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ni to, ni sio

English translation: in context: betwixed and between being scary and silly/funny

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Polish term or phrase:ni to, ni sio
English translation:in context: betwixed and between being scary and silly/funny
Entered by: Jacek Kloskowski

20:01 Feb 3, 2015
Polish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Polish term or phrase: ni to, ni sio
przedstawiać będą różne zmutowane, hybrydalne postaci, ni to straszne, ni to śmieszne (opis obrazu)
Kasiaprokesz
Poland
Local time: 05:58
in context: betwixed and between being scary and silly/funny
Explanation:
Idioms

betwixt and between, neither the one nor the other; in a middle or unresolved position:
Not wanting to side with either her father or her mother, she was betwixt and between.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/betwixt and between

The word “betwixt,” by the way, is an old-fashioned version of “between,” though both words have been around in various forms since Anglo-Saxon times.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes “betwixt” as somewhat archaic in literary English and chiefly poetical.

However, the expression “betwixt and between,” meaning neither one thing nor the other, is a relative newcomer.

The earliest citation in the OED is from Frederick Marryat’s maritime novel Newton Forster (1832), which refers to “the lease of a house in a betwixt and between fashionable street.”

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/10/betwixt-and-betwee...

usage example:

The years from 18 until 25 and even beyond have become a distinct and separate life stage, a strange transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, putting off the iron cage of adult responsibility that constantly threatens to crash down on them. They’re betwixt and between.” “Twixters,” then, refers to those people betwixt and between being teenagers and adults.

http://www.challies.com/general-news/the-twixters

The omnium is betwixt and between, combining as it does timed and bunch events.

Betwixt and between, it's not easy being a federal appeals court judge.

She played the part of spurned lover well, performing the range betwixt betrayal and rage.

Betwixt and between, neither fish nor fowl, and upset at all three of the above groups.

Obama says Americans feel a sense of urgency, but they appear caught betwixt and between.

Betwixt and between, he intersperses rhythmic lick-ety-split soliloquies.

They can't help that their MCC brethren are betwixt and between rebuilding and reloading.

Named for the Roman goddess, Juno rules a region betwixt and between adulthood and kidhood.

http://fraze.it/sentences_using_betwixt
Selected response from:

Jacek Kloskowski
United States
Local time: 23:58
Grading comment
thank you, it really works in this context
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3neither man nor beast
Darius Saczuk
4 +1neither fish nor fowl
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
3in context: betwixed and between being scary and silly/funny
Jacek Kloskowski
2nor fearsome, nor comic
geopiet


  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
neither man nor beast


Explanation:
Commonly used option.

Darius Saczuk
United States
Local time: 23:58
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 413

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  magdadh: ...i pasuje do tego surrealistycznego image
19 mins
  -> ;-). Kind thanks, magdadh.
agree  George BuLah (X): nomen omen :)
12 hrs
  -> ;-) Thanks, George.
agree  Jacek Konopka
17 hrs
  -> Kind thanks, Jacku.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
in context: betwixed and between being scary and silly/funny


Explanation:
Idioms

betwixt and between, neither the one nor the other; in a middle or unresolved position:
Not wanting to side with either her father or her mother, she was betwixt and between.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/betwixt and between

The word “betwixt,” by the way, is an old-fashioned version of “between,” though both words have been around in various forms since Anglo-Saxon times.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes “betwixt” as somewhat archaic in literary English and chiefly poetical.

However, the expression “betwixt and between,” meaning neither one thing nor the other, is a relative newcomer.

The earliest citation in the OED is from Frederick Marryat’s maritime novel Newton Forster (1832), which refers to “the lease of a house in a betwixt and between fashionable street.”

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/10/betwixt-and-betwee...

usage example:

The years from 18 until 25 and even beyond have become a distinct and separate life stage, a strange transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, putting off the iron cage of adult responsibility that constantly threatens to crash down on them. They’re betwixt and between.” “Twixters,” then, refers to those people betwixt and between being teenagers and adults.

http://www.challies.com/general-news/the-twixters

The omnium is betwixt and between, combining as it does timed and bunch events.

Betwixt and between, it's not easy being a federal appeals court judge.

She played the part of spurned lover well, performing the range betwixt betrayal and rage.

Betwixt and between, neither fish nor fowl, and upset at all three of the above groups.

Obama says Americans feel a sense of urgency, but they appear caught betwixt and between.

Betwixt and between, he intersperses rhythmic lick-ety-split soliloquies.

They can't help that their MCC brethren are betwixt and between rebuilding and reloading.

Named for the Roman goddess, Juno rules a region betwixt and between adulthood and kidhood.

http://fraze.it/sentences_using_betwixt

Jacek Kloskowski
United States
Local time: 23:58
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
thank you, it really works in this context
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
nor fearsome, nor comic


Explanation:
lub inne synonimy „strasznych” i „ śmiesznych” ..

frightening, alarming, terrifying, petrifying, hair-raising, spine-chilling, blood-curdling, bone-chilling, chilling, horrifying, nerve-racking, fearsome, unnerving; eerie, sinister; informalcreepy, spine-tingling, spooky, hairy


amusing, humorous, witty, comic, comical, droll, facetious, jocular, jokey; hilarious, hysterical, riotous, uproarious; entertaining,

geopiet
Native speaker of: Native in PolishPolish
PRO pts in category: 93
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
neither fish nor fowl


Explanation:
IMO English idiom

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2015-02-03 23:33:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Something or someone which is not easily categorized; something or someone that does not rightly belong or fit well in a given group or situation.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neither_fish_nor_fowl
ccccccccccccccc

Having no specific characteristics or category, not easily characterized. The phrase, which was originally “neither fish nor flesh nor fowl,” appeared in slightly different form in a 16th-century collection of proverbs as “neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring”: fish for monks who ate no meat, flesh for people who could afford meat, and cheap herring for the poor.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/neither fish nor fowl

Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
United States
Local time: 23:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in PolishPolish
PRO pts in category: 96

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Darius Saczuk
18 mins
  -> Thank you Dariusz.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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