vara synd om
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Swedish
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]vara (“be”) + synd (literally "sin" – can be thought of as pity / sorriness here (in the sense of feeling sorry for someone)) + om (“about”)
Verb
[edit]vara synd om (present är synd om, preterite var synd om, supine varit synd om, imperative var synd om)
- (impersonal) to be a person or animal people (should) feel sorry for, to be pity-evoking, to make one feel sorry, to be a pity for
- Det är synd om kaninen som fått en sticka i kassen
- Literal meaning: One feels sorry for the rabbit that has gotten a splinter in its paw / More idiomatic translations: I feel sorry for ... / It's a shame about ... / Poor rabbit that ...
- Det är synd om kvinnorna som försökte göra gott och straffades för det
- One feels sorry for the women who tried to do good and were punished for it
- Det är inte synd om mig
- No need to feel sorry for me ("I am not someone one should feel sorry for")
- Vilka är det mest synd om i skogen? Jo, myrstackarna!
- Who has the toughest time [evokes the most pity / makes you feel the sorriest for them] in the forest? It's the anthills [myrstackarna] / the poor ants [myra (“ant”) + stackarna (“the poor things”)]! [widespread pun]
- 1972, Hoola Bandoola Band (lyrics and music), “Keops pyramid [Cheops' pyramid / Great Pyramid of Giza]”, in Vem kan man lita på? [Who can you trust?][1]:
- Jag är en av dom som slavar på kung Keops pyramid, och det är vi som jobbar nere intill foten. Vi sliter och vi svettas för att inte tappa tid, och det är synd om dom som inte fyller kvoten. Har man en gång kommit hit blir man aldrig mera fri. Om man slutar här så slutar man i gropen. Men om kungen sägs att han är son av solen.
- I am one of those slaving [sounds more natural in Swedish] on King Cheops' pyramid, and it is we who work down next to the foot. We toil and we sweat to not lose time, and it is a pity for those who do not meet the quota. Once you are here you will never again be free [If one has once come here becomes one never again free]. If you end up here [possibly also "If you quit here ..." or "If you end [more ad hoc in Swedish] here ..."] you end up in the pit. But of the king is said that he is the son of the sun.
Usage notes
[edit]"Be a shame about ..." in the sense of "One feels sorry for ..." Thought of as a property of the pity-evoking person or animal, so that "Det är inte synd om ..." means disagreeing with that people in general should feel sorry for the person or animal (and that one personally does not feel sorry).