Glossary entry

Finnish term or phrase:

sumuriekaleet

English translation:

tendrils of fog

Added to glossary by Graeme Walle (X)
Aug 3, 2009 21:52
14 yrs ago
Finnish term

sumuriekaleet

Homework / test Finnish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
context: it felt that impersonal grey >sumuriekaleet< had darkened the space around them

chains of mist ?

(cannot give original Finnish for confidentiality reasons)

Discussion

Graeme Walle (X) (asker) Aug 4, 2009:
lol lol
Owen Witesman Aug 4, 2009:
post-apocalyptic fiction is my favorite I haven't read that, but I'll look it up. It sounds great. Brings to mind The Trouble with Tribbles (t-words that multiply and become a bother...)
Pia Kurro Aug 4, 2009:
Killer tendrils etc OK, you make a point here with those killer tendrils, and yes, I was quite a heavy sci-fi reader in my young years, but still, the movement of fog is different from a movement of an animalistic plant with killer motives :). Also, I'd (I usually do) stick to the style of the original writer. "Sumuriekaleet" is perhaps not a meteorological term, but it is not overly dramatic either, as tendrils or similar would be. I think it is quite on a par with shreds or similar, a pretty common poetic expression.
Graeme Walle (X) (asker) Aug 4, 2009:



Thanks for the alternatives. Coming from a scientific & technical background, I really appreciate the input

Pia and Owen, have you ever heard of a sci-fi book called "The Day of the Triffids"? These killer plants had some pretty nasty tendrils (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids and http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tendrils).
Pia Kurro Aug 4, 2009:
Riekaleet Chains does convey the sense of oppression adequately, but still it is kind of difficult to imagine a substance like fog can form something as solid as chains. I'd go for shreds, or a synonym.
Graeme Walle (X) (asker) Aug 3, 2009:
Comment deleted

Proposed translations

45 mins
Selected

tendrils of fog

Ok, so the literal, by-the-dictionary rendering would be something like "shreds of fog", but that sounds lame.
Peer comment(s):

disagree Pia Kurro : Tendrils and tender.. don't they have the same root? At least it sounds so. Those "sumuriekaleet" are agressive - they darken the sky or something. So, shreds definitely better. Beyond Tennyson etc, literal translations are often the most accurate. ;)
8 hrs
No, tendrils can be like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors--definitely can be menacing. Also, just Google the phrases "tendrils of fog" "whisps of fog" and "shreds of fog". "Shreds" is uncommon -- shreds of paper, fabric, and dignity yes, but not fog.
agree Juha Valtonen : e.g. "..the creeping tendrils of fog had reached my location"
20 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Owen"
-1
39 mins

traces of fog

traces of fog, but wisps of cloud
Peer comment(s):

disagree Pia Kurro : Totally unpoetic. And, the asker being a native Brit, he does not need elementary English explained to him, I assume.
7 hrs
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