# Jestem w proszku



## blackvesper

Hej,

jak najlepiej przetlumaczyc w/w wyrazenie na j. angielski?

Pozdrawiam


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## dreamlike

Pierwsze słyszę o takim wyrażeniu. Internet też zbyt pomocny nie jest, bo choć podaje definicje "być niegotowym, nieskończonym", to przykładów zdań jest tak wiele, że trudno o jeden odpowiednik. 

_Za dwa dni konferencja, a moje przemówienie jest jeszcze w proszku. 
Właśnie robimy remont naszego mieszkania. Sypialnie są już gotowe, ale kuchnia i łazienka są jeszcze w proszku. 
Wiem, że miałem skończyć pisać książkę w tym tygodniu. Niestety nie zdążyłem, wszystko jest jeszcze w proszku. _
źródło: http://realpolish.pl/idiom-26/

Myślę, że w powyższych trzech zdaniem wyrażenie "być w proszku" z powodzeniem można przetłumaczyć jako "to be in the making", ale tutaj już nie:

_Za godzinę musimy wychodzić na lotnisko, a ja jeszcze jestem w proszku. _


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## Paulfromitaly

blackvesper said:


> Hej,
> 
> jak najlepiej przetlumaczyc w/w wyrazenie na j. angielski?
> 
> Pozdrawiam



Please carefully read this and comply with it

Forum  rules and resources, please check this out! - Zasady i reguły dla tego  forum, oraz dostępne materiały do nauki języka. Proszę przeczytać!


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## BezierCurve

I'd translate it simply as "I'm not ready yet".

@Paul, I've gone through all of the cited sources just to see if any of them offers a translation of this colloquial idiomatic phrase and the best they could come up with was: "I am not be ready".


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## dreamlike

I'm pretty sure Paul meant to draw the OP's attention to the fact that their query lacks context. The context is ever so important here because the phrase in question can be translated into Polish at least in two ways, one more idiomatic than the other.

@blackvesper - Podaj proszę zdanie(a) zawierające 'jestem w proszku', które chcesz przetłumaczyć i źródło. Jeśli sam je wymyśliłeś, powiedz to.


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## blackvesper

Sorry for the lack of context - I haven't provided it becase there's no context to my query. I am just curious how could I translate 'Jestem w proszku!' rather than saying 'I am not ready.' Cheers


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## BezierCurve

Maybe the best thing would be to ask about an idiom / slang on the English forum?


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## Thomas1

_The New Kosciuszko Foundation Dictionary_ says: be in pieces. 

By the way, I'm familiar with the Polish expression.


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## dn88

Thomas1 said:


> _The New Kosciuszko Foundation Dictionary_ says: be in pieces.
> 
> By the way, I'm familiar with the Polish expression.


I fail to imagine a context in which "be in pieces" would mean "be not ready". I'd say it pretty much always means "emotionally devastated/in a terrible shape". But we may need a native speaker's opinion on this.

I can't off-hand think of a 'decent' English idiom for the Polish expression (I like dreamlike's suggestion, however).


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## blackvesper

Zazwyzaj slyszalam to wyrazenie w mowie potocznej, ale znalazlam przyklad w internecie:

http://pl.wiktionary.org/wiki/być_w_proszku


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## NotNow

dn88 said:


> I fail to imagine a context in which "be in pieces" would mean "be not ready". I'd say it pretty much always means "emotionally devastated/in a terrible shape". But we may need a native speaker's opinion on this.



I have never heard "be in pieces" to mean "be not ready."  The only idiom for not being ready that I can think of off the top of my head is _to be running behind, _which may not work in all cases.


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## Thomas1

dn88 said:


> I fail to imagine a context in which "be in pieces" would mean "be not ready". I'd say it pretty much always means "emotionally devastated/in a terrible shape". But we may need a native speaker's opinion on this.
> 
> I can't off-hand think of a 'decent' English idiom for the Polish expression (I like dreamlike's suggestion, however).


Welcome to the club.  I was kind of hoping someone else _would_. It seems the dictionary makers got carried away this time. So has the OP (see the _bottom line_ of my post ). 

Apart from 'be in the making' you could also use 'be work in progress'. The problem with these two expressions is, however, that, except for the fact that they don't work well with an animate subject, they don't convey exactly the idea of (very) initial stages of progress or a(n almost) complete unpreparedness, which the Polish expression does. 
You could fiddle with 'be back at square one' and use 'be at square one', for instance, as did the author of an article in _Tampa Bay Times_:*Six years later, art museum is at square one*

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/19/Hillsborough/Six_years_later__art_.shtml​ 'be at square one' won't fit the bill, however, in all cases. As it often happens with idiomatic expressions, they don't have one translation. So, frequently, a new context will mean going back to square one and retranslating the one in hand.


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