Oat, oat!

English translation: Off with you

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Dutch term or phrase:Oat, oat!
English translation:Off with you
Entered by: Catherine Muir

02:02 Jul 26, 2011
Dutch to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / early 1900s Indonesian novel written in Malay lingua franca with some Dutch
Dutch term or phrase: Oat, oat!
Context: A young man is pacing outside the home of the girl he loves, while she is peeking out at him from behind the door. Their eyes meet and they laugh and wave their handkerchiefs at each other, but do not speak. Then the passage reads, "Oat, oat! Maju! Sudah mulai gelap. Magrib." ("Oat, oat! Go on! It's getting dark. Time for sunset prayers.")

I'm assuming that 'oat' means 'out' or, in this context, 'off with you'. Am I correct?
Catherine Muir
Australia
Local time: 10:05
Off with you
Explanation:
I think this is very close to the meaning of the source text and fits best with the the rest of the sentence.
Selected response from:

Josephine Isaacs (X)
Australia
Local time: 09:05
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4Off with you
Josephine Isaacs (X)
3Come on, come on!
Barend van Zadelhoff


Discussion entries: 10





  

Answers


21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Off with you


Explanation:
I think this is very close to the meaning of the source text and fits best with the the rest of the sentence.

Josephine Isaacs (X)
Australia
Local time: 09:05
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Come on, come on!


Explanation:
Thank you, Catherine.
Of course I can't be perfectly sure and thanks to you and Josephine I 'know' that 'oat' means 'uit'.

Thinking about it another while, I made connections with the interjection 'vooruit'
That is, in the sense of 'Vooruit, vooruit! ('oat' as a shortened form of 'vooruit' or 'vooroat')
Van Dale offers voor 'vooruit': get going, come on, go on and other options that depend on the 'degree of angriness'
also one you mentioned:
vooruit, het is bedtijd - off to bed now

well, as I said, I believe it is about encouragement

perhaps it means the same as 'maju' - go on
she starts out with 'Dutch' and then switches to Malay lingua franca
unfortunately, I don't know about the niceties of 'majum'

I believe I would like 'come on' best, better than 'hurry up' I believe

Come on, come on!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day1 hr (2011-07-27 03:17:56 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

You may well be right.
In fact 'quick, quick' is an option that crossed my mind as well.
And this father at the back of her mind.

What was your final choice?

Barend van Zadelhoff
Netherlands
Local time: 00:05
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
PRO pts in category: 6
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, Barend. She's saying the same thing in two different languages, but it's a bit 'back to front', I think. Because 'maju' means to 'advance', 'move forward', and she's warning that it's getting dark and almost time for evening prayers, I think she's telling him to 'hurry up' or 'quick, quick', meaning he'd better get out of there before her father comes home at sundown. From the discussion, I gather that 'uit' is more a whistle than a word, conveying the message not to dilly-dally.

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search