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Can I use you people as a thesaurus?

Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
There's an old saying that I remembered recently and I wondered what it would be like in English. But I'm not sure about one word. The meaning is more or less right but I think there might be a more appropriate one.

The saying is: "Either the sea is crooked or we're sailing crookedly" and the word is "crooked".

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think 'crooked' is probably the correct word here - to tie in with 'crookedly'.

    A selection of synonyms might be :

    agee, anfractuous, angular, asymmetric, awry, bowed, catawampus, circuitous, cockeyed, contorted, crippled, curved, curving, deformed, deviating, devious, disfigured, distorted, errant, gnarled, hooked, incurving, indirect, irregular, kinky, knurly, lopsided, meandering, misshapen, not straight, oblique, out of shape, rambling, roundabout, screwy, serpentine, sinuous, skewed, slanted, snaky, spiral, tilted, topsy-turvy, tortile, tortuous, twisted, twisting, uneven, warped, winding, zigzag

    So I think 'crooked' is more likely.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bent
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    sepumseeme wrote: »
    Bent
    Little_051031092813208_wideweb__300x375.jpg

    Homophobe!
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    sepumseeme wrote: »
    Bent
    So we're sailing... bently?
    EDIT: How about "slanted(ly)"?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So we're sailing... bently?
    EDIT: How about "slanted(ly)"?

    I wouldn't use either. I think they are both grammatically incorrect.

    Is your quote meant to be humorous? Or a play on words? Have you put the original quote through Google Translation just to see what their result would be, just as an indication?

    I still favour 'crooked' and 'crookedly'.
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    It's like a proverb of sorts, a metaphor. Imagine it like saying "Either everyone else is wrong, or I am" but adding the implication that the former is absurd (like the sea is always straight, unless in a storm etc).

    Google isn't much help: "Or, is tortuous or crooked coast sail" :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ah ok. I know what you mean. :)

    Hmmmm .. it's neither a proverb nor a metaphor really, but I can't think right now as to what one might name it. Neither can I think of an English alternative apart from, maybe, "either everyone is crazy or just it's just me".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    so the second word has to be a variation of the first word?

    :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    bent
    Teagan wrote: »
    Little_051031092813208_wideweb__300x375.jpg

    Homophobe!

    ... Bently


    get_bent.jpg
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    sepumseeme wrote: »
    so the second word has to be a variation of the first word?

    :confused:
    It's a different form of the same word originally, so I thought it would best be the same in English. But I guess if different words fit the meaning better it would work.
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