Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 April 7
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April 7
editPortuguese idiomatic translation help
editHiya! I'm trying to put together an idiomatic (as opposed to a singable) translation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's wonderful song Meditaçāo. Ignore the English lyrics which have nothing to do with the Portuguese. A repeated trope in the song is "Quem acreditou", "Quem o coração", "Quem chorou, chorou", "Quem, depois voltou". Is it like, "Anyone who believed"? Or "Someone who believed"? Or "I, the singer, believed"? --jpgordon𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇 22:05, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
- Perhaps "Those who ...". Unlike its Latin etymon, "quem" can have a collective meaning in Portuguese. A good example is the last clause of the original Nicene Creed, in Greek "Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας· ...", meaning, "But those who say: ...", translated in Portuguese as, "E quem quer que diga ...". --Lambiam 07:56, 8 April 2021 (UTC)