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Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't

Finnish translation: Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon (hyvä)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't
Finnish translation:Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon (hyvä)

14:27 Feb 6, 2012
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2012-02-09 15:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)


English to Finnish translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / proverb
English term or phrase: Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't
the context is that the person in question should stick to the job they are in as opposed to starting a new one that may have its own challenges
Is there a Finnish equivalent please?
thank you
trsk2000 (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:00
Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon (hyvä)
Explanation:
"Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon hyvä" is used in Finnish. You could also go with "Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon" which is a bit closer to the English idiom.
Selected response from:

Asta Arminen (X)
Local time: 00:00
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon (hyvä)
Asta Arminen (X)
4 +1kahdesta pahasta valitse pienempi
Janne Keskisaari


  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
better the devil you know than the devil you don't
Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon (hyvä)


Explanation:
"Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon hyvä" is used in Finnish. You could also go with "Parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon" which is a bit closer to the English idiom.


    Reference: http://www.ageaid.org/2011/07/finnish-proverbs.html
Asta Arminen (X)
Local time: 00:00
Native speaker of: Finnish
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Janne Keskisaari: Well, now that Asta posted this one, I learned something new. :) I would say "parempi tuttu paha kuin tuntematon" is closer to the English one as it negates "hyvä" (good) from the proverb.
20 mins
  -> Thanks, Janne!
agree  Jussi Rosti
26 mins
  -> Thanks, Jussi!
agree  Melina Kajander: I've never heard this saying before, so I don't think it's very common, but it sounds ok and is probably the best option in this context :)
56 mins
  -> Thanks, Melina!
agree  Hannele Marttila: This is a very common saying. janne's translation is probably closest.
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Hannele!
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
better the devil you know than the devil you don't
kahdesta pahasta valitse pienempi


Explanation:
Hi,

I would say there is no exact equivalent in Finnish for “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” as a proverb, but “kahdesta pahasta valitse pienempi” would be the closest I can think of. It means literally “out of two evils, choose the smaller one”, which can be interpreted in Finnish as “out of two bad things, pick the one that causes the least trouble or problems”. As usually, the proverb’s emphasis can be interpreted according to the situation.


Janne Keskisaari
Finland
Local time: 02:00
Native speaker of: Native in FinnishFinnish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Timo Lehtilä: Of course, the meaning of this proverb is not exactly equivalent with the English original, but it is well-known and in most cases serves well as translation of the original.
1 hr
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