must not always

English translation: must never

12:26 Jul 15, 2012

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

English term or phrase: must not always

Is it a good English? It is ambiguous, isn't it?

"We must not always talk in the market-place of what happens to us in the forest.

Thank you!

Michael Kislov KudoZ activity Questions: 834 (none open) (2 without valid answers) (33 closed without grading) Answers: 2655 Russian Federation
Local time: 05:12

Selected answer:must never

Explanation:
In this context, "not always" is not good English and is ambiguous. "never" has the same meaning and is correct.

You could also say "We should never...", which is a little less emphatic.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2012-07-15 12:42:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Also, it would be better to say "... about what happens..."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 mins (2012-07-15 12:43:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And my confidence level was meant to be 4!

Selected response from:

Martin Riordan
Brazil
Local time: 23:12

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

3 -2

must never

Martin Riordan

Answers

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -2

must never

Martin Riordan
Brazil
Local time: 23:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 275

Notes to answerer

Asker: The author is Nathaniel Hawthorne/

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

Oliver Lawrence: it probably means this, but could easily be interpreted as "we may sometimes, as long as we don't always". Without more context/access to the author, it's hard to be certain - and I realise you weren't claiming to be, either :).

15 mins

-> That's why I never have a confidence level of 5! :-) I agree that theoretically it could be interpreted as you suggest, but it seems a less likely interpretation.

disagree

David Moore (X): That's totally exclusive, and IMHO the original is not.

2 hrs

-> I agree that the original is not, but as it is ambiguous, we don't know what the author really meant. So I guessed! It may be right, may be wrong. Only the author knows...

disagree

Cilian O'Tuama: Hi M, I think the other interpretation is more likely. E.g. We must not always believe what we read in the newspapers.

1 day 6 hrs

-> A lot depends on what goes on in the forest, and we don't know about that! Maybe Michael could enlighten us...

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

must not always

English translation: must never

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

must not always

English translation: must never

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language