شايفة دنيا وعالم

English translation: well-versed in world affairs

14:49 Aug 7, 2020

Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

Arabic term or phrase: شايفة دنيا وعالم

Hello everyone,

I am finding it difficult to find an idiomatic, informal way to express this phrase in English. I have a feeling that it doesn't translate literally - that is, I don't think it literally means that someone has travelled a lot and has 'seen the world'. Am I correct in thinking that it has something to do with having had a wide range of experiences in life, or having access to a lot of opportunities?

Context: novel. A young girl (early teens) has just told her grandmother how much she wants to be like her. This is her grandmother's response (in Iraqi dialect):

«آنى وين وأنت وين، إنتي بنوته حلوة وذكية ومتعلمة، شايفة دنيا وعالم، وباجر أتصيرين رسامة كبيرة، أنت الحياة كلها قدامج بيبي»

I want to find an informal way of expressing it - something that would sound natural coming out of a native English speaker's mouth during a normal conversation and not a speech.

Suggestions much appreciated!

A Zafar KudoZ activity Questions: 74 (none open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 0 United Kingdom
Local time: 08:25

English translation:well-versed in world affairs

Explanation:

Your insight is well-placed. The grandmother is not characterizing the granddaughter as a person of great maturity, extensive experience, or worldly inclination. What impresses the grandmother is how the granddaughter's intelligence and education (which she mentioned explicitly) have made her aware of how the contemporary world works. People of the grandmother's generation typically find it difficult to comprehend what is going on in the world or how to interpret the cascade of events because they lack the epistemological foundation. They feel challenged by how the contemporary world moves and turns and they are impressed by how easily the younger generation navigate the world around them with confidence. The younger generation's exposure to the media gives them a high level of literacy to interpret what is going on.

وذكية ومتعلمة، شايفة دنيا وعالم
". . . smart, educated, and well-versed in world affairs . . ."

Also: "exposed to world affairs" and similar expressions.

Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya

Grading comment

Thanks, Fuad. From reading the whole novel I know that the protagonist is not (yet) "of great maturity, extensive experience, or worldly inclination" as you said. I'm rendering the dialogue pretty informally throughout, so I'm taking your suggestion and am considering something like "you understand how the world works". Thanks for helping me get there.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

You have a great deal of experience

Youssef Chabat

5 +1

well-versed in world affairs

Fuad Yahya

4 +1

You're an experienced and knowledgeable woman

Yassine El Bouknify

you are a mature person

Ateequr Rahman

having exciting life experiences

Ayman Massoud

Have been around/worldly/ a woman of the world

Rasha Ellithy

Discussion entries: 3

Answers

11 mins confidence:

having exciting life experiences

Explanation:
Or just "you have an exciting life"!

Ayman Massoud
Egypt
Local time: 10:25
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 46

52 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

You have a great deal of experience

Explanation:
.

Youssef Chabat
Morocco
Local time: 08:25
Native speaker of:

Arabic
PRO pts in category: 94

3 hrs confidence:

Have been around/worldly/ a woman of the world

Explanation:
Here are some sugesstions:
Have been around (abit)
Worldly
Worldly-wise
A woman of the world
See also the link below:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/170267/what-is-a...
I hope you find this helpful!

Rasha Ellithy
Türkiye
Local time: 10:25
Native speaker of:

Arabic
PRO pts in category: 16

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

You're an experienced and knowledgeable woman

Explanation:
It means you have learnt a lot through your experiences. So, you can translate it as: "You're an experienced and knowledgeable woman."

Yassine El Bouknify
Morocco
Local time: 08:25
Native speaker of:

Arabic
PRO pts in category: 185

1 day 2 hrs confidence:

you are a mature person

Explanation:
the expresson means you have great deal of worldliness, have seen the world, and later is the literal meaning of it, since the word "شوف" means to see, but here the second person means she is not naive.

https://www.thesaurus.com
https://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/شوف/

Ateequr Rahman
Germany
Local time: 09:25
Native speaker of:

Urdu

1 day 20 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

well-versed in world affairs

Fuad Yahya
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in category: 114

Grading comment

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شايفة دنيا وعالم

English translation: well-versed in world affairs

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شايفة دنيا وعالم

English translation: well-versed in world affairs

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