Een geluk bij een ongeluk

[Bull's Eye]

Beste forumleden,

Bestaat er een Franse zegswijze voor "een geluk bij een ongeluk", die qua beeldspraak vrij dicht bij de Nederlandse versie ligt?

Hartelijk dank voor jullie hulp!

 

[Brownpaperbag]

Hoi,

Wellicht: à quelque chose malheur est bon

Brown

 

[Suehil]

"D'un malheur est né un bonheur", misschien.

 

[Bull's Eye]

Dank jullie wel! Ik ga voor "à quelque chose malheur est bon". Niet omdat die noodzakelijk beter is dan de tweede, maar gewoon omdat die mij nu beter uitkomt ;-)

 

[Dehemelisgrijs]

Sorry, but I would like to know what that means. Is it something like fortune in misfortune? Like, when something bad happens there is after all something good?
Sorry for bothering you with stupid questions
Het is de zomervakantie en ik heb niets interessants te doen

 

[Bull's Eye]

You could indeed translate it as fortune in misfortune. But there is a slight difference between the Dutch and the French version.

In the Dutch proverb, the fortune is not a necessity. You use this proverb when you accidentally get some luck out of a misfortune.

The French proverb claims that there is always something good that comes out of something bad, no mather how bad it is.

 

[Dehemelisgrijs]

dank je. In Serbian we have the same phrase, the meaning is almost the same as in Dutch

 

[Chimel]

In the Dutch proverb, the fortune is not a necessity. You use this proverb when you accidentally get some luck out of a misfortune.

The French proverb claims that there is always something good that comes out of something bad, no mather how bad it is.

I don't quite agree. "A quelque chose, malheur est bon" is not a proverb expressing some sort of general "truth", like "La fortune sourit aux audacieux".

Perhaps it used to be so, but now we also use it in reference to a specific situation, when you accidentally get some luck out of a misfortune, as you rightly put it. So I think both expressions (as well as "fortune in misfortune" and the Serbian one...) are really very close.

 

[Ktke]

For me it's important that without the little bit of luck, the misfortune would have been even larger. For example: The waiter spilled coffee on my lap, but luckally it wasn't that hot (while I normally expect the coffe to be hot)
But maybe that's not the only possible use, it's how I most commonly use it.

 

[Vasiliy]

dank je. In Serbian we have the same phrase, the meaning is almost the same as in Dutch

How is it in Serbian?

 

[DearPrudence]

For me it's important that without the little bit of luck, the misfortune would have been even larger. For example: The waiter spilled coffee on my lap, but luckally it wasn't that hot (while I normally expect the coffe to be hot)
But maybe that's not the only possible use, it's how I most commonly use it.

How would this be translated into English?

Another example here:
"Dat heeft de brand veroorzaakt. [...] “Het is een geluk bij een ongeluk dat het op tijd ontdekt is. De schade is aanzienlijk, maar is toch nog enigszins beperkt gebleven."

Het woord van vandaag suggests "not a great deal worse", but as a non native speaker, I don't manage to make sense of this.

 

[Chimel]

I don't know in English, but I would like to point out that in French "A quelque chose malheur est bon" wouldn't do in this case (as there is nothing positive in the fire).

I don't see anything better than the quite literal translation "Une chance dans le malheur a été que..." It is not very idiomatic but why not?

 

[DearPrudence]

I don't see anything better than the quite literal translation "Une chance dans le malheur a été que..." It is not very idiomatic but why not?

Je pensais sinon à quelque chose comme "dans son malheur, il/elle a eu de la chance" ?
avoir de la chance dans son malheur (définition)

 

[Chimel]

Oui mais ici, à propos de l'incendie, ça ne marche pas très bien.

 

[DearPrudence]

Dans leur malheur, ils ont eu la chance de découvrir l'incendie à temps (= ça aurait pu être pire).
Ça ne marche pas si mal il me semble, non ? Mieux que "A quelque chose malheur est bon" en tout cas.