# łapać za słówka



## cointi

Cześć,

szukam tłumaczenia polskiego idiomu "Łapać za słówka" na język angielski. Moje propozycje podaję poniżej, ale żadna z nich nie oddaje wiernie polskiego znaczenia:


don't be nit-picking about the words I use
don't try to trip me up

don't interpret my words
ewentualnie: don't be a smart-ass


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## MB

Nie istnieje dokładny odpowiednik w tym przypadku, ale moje propozycje substytutów:

- Don't take my words' meanings out of context.

- You seem to head for some pointless logomachy here by catching at my words, each of them taken out of context.


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## NotNow

Another possibility: don't misinterpret my words.



szymbert said:


> - Don't take my words' meanings out of context.



We usually say, don't take my words out of context.


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## MB

I concur that could be far more common, yet then again, in that particular case I think my option can do since it's not just about words in and of themselves taken out of context but their multiple meanings. Still, I do second you on _take one's words out of context _being what we usually say.


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## cointi

Thank you both.  I especially appreciate szymbert's second suggestion. Are you sure, though, about the 'catching at my words' bit?


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## MB

Yes, I'm pretty sure. Seeing that phrase as isolated and without any broader context might be ambiguous but in the sentence I provided its intended meaning appears to be straightforward as they come. What'd you think, NotNow?


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## NotNow

I have never heard the phrase _catching at my words_.  Is it British?


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## MB

Might be that it's more of a British thing, since _catch at_ in its meaning of reaching out and getting hold of something is rather British, but I'm not talking any set phrase here. We can safely assume that nowhere in the world there's a set phrase or an idiom of some sort _catch at one's words_, yet having said that I'd still like you to read the whole sentence of mine and tell if you indeed have any trouble getting its intended meaning straight when it's put in a context like that.

Reminder:
- You seem to head for some pointless logomachy here by catching at my words, each of them taken out of context.


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## NotNow

I read the sentence again.  I have never heard the word _catch_ used this way.  Why don't you post it on the English Only forum and see what kind of response you get?


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## Ben Jamin

NotNow said:


> Another possibility: don't misinterpret my words.
> 
> We usually say, don't take my words out of context.


But this last translation changes the meaning. "Łapać z słówka" is a set phrase for "to pick on words/details, disregarding the intention", it was usually used when somebody said something emotional, and the other part got into discussing the form, not the matter.


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## cointi

To sum up, there doesn't seem to be a fully satisfactory solution. I wonder how translators deal with this phrase. Thank you all for your contribution.

Edit! 

What about "tomayto, tomatho ? I think it could work at least in some contexts.


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## Ben Jamin

I propose "don't nitpick about words, come to the matter".


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## MB

To use _nitpick_ here is a great idea, Ben Jamin. I'd say, "Quit nitpicking over single words you're taking out of context.".


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## Ben Jamin

szymbert said:


> To use _nitpick_ here is a great idea, Ben Jamin. I'd say, "Quit nitpicking over single words you're taking out of context.".


Thanks for the praise, but I was not the one that was first to propose the word (see #1). I only changed the grammar.
However, I see that we differ in the understanding of the Polish idiom. For me it has not the connotation of taking words out of context, they may be well connected to the context. For me the main idea of this expression is that the speaker means that the interlocutor is discussing the words used, which are of little importance, instead of responding to the core of the matter, which really is important. 
Here is an example:
 "Siedzisz na kanapie, nic nie robisz. A ten brudny talerz to, co? Do jutra będzie stał? – Miska, nie talerz – wytknęłam na odchodnym. – Nie łap mnie za słówka".


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## MB

Ben Jamin said:


> Thanks for the praise, but I was not the one that was first to propose the word (see #1). I only changed the grammar.
> 
> *Yes, indeed, I must have failed to notice that when I took a peek at the OP.*
> 
> However, I see that we differ in the understanding of the Polish idiom. For me it has not the connotation of taking words out of context, they may be well connected to the context. For me the main idea of this expression is that the speaker means that the interlocutor is discussing the words used, which are of little importance, instead of responding to the core of the matter, which really is important.
> Here is an example:
> "Siedzisz na kanapie, nic nie robisz. A ten brudny talerz to, co? Do jutra będzie stał? – Miska, nie talerz – wytknęłam na odchodnym. – Nie łap mnie za słówka".
> 
> *Maybe you're trying too hard to see some particular area where we differ over here, since I don't really see any. She took brudny talerz out of the entire context and corrected him/her as to its being miska and not talerz, as if it'd been anyhow important and brought something to the table. Nitpicking describes the act well, I feel.*


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## Ben Jamin

Mój przykład (którego nie wymyśliłem, lecz zaczerpnęłem z sieci) ilustruje moje rozumienie idiomu. Ciekaw jestem przykładów, które dokumentują Twoją interpretację.


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## MB

Odniosłem się już do Twojego przykładu i ilustruje on nie tylko Twoje rozumienie tego idiomy, ale i moje.


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## Ben Jamin

W każdym razie nie "wyjmowanie z kontekstu" w mojim rozumieniu. W przytoczonym przykładzie wszystkie słowa tkwią twardo w kontekście. 
Oto przykład słów wyjętych z kontekstu:
Gwiazda filmowa mówi w wywiadzie: "I like men that know what they want."
Dziennik brukowy drukuje jej zdjęcie z podpisem "I like men.".


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