translation

[MarketaT]

Hello everyone,
I'm trying to translate a part of John Irving's novel The Cider House
Rules and I've come across several expressions I can not cope with....
Could enyone help me with those:
"They had corned the gossip market."
and
"...a retired physician who thought that President Teddy Roosevelt was
the only other man in the world besides himself who had not been made
from a banana." (?be made from a banana?)
and this one:
"The town's wounded now sported stitches instead of bruises and broken
bones;..."
Thanks very much!
Marketa

[Miss Elaine Eos]

Post by MarketaT
Hello everyone,
I'm trying to translate a part of John Irving's novel The Cider House
Rules and I've come across several expressions I can not cope with....
"They had corned the gossip market."

"Cornered." To "corner a market" means to have all of the available
commodity, such that one can then set any price they want to sell. It's
a stock-exchange term so, for example, if I have cornered the
pork-bellies market, that means I have so many pork bellies (and, by
inference, everyone else has so few) that I can set any price I want and
people can either pay my price or go without. It's slightly more
complicated than that, as grain & pork-belly markets are "futures"
markets, but you get the idea.

"They had cornered the gossip market" is slightly awkward slang meaning
"they had all the gossip. If you wanted some gossip, these guys were
the place to go."

Post by MarketaT
"...a retired physician who thought that President Teddy Roosevelt was
the only other man in the world besides himself who had not been made
from a banana." (?be made from a banana?)

Uh... is the translation you're translating not an original English
translation? Might the phrase have been "thought that Teddy... besides
himself who was not completely bananas"? For a person to be "bananas"
means that they are crazy, whacko or "totally out there."

Post by MarketaT
"The town's wounded now sported stitches instead of bruises and broken
bones;..."

To "sport" something means to have it visible and conspicuous. "Sally
is sporting a new tattoo", "Tom is sporting a new jacket", etc.

It seems that the wounded formerly had bruises and broken bones, but now
were "sporting" stitches. I'd take this as an indication that they're
on the mend and getting medical treatment.

[MarketaT]

Wow, so quick and co clear!
Thanks very much, I can finally move on with the translation.
By the way, the translated text is really original English...
Marketa

Post by Miss Elaine Eos

Post by MarketaT
Hello everyone,
I'm trying to translate a part of John Irving's novel The Cider House
Rules and I've come across several expressions I can not cope with....
"They had corned the gossip market."

"Cornered." To "corner a market" means to have all of the available
commodity, such that one can then set any price they want to sell. It's
a stock-exchange term so, for example, if I have cornered the
pork-bellies market, that means I have so many pork bellies (and, by
inference, everyone else has so few) that I can set any price I want and
people can either pay my price or go without. It's slightly more
complicated than that, as grain & pork-belly markets are "futures"
markets, but you get the idea.
"They had cornered the gossip market" is slightly awkward slang meaning
"they had all the gossip. If you wanted some gossip, these guys were
the place to go."

Post by MarketaT
"...a retired physician who thought that President Teddy Roosevelt was
the only other man in the world besides himself who had not been made
from a banana." (?be made from a banana?)

Uh... is the translation you're translating not an original English
translation? Might the phrase have been "thought that Teddy... besides
himself who was not completely bananas"? For a person to be "bananas"
means that they are crazy, whacko or "totally out there."

Post by MarketaT
"The town's wounded now sported stitches instead of bruises and broken
bones;..."

To "sport" something means to have it visible and conspicuous. "Sally
is sporting a new tattoo", "Tom is sporting a new jacket", etc.
It seems that the wounded formerly had bruises and broken bones, but now
were "sporting" stitches. I'd take this as an indication that they're
on the mend and getting medical treatment.
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