda karyolanın altına.* Karşımda dimdik, benim iki boyumda bir adam vardı. *Ayağa kalksam, herifi korkutamayacağım. Yattığım yerden ne olduğumu anlamaz diye sesimi kalınlaştırıp...


----------



## bouquinistesofunderworld

TOTO KAKA said:


> Dear serzt
> Thank you for making time and finding the original text
> You did me a big favor. Please make it double by translating the following selected part word by word if possible.
> I can understand three last words (*bir adam vardı*) and (*iki) *because they are nearly the same as Azebaijani -a little I know about this language - but I am not able to realize four other highlighted words.
> Truly Yours
> 1- bir=one
> 2-adam=human
> 3-vardi=was
> 4=iki=two
> *5=karsimda=?
> 6=dimdik=?
> 7=Benim=?*(Isn't this MY or Mine)
> *8=boyomda=?*
> *Karşımda* *dimdik*,* benim* iki *boyumda* bir adam vardı.



*karşımda*= before me or across me
*dimdik*=standing bolt upright
*benim iki boyumda=* twice my height


----------



## TOTO KAKA

Dear serzt
Thanks
According to your notions I suppose that There is no comparison between a man's body size and life in Turkish.
To be honest I had asked such a question in "English only" forum and they denied this kind of comparison in English too.
Putting all notions together I think there has been a deviation(skewing) in the translation I had read.
Really Appreciate Your Helps
Best Wishes


----------



## spiraxo

Hello TOTO KAKA,

Do you know who translated it?


TOTO KAKA said:


> ... I think there has been a deviation(skewing) in the translation I had read...


----------



## bouquinistesofunderworld

TOTO KAKA said:


> Dear serzt
> Thanks
> According to your notions I suppose that There is no comparison between a man's body size and life in Turkish.
> To be honest I had asked such a question in "English only" forum and they denied this kind of comparison in English too.
> Putting all notions together I think there has been a deviation(skewing) in the translation I had read.
> Really Appreciate Your Helps
> Best Wishes



The only translator who has officially interpreted Nesin's books is Masud Akhtar Shaikh. He's a fine translator. I read all the stories he translated by Nesin. There is no distortion in his texts. As long as you don't distort the core of the text there is nothing wrong with loosely/roughly interpreting some idiomatic expressions.
I think you might be making a negative transfer from Persion. Larger than life is does also mean "*Of greater size or magnitude than is naturally or normally the case.*" Look at the following sentences and you'll see there is nothing wrong in the translation.


_ ◊◊ Miss Snevellicci's papa  looked very big indeed—several sizes *larger than life*.​__ ◊◊ At uniform intervals round  the base of the pedestal, four naked figures in chains, somewhat *larger than  life*, are seated in various attitudes of humiliation and despair.​_


----------



## TOTO KAKA

Hello Dear spiraxo
Hello Dear serzt
Thank both of you for paying attention
I have read the translation in a book titled "Oral Reproduction of Stories(2)" which is a two-credit course in English translation at universities in Iran. Unfortunately the name of translator is not mentioned there. 
Sincerely Yours


----------

