Glossary entry

Arabic term or phrase:

الوزير والخفير

English translation:

prince and beggar, prince and pauper, minister and watchman

Added to glossary by Alaa Zeineldine
Apr 11, 2010 17:55
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Arabic term

دون تمييز بين الوزير والخفير

Arabic to English Social Sciences Government / Politics News/current affairs
هذا هو الأصل فى الدولة المدنية الحديثة، التى تقوم على مبدأ المواطنة، وعلى المساواة بين المواطنين أمام القانون دون تمييز بين وزير وخفير.

I am looking for a known idiomatic expression that is used in the same way as the above, not necessarily a translation of the expression. It is possible to come up with something similar, such as "without distinction between rich and poor", but I am hoping to find an existing English idiom that fits the context.

Discussion

Alaa Zeineldine (asker) Apr 12, 2010:
I agree Fuad. I think this is idiomatic enough without sounding too archaic.
Fuad Yahya Apr 12, 2010:
"Prince and beggar" seems well-established... ... Based on a google search. If "prince and pauper" does not have quite the "ring" that you are looking for, "prince and beggar" seems to be widely used. I did not think of it at first.
Again, "prince and beggar" is not as prosaic as "minister and night watchman".
Alaa Zeineldine (asker) Apr 12, 2010:
I agree that "prince and pauper" sounds a bit starchy, but there is more to "minister vs. night guard" than just wealth vs. poverty. You suggested adding "high and low", but there is also "strong and weak", and one could go on. How about if we bend the expression a bit and say "prince and beggar'?
I actually like your "without distinction between rich and poor", you could add "high and low" if you wanted or you could rewrite as dwilmsen has suggested eg. "treating rich and poor alike/as equals". The "prince and pauper" expression sounds archaic to me - as if from a fairy tale.

Proposed translations

+6
8 mins
Arabic term (edited): الوزير والخفير
Selected

prince and pauper

I will only address the expression الوزير والخفير

"The Prince and the Pauper" is a famous novel by Mark Twain. Since its publication, the expression "prince and pauper" has acquired the status of an idiom denoting "rich and poor," "the haves and the have-nots," or those with power and those without.
Peer comment(s):

agree Nadia Ayoub
39 mins
agree Noha Kamal, PhD.
43 mins
agree Amira A Wahab
49 mins
agree Ali Alsaqqa : It seems like a renown expression..
4 hrs
agree Ahmed Alami
4 hrs
agree Sajjad Hamadani
10 hrs
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2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks you, Fuad. Thanks to everyone who helped."
+2
25 mins

without discrimination to prince and pauper

Inequality in London | Socyberty
11 Mar 2009 ... Immediately, the prince becomes the pauper and people treat him as such, ... Although discrimination seems worse back then, it still affects us today. ... Living conditions between the royalties and the lower classes ...
socyberty.com/history/inequality-in-london/ - Cached

What price loyalty? -- Phillips 4 (12): 845 -- Journal of ...
by J Phillips - 2009
It is difficult to draw parallels between the iPod and Google from which one can ... is always available without discrimination to prince and pauper alike; ...
jiplp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/4/12/845
Peer comment(s):

agree Maya F.
6 mins
Many thanks, Maya!
agree ghassan al-Alem
15 hrs
Many thanks, Ghassan!
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

rich and poor alike

It is better to say this than "prince and pauper", which would ring as a very literary reference. Of course it depends upon the text you are translating, but your quote looks more political than literary. The term I am suggesting makes an allusion to Anatole France: " la majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain."

Usually translated as "the law in its majestic equality forbids the rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges, begging in the streets, and stealing bread."

There is no exact equivalent idiom in English, unless you wish to acknowledge this as one.

So here is a tentative translation for your phrase

تقوم على مبدأ المواطنة، وعلى المساواة بين المواطنين أمام القانون دون تمييز بين وزير وخفير

based upon the principle of citizenship and the equality before the law of all citizens, rich and poor alike
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-1
11 hrs

Indiscriminately

Indiscriminately, thrown together, not kept apart or divided, arbitrarily, at random, every which way, haphazardly, randomly
Peer comment(s):

disagree Maureen Millington-Brodie : "indiscriminately" has negative connotations and the tone of the original passage is positive or?
6 hrs
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