agua pasada

Ilmo

Ilmo

Member Emeritus
Uusikaupunki, Southwestern Finland
Finland, Finnish
The expressíon is used about something that has to be forgotten, that will never come back.
In Finnish we use the expression "se on menneen talven lunta", translated literally "that is snow of the past winter".
How about other languages?
 
    • in portuguese: São águas passadas.
    icon6.gif
     
    In Dutch:

    Gedane zaken nemen geen keer (Done things cannot be turned back)

    but more prosaic:
    Dat zijn oude koeien (Those are old cows)
     
    In Arabic you could say لا تندم على ما فات (literally "don't regret what has past").

    In Egyptian Colloquial Arabic you could say "illi faat maat" -- "what is done is done" (literally "that which has past is dead").

     
    Yes, I was going to suggest that one.

    No one would say the other one you suggest. Sounds too formal.
     
    I can't remember any idiomatic expression in Hungarian, we just say: régi történet [old story]
     
    I can't remember any idiomatic expression in Hungarian, we just say: régi történet [old story]
    Click to expand...
    I remember something from Lion King:

    Jobb, ha a farodat mutatod a múltnak

    Is that any good? :D


    In Turkish we say: Eski defterler [Old journals]
     
    Last edited:
    TommyEngel said:
    In Dutch:

    Gedane zaken nemen geen keer (Done things cannot be turned back)

    but more prosaic:
    Dat zijn oude koeien (Those are old cows)
    Click to expand...

    I love the latter expression, Tommy, but I am not so sure that it is a standard expression meaning that you can't change old things. I think it means one need not be nostalgic, or refer to things from the past in order to explain or justify the present. By the way it is based on the very funny original expression "Oude koeien uit de sloot halen" [to get old cows out of the ditch], but at least here in Flanders this expression is not common. Everyone will guess what you mean though, and though there is a link, it is not quite what is meant, so I think...
     
    Ilmo said:
    The expressíon is used about something that has to be forgotten, that will never come back.
    In Finnish we use the expression "se on menneen talven lunta", translated literally "that is snow of the past winter".
    How about other languages?
    Click to expand...

    It is almost as common to use the plural, se on menneen talveen lumia. "It's the snows (partitive) of the past winter".
     
    In Greek (one I could think of):
    «περυσινά (περσινά) ξινά σταφύλια»
    perisi'na (or persi'na) ksi'na sta'fiʎa
    lit. "last year's sour grapes"
    It is used about something that has to be forgotten, it left things a bit sour
    And another one I just remembered:
    «περασμένα, ξεχασμένα»
    peraz'mena, ksexaz'mena
    lit. "[things] passed, [things] forgotten"

    [ʎ] is a palatal lateral approximant
    [x] is a voiceless velar fricative, known as the hard ch
     
    Last edited:
    In French, I can't think of a more idiomatic expression than "C'est de l'histoire ancienne" (that is ancient history).
     
    ThomasK said:
    IBy the way it is based on the very funny original expression "Oude koeien uit de sloot halen" [to get old cows out of the ditch], but at least here in Flanders this expression is not common. Everyone will guess what you mean though, and though there is a link, it is not quite what is meant, so I think...
    Click to expand...

    It has been said to me several times 'not to get old cows out of the ditch', very useful expression against family feuds.
     
    Hungarian:
    • Poetic: "Hol van már a tavalyi hó?" ("Where is the snow of the las year" - translated from Francoise Villon.)
    • Pessimistic: "Ami elmúlt, nem jön vissza soha már. " ("What has passed that never comes back any more.")
    • Rude: "Ha a kutya nme szart volna, nyulat fogott volna." ("If the dog had not been shitting then he would have caught a hare.")
     
    TommyEngel said:
    In Dutch:

    Gedane zaken nemen geen keer (Done things cannot be turned back)

    but more prosaic:
    Dat zijn oude koeien (Those are old cows)
    Click to expand...
    Agua pasada sounds also much like 'vijgen na Pasen' to me.
    (Figs after Eastern). I don't know why Flemish talk about figs though. There are no figs grown in Flanders.
     
    Catalan

    D'aigua passada, molí no en mol. Water gone turns no mill.

    Déu nos guard d'un ja està fet.     God save us from the 'already done's.​
     
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