"Give yourself the chance to get lucky."
January 11, 2016 5:28 PM   Subscribe

Translate this phrase into as many languages as possible: "Give yourself the chance to get lucky." This was essentially my favorite uncle's personal motto, and I'd like to make something special with the translations. More context inside.

More context for the phrase: What my uncle meant was, one should never be afraid to try new things or set big goals, because even if you lack the necessary skills or experience, you just might succeed through pure, dumb luck.

Your luck could come in any form, whether beginner's luck, approaching the problem from a new angle no one has tried before, or learning something from the process that can then be turned into future success toward your goal, or success of a completely different kind that you can't even imagine.

He was a big fan of the latter point. Like this: Are you so deathly afraid of that public speaking gig that you think you're going to faint? Maybe you'll give a great speech and everyone will applaud. Or maybe you'll faint. Maybe you'll faint and you'll fall down and hit your head, and the nurse you meet in the hospital will be your future spouse. You don't know. Give yourself the chance to get lucky!
posted by Cool Papa Bell to Grab Bag (12 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
fortis Fortūna adiuvat?
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:37 PM on January 11, 2016


Polish: Daj sobie szansę na szczęście. (give yourself possibility of luck/happiness) or
Daj szansę szczęściu. (give luck/happiness a chance)
posted by Yavsy at 6:10 PM on January 11, 2016


Azerbaijani:
Bəxtinizi sınamaqdan çəkinməyin
posted by k8t at 6:35 PM on January 11, 2016


Russian:
Не бойтесь испытывать судьбу
posted by k8t at 6:35 PM on January 11, 2016


A more literal translation to Latin:

Occasionem fortis tibi da.

(Give yourself a chance for luck, literally.)
posted by Maecenas at 7:07 PM on January 11, 2016


Geben sie sich eine chance glücklich zu seien.
posted by Oyéah at 8:31 PM on January 11, 2016


I would recommend this German idiom: Wer wagt, gewinnt. ("Who dares wins!")
posted by smorgasbord at 9:18 PM on January 11, 2016


French 1 (better version)
Laissez sa chance à la chance

French 2 (literal translation)
Donnez-vous la possibilité d'être chanceux
posted by Kwadeng at 11:20 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Dutch: Geef jezelf de kans om geluk te krijgen.
posted by neushoorn at 3:55 AM on January 12, 2016


Norwegian: Gi deg selv muligheten til å være lykkelig.
posted by Harald74 at 4:57 AM on January 12, 2016


Yeah, as a native German, "Geben sie sich eine chance glücklich zu seien." doesn't sound right. "Wer wagt, gewinnt", sounds good, but if you want a more literal translation, I guess "Geben Sie sich die Chance zum Glück" works. ("glücklich" means "happy" more than "lucky", whereas "Glück" means "chance" as well as "happiness".)
posted by LoonyLovegood at 1:07 PM on January 12, 2016


This is super-literal, and I don't know if there's a more idiomatic translation, but I'd put the Hindi as " अपने आप को भाग्य होने का मौक़ा दो" (give yourself the opportunity to be lucky).
posted by Aravis76 at 2:03 PM on January 12, 2016


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