Tercüme - Don't try to wriggle out of it. (İngilizce)

Hi Minuet,

What is this line supposed to mean?

Hi Lilian,

Isn't there an idiom "to turn cat in pan"?

To turn cat in pan, to change sides or parties, to turn traitor, to be a turncoat; supposed originally to have been to turn cate or cake in pan.

If I'll translate it word by word, it won't have any meaning either:

Turn the goose so that it doesn't burn.

Hum...I had never heard it that way.
Is the verb into imperative?

Yes, it is in imperative form.

Is that an idiom in Turkish?

I'm a bit confused about the meaning...let's ask for some help.

Girls, could you help me here?


CC: kafetzou cheesecake

I agree with Minuet. It also says in the dictionary that the English version of it is "to turn cat in pan"
( http://premium.tureng.com/search/%C3%A7evir+kaz%C4%B1 ) But I'm not sure if it's used like that.

Maybe there is another idiom which is used for such cases .

This idiom is usually used when someone puts his foot in someone's mouth and when he's trying to give excuses and trying to say somethings in order to cover up the wrong he has said. But the person in front of him can understand that he has already said something wrong and the things that he tells to cover up will not be useful, so he says "Turn cat in pan."

Hi cheesecake, thanks for your reply.
In English that idiom seems to mean "to become a turncoat". According to your explanation that's not the meaning in Turkish.

CC: cheesecake

Literally, this means, "Turn the goose so it doesn't burn", but I assume it's an idiom, and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. I have certainly never heard "turn cat in pan" - what a disgusting idea!

I see the webpage where it says that "to turn cat-in-pan" means to be a turncoat too, but 1) I've never heard this expression, and 2) that's apparently not what this Turkish expression means, according to what Cheesecake wrote above, and what I gleaned from a Google search. It seems to be said about politicians giving speeches a lot.

Ian, can you help here? We need an expression that means to deliberately obfuscate when you know you have made a faux pas.

CC: IanMegill2

Politicians may use it more frequent but it is exactly what it means in the Turkish expression. In a discussion if someone changes sides after realising that his/her initial argument was wrong and claims that he/she defends the second argument in the first place, the others use this idiom.

Yes - I understand that, but a turncoat is a traitor - someone who betrays his business associates or his country. That's different. At any rate, the expression "to turn cat-in-pan" is very archaic, and most English speakers would not understand it.

Yup, I didn't...
I think in such cases we might say "backpedal," as in: "His initial statement was far too strong, to he later backpedaled on it."
"Try to put a better spin on it," "apply spin control" or "spin-doctor it," in the case of any of the Really Dumb Statements made by the Previous US President?
"Try to sweep it under the carpet" or "make light of it," in the case of a dumb statement I make at a party, or just "try to cover my tracks"?
And if that doesn't work, I try to "extricate myself from the situation" or "wriggle out of it"?
So the other person might say: "Don't try to wriggle out of it!"

They used to say during WWII: "Loose lips sink ships..."

You may have to
increase this image's
magnification a little...?

Hi IanMegill2,

Thank you very much for your help. I read your explanation but I am still not sure which of your phrases matches best. ("to sweep under the carpet", maybe?)

So I checked the meaning of this idiom on the website of Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu) and translated it into English. Can you please give your opinion again?

alay - karşısındakine dokunacak yersiz bir söz söylediğini fark eder etmez sözünü çevirmeye kalkışanlara söylenen bir söz.

teasing/irony - it is a saying used for people who say something irrelevant/baseless that will hurt other people and who try to change the subject as soon as they realize their mistake.

I guess I gave you too many phrases to choose from: I was just writing in stream-of-consciousness mode!
In the case cheesecake gave as an example above, I think it would indeed be quite natural to say "Don't try to sweep it under the carpet!"

Also, I don't think it necessarily has to be "something irrelevant/baseless that will hurt other people" (although it could be); it also could just be something dumb or embarrassing (making myself or the other person feel uncomfortable), I think...?
Anyway, my favorite is still "Don't try to wriggle out of it!"

Ooh - I like this one! Nice suggestion, Ian. The only thing is that when I googled the Turkish expression, I saw it in contexts like this, "When Mr. So-and-so gave his speech to the assembly, it was a real "çevir kazı yanmasın" situation." That of course won't work with "Don't wriggle out of it."

Okay, I guess in this case, I'd have to change the overall phrase, the way of indicating his action, to:
"...everybody could plainly see he was desperately trying to backpedal on his previous promises/assertions."
or
"...it was a painfully transparent attempt to backpedal on his previous public statements."
...?
Often happens that one language can express an idea more "economically," because they all know what that "one phrase" is supposed to mean.
Have you heard the story of "long time no see"? I heard it originally came from the Chinese "hao jiu bu jian" (lit: "quite long no see" ), and we picked it up because it was so much more economical that our "it's been a long time since I last saw you"?
---
On a personal note, one of the Japanese ones I like here is:
One life one meeting, 一期一会
It means:
Treasure the people you meet in your life because you may just never meet them again...
and/or
Treasure the moments that arise in your life because they are unique and unrepeatable: no situation will ever be exactly the same again as it is now...

I love that last one! Anyhow, I don't think we need to change this translation - if the requester reads our notes above it should be OK.

Another thought: Maybe a more economical translation would be "beating around the bush" - it's not quite the same, but it's pretty close!