хорошего помаленьку

English translation: (not) too much of a good thing

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Russian term or phrase:	хорошего помаленьку
English translation:	(not) too much of a good thing
Entered by:	cccp_15

17:46 Apr 16, 2010

Russian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Folklore

Russian term or phrase: хорошего помаленьку

хорошего помаленьку - не перевод, а английский эквивалент?

cccp_15

(not) too much of a good thing

Explanation:
The phrase "too much of a good thing" goes back to Shakespeare, in As You Like It:

ROSALIND: Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?

In the negative, as
... not too much of a good thing;
... don't (verb) too much of a good thing,
it more or less matches your Russian.

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Note added at 37 mins (2010-04-16 18:23:48 GMT)
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Oh! Sorry, Mikhail, you answer was not visible when I was posting.

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Note added at 37 mins (2010-04-16 18:24:06 GMT)
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cx. your

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Note added at 3 hrs (2010-04-16 21:36:22 GMT)
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In the case you give here, I would suggest something more neutral: "I don't want to overdo it." That way it could at least possibly be construed as modest.

Selected response from:

Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 22:24

Grading comment

thank you and thank you all
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +4

too much of a good thing

Mikhail Kropotov

4 +1

good things in moderation

Maria Fokin

4 +1

(not) too much of a good thing

Rachel Douglas

Too much water drowned the miller

lakiza

that would be enough of the treat

Yevgeniy Sherlaimov

Summary of reference entries provided

значение русской пословицы (помаленьку = понемножку)

Olga Derenko

Discussion entries: 4

Answers

24 mins confidence:

Too much water drowned the miller

Explanation:
Proverbs are hardly translated word for word. Very often one has to use the method of analogy.

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Note added at 30 mins (2010-04-16 18:16:56 GMT)
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Miller often works with water mill and is very familiar with water. Much water - good milling. But too muuch water - it is flood, so the accident may happen.

Example sentence(s):

Too much good thing is good for nothihg.

Reference: http://abc-english-grammar.com/1/pog10.htm

lakiza
Ukraine
Local time: 05:24

Notes to answerer

Asker: thank you

33 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

too much of a good thing

Explanation:
Это действительно не перевод, но поговорка, которая часто встречается в схожих ситуациях.

Mikhail Kropotov
Germany
Local time: 04:24
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 8

Notes to answerer

Asker: thank you

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

good things in moderation

Explanation:
or all good things in moderation

Maria Fokin
Italy
Local time: 04:24
Native speaker of:

English,

Russian

Notes to answerer

Asker: thank you

36 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

(not) too much of a good thing

Rachel Douglas
United States
Local time: 22:24
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

Grading comment

thank you and thank you all

Notes to answerer

Asker: say, i posted a pic of myself on a website and some people are asking for more. in russian id say - хорошего помаленьку meaning thats it, not posting more cos that would spoil you. so not too much of a good thing would be appropriate here?

45 mins confidence:

that would be enough of the treat

Explanation:
Как вариант из определенного контекста.

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Note added at 16 hrs (2010-04-17 10:11:54 GMT)
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В русском языке это выражение используется чаще всего в смысле "достаточно, хватит".

Yevgeniy Sherlaimov
Ukraine
Local time: 05:24
Native speaker of:

Russian,

Ukrainian

Notes to answerer

Asker: thank you

Reference comments

13 hrs peer agreement (net): +1

Reference: значение русской пословицы (помаленьку = понемножку)

Reference information:
ХОРОШЕНЬКОГО (хорошего) ПОНЕМНОЖКУ (понемногу). Достаточно, хватит. Говорится тогда, когда считают, что пора прекратить что-л.
...
У Файга с первого числа начинаются какие-то осенние приемные испытания, да и вам с Павликом довольно уже бить баклуши и пора перед новым учебным годом освежить в памяти целый ряд предметов. Одним словом будет! Погуляли — хорошенького понемножку! Катаев, Хуторок в степи.

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Note added at 13 hrs (2010-04-17 07:24:54 GMT)
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Good things come in small packages

Meaning:
The meaning of this proverb is opposite to that of "The bigger, the better." You use this proverb to say that the size of things doesn't always indicate their quality, and small things often have better quality than big ones.

If someone says, "Good things come in small packages," he/she means that something is small, but it has better quality than big ones.

Example:
A: Why did you decide to buy such an important thing from such a small store? They don't have a wide selection of engagement rings.
B: Well, I know big stores offer wider selections, but, I found that store sells only the best products. They never sell second-class products. Good things come in small packages, you know.

http://useit.vn/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78...

Reference: http://slovarick.ru/1060/

Olga Derenko
Native speaker of:

Ukrainian,

Russian

Note to reference poster

Asker: thank you

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хорошего помаленьку

English translation: (not) too much of a good thing

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хорошего помаленьку

English translation: (not) too much of a good thing

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