Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Swedish term or phrase:
Liten tuva stjälper stora lass
English translation:
A small stone in the way overturns a great wain
Added to glossary by
Jan Schauseil
Oct 1, 2008 06:28
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Swedish term
Business and finance (annual reports)
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, Swedish to English
Liten tuva stjälper stora lass
Swedish to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Swedish proverb
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+2
16 mins
Selected
A small stone in the way overturns a great wain
according to Norstedts Ordspråksordbok (SV/EN/DE/ES/FR).
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
35 mins
A small leak will sink a great ship
Different metaphor, same meaning.
5 hrs
little strokes fell great oaks
Enligt Norstedts Stora
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Note added at 5 hrs (2008-10-01 11:51:48 GMT)
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According to Norstedts Stora. Although I think it's a slight shift in meaning towards "constant dripping wears away a stone" rather than the meaning of "liten tuva..." = small thing causes mayhems...
In the pale cast of thought I suppose I would bet my money on "A small leak will sink a great ship" instead.
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Note added at 5 hrs (2008-10-01 11:51:48 GMT)
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According to Norstedts Stora. Although I think it's a slight shift in meaning towards "constant dripping wears away a stone" rather than the meaning of "liten tuva..." = small thing causes mayhems...
In the pale cast of thought I suppose I would bet my money on "A small leak will sink a great ship" instead.
-2
5 hrs
Larry Abramson
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
Use the Asian advantage (US lawyer&team)
Native in: English
Works in: Swedish to English, Danish to English, Norwegian to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
8
the straw that broke the camel's back
Pretty close...straw and tuva.....and same meaning
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Eva-Marie Adams
: I don't think it means the same thing-- This would be like saying "droppen som fick bägaren att rinna över" which doesn't say the same thing.
48 mins
|
| disagree |
hravdal
: The meaning is not the same. I agree with the comment above. And a straw is one piece of grass, while a "tuva" is a tussock, a hillock... essentially a bump in the road.
6 hrs
|
7 hrs
Small tuft topples big load
Or: Little sod topples big load. Which can be interpreted in two ways.
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