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Mini-contest 2012: "Yogi Berra Quotes"»  Source text notes: English

Source text notes should be used to make comments only about the meaning of the source text, or its style, sense, etc. Source texts notes should not be used to discuss translation of the text.

A good source text note is one that clarifies something about the source text, and therefore would be helpful to a person translating that text into any language. The purpose of these notes will be to help those evaluating translations (in any pair) to make well-informed judgments.

Examples:
Source textPossible source text note
We're lost, but we're making good time.In US English, 'making good time' means 'making good progress' (not 'having fun').
If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be.Grammatically, a contradiction. This adds to the impact of the remark.
I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.'encyclopedia' sounds like something you could ride to school on. (That's the only reason this quote is notable.)

Source text notes should be entered only in the language of the source text.

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Source text segment #5

- "I can't concentrate when I'm thinking."

Notes about this source segment

Rank by:
+26 | -1
This doesn't make sense because the whole point of concentrating is to improve one's thinking - just the opposite of what this hillarious sentence is implying.
+12
It's [definitely] humorous because [usually] when you concentrate, you ARE thinking... but concentrating on the ball at sports does not imply you are necessarily thinking. There is a common missing element to all the source quotes: CONTEXT. It is key to k
+8 | -3
It makes perfect sense to me: when one tries to focus (concentrate) on the game (run fast, throw or catch the ball, etc,), one has no time to stop & consider one's options & risks: you just play without thinking it over: you had prepared in advance!
+3
This is a merger of two expressions that each mean the same thing but together the logically cancel each other out. They are "I can't think while doing X" and "I can't concentrate while [you're] doing X".
+4 | -1
Typical surrealistic impossibility
+5 | -2
It's [supposedly] humorous because when you concentrate, you ARE thinking.
+1
This is about difference between concentrating and thinking.
+1
Both thinking and concentrating occupy your mind in the same way, but paradoxically, they are not synonims. They are, actually, exclusive (can't be in your mind at the same time), but one needs the other in order to occur!! Nice complexity...
I can't concentrate when I am thinking. Meaning you think too much, losing your focus. Не могу сосредоточиться, слишком много мыслей в голове.
+4 | -8
I can't concentrate on another thing when I am thinking about something else.
-6
An overly creative mind, so used to thinking out of the box, that when it finds a new solution, it has a hard time to get back inside the box (= reality) to make it work in practice.
-6
This is a clinical diagnose of ADHD.

Source text

Full source text (2)

#1 - "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous." (29)

#2 - "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." (18)

#3 - "You can observe a lot just by watchin'." (15)

#4 - "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." (24)

#5 - "I can't concentrate when I'm thinking." (12)

#6 - "The future ain't what it used to be." (10)

#7 - "I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." (19)

#8 - "We're lost, but we're making good time." (12)

#9 - "Half the lies they tell about me aren't true." (8)

#10 - "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." (10)

#11 - "It's like deja-vu, all over again." (8)

#12 - "It ain't over till it's over." (11)

#13 - Mrs. Lindsay: "You certainly look cool." Yogi Berra: "Thanks, you don't look so hot yourself." (10)

#14 - "If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be." (22)