English questions

[bradrn]

(I don't find the capitalization to have a particularly significant effect on either meaning or acceptability)

I do; for me ‘black’ is an adjective, whereas ‘Black’ is a culture (same as ‘deaf’ vs ‘Deaf’). A ‘black person’ is one with dark skin, whereas a ‘Black person’ is one affiliated with Black culture.

[Raphael]

Thank you, everyone! And don't worry, zompist, I don't have any plans to call anyone "a [name of color]".

[Raphael]

When people talk about deep questions of philosophy, the search for meaning, and the like, which phrase is more common: "The great questions of life", or "The big questions of life"?

[Travis B.]

When people talk about deep questions of philosophy, the search for meaning, and the like, which phrase is more common: "The great questions of life", or "The big questions of life"?

I would definitely go with "The great questions of life" here. Big connotates literal size more than great does.

[zompist]

When people talk about deep questions of philosophy, the search for meaning, and the like, which phrase is more common: "The great questions of life", or "The big questions of life"?

I would definitely go with "The great questions of life" here. Big connotates literal size more than great does.

In general yes, but here the difference is register. "The great questions" sounds academic, "the big questions" sounds colloquial.

[Raphael]

Thank you!

[Moose-tache]

To me, "big question" is like "big picture," in that it's perfectly acceptable in nearly all registers.

[Travis B.]

To me, "big question" is like "big picture," in that it's perfectly acceptable in nearly all registers.

To me big picture is a fixed phrase - one does not typically say ?great picture.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

For me, the big picture is the larger scope of things, a great picture is a picture the speaker thinks is well-composed or somehow great, as a great painting or great novel might be. I would also say a big question is a question of large scope, where a great question could be that in context, but it could also be used to express (feigned or real) approbation of a question.

[bradrn]

For me, the big picture is the larger scope of things, a great picture is a picture the speaker thinks is well-composed or somehow great, as a great painting or great novel might be. I would also say a big question is a question of large scope, where a great question could be that in context, but it could also be used to express (feigned or real) approbation of a question.

This is all true for me too. I would add that a big picture can also be, well, a picture that is big! Though I’d more often call that a large picture.

[Raphael]

Now I'm really confused.

[bradrn]

Now I'm really confused.

Why?

[Raphael]

Now I'm really confused.

Why?

Because of all those different conflicting answers to my initial question.

[Moose-tache]

It is truly what we often call in English a large question.

[Raphael]

It is truly what we often call in English a large question.

You mean a huge question? An enormous question? An immense question? A sizeable question? An extensive question?

[Travis B.]

When people talk about deep questions of philosophy, the search for meaning, and the like, which phrase is more common: "The great questions of life", or "The big questions of life"?

I would definitely go with "The great questions of life" here. Big connotates literal size more than great does.

In general yes, but here the difference is register. "The great questions" sounds academic, "the big questions" sounds colloquial.

Now that I think of it, you're right - e.g. here one would say "the great questions of life", but one would also say, e.g., "the big question is why is my ESP8285 WiFi radio is so damn finicky" (and "the great question" would sound really off there).

[Raphael]

Not sure if this really counts as an English question - it's more about Latin - but I don't want to interrupt the current discussion in the Linguistic Miscellany Thread:

Why is "de gustibus non est disputandum" usually translated as "There's no accounting for taste"? Wouldn't a more accurate translation be something like "You can't argue about taste"? And aren't those two slightly different statements? (I disagree with the first statement while agreeing with the second statement, myself.)

[hwhatting]

Why is "de gustibus non est disputandum" usually translated as "There's no accounting for taste"? Wouldn't a more accurate translation be something like "You can't argue about taste"? And aren't those two slightly different statements? (I disagree with the first statement while agreeing with the second statement, myself.)

Because it's the traditional equivalent in the culture? In e.g. Russian it's На вкус и цвет товарищей нет "Concerning taste and colour there are no comrades / fellows". When translating proverbs / sayings, you can go for translating the proverb or for quoting the cultural equivalent. For German, it just so happens that our equivalent is a literal translation of the Latin, although with two variants, one leaving out the negation: Über Geschmack lässt sich / kann man (nicht) streiten.

[Ryusenshi]

In French, we take the longer form de gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum and translate it literally, des goûts et des couleurs, on ne discute pas; or we abbreviate it to les goûts et les couleurs ("tastes and colors") leaving the rest of the proverb unsaid. Another expression with a similar meaning is tous les goûts sont dans la nature ("all tastes exist in nature").

I agree with hwhatting: when translating a proverb, it's often better to use an existing proverb proverb if there is one, even if it isn't literal.

[zompist]

My wife tells me that the Spanish equivalent is En gustos y colores, no intervienen los autores. Literally "With tastes and colors, the authors do not intervene." Autores can also mean 'parents.' Like the Russian version, it rhymes.

As Hans-Werner says, proverbs are normally translated by proverbs, if there is an appropriate one. The English rendering is pretty lame, though.