om stjärnorna står rätt

English translation: with a bit of luck

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Swedish term or phrase:om stjärnorna står rätt
English translation:with a bit of luck
Entered by: Helen Johnson

12:35 May 17, 2011
Swedish to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / course description
Swedish term or phrase: om stjärnorna står rätt
Delat ledarskap en ledningsform med potential - om stjärnorna står rätt
"If the stars are right" sounds really strange - can anyone equate the Swedish with a recognised English saying or is the direct English really a phrase that's used in mythology, etc.?
TIA
Helen Johnson
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:36
with a bit of luck
Explanation:
The 'if the stars align' expressions are for me American English
and Helen has kindly invited me to add my suggestion so here it is in all its glory
Selected response from:

SafeTex
France
Local time: 19:36
Grading comment
Although it doesn't fit the original context (see discussion), I think this is a good general option for UK English. Thanks for the suggestion, which I used before the client changed the sentence.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1if the stars align right
GunitaP
5when the stars are in the right position
Sven Petersson
5if the stars align
Åsa Schoening
3 +1with a bit of luck
SafeTex
4"all being well" or "with a bit of luck"
Bianca Marsden-Day
2when all the ducks are lined up in a row
Soren Petersen


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
if the stars align right


Explanation:
I've seen this idiom used by native speakers

GunitaP
Local time: 20:36
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in LatvianLatvian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anna Herbst: or just "if the stars align"
17 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
when all the ducks are lined up in a row


Explanation:
'When the stars are right' is normally connected with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu stories and I must admit I haven't heard in mentioned in everyday speech. If it's a translation for an American audience. perhaps something like "when all the ducks are lined up in a row"?

Soren Petersen
United States
Local time: 13:36
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in DanishDanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
when the stars are in the right position


Explanation:
:o)


    Reference: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/merovingians/merovingian_d...
    Reference: http://www.bridgehands.com/Services/eMagazine_Archive/eMag_N...
Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 19:36
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 1
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
with a bit of luck


Explanation:
The 'if the stars align' expressions are for me American English
and Helen has kindly invited me to add my suggestion so here it is in all its glory

SafeTex
France
Local time: 19:36
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Although it doesn't fit the original context (see discussion), I think this is a good general option for UK English. Thanks for the suggestion, which I used before the client changed the sentence.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Bianca Marsden-Day: This works for me.
2 hrs
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
"all being well" or "with a bit of luck"


Explanation:
Depending on how informal you want to be, I would suggest either "all being well" - slightly less informal - or I would agree the suggestion "with a bit of luck" if you you are happy to be pretty informal.

Bianca Marsden-Day
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:36
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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1 day 1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
if the stars align


Explanation:
You don't translate "rätt." The expression is simply "If the stars align." You will see this also used to explain good luck in the past, as in "the stars must have aligned, since..."

There are tons of references to this, including: http://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/5003/slang/the_stars_alig...
Zach Galifianakis doesn’t necessarily believe in astrology. But he does use an expression that is related to astrology. He says that all the stars aligned and he got lucky in his career. This summer, he appeared in the hit comedy The Hangover, and he has several more movies coming out soon. Everything is going great in his career. It seems like the stars are aligning to make him a star.

When the stars align, everything comes together in a positive way. When talking about your own life you might say “My stars aligned,” or if you’re talking about someone else you can say “Her stars aligned.” If something great happens to you, you might also say it was written in the stars. And you might want to thank your lucky stars for your good fortune.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/sports/baseball/13score.ht...
Keeping Score
If the Stars Align, the Mets Could Surprise. Really.By DAN ROSENHECK
Published: February 12, 2011

There is also a song called Stars Align:
http://www.lyricsmania.com/stars_align_lyrics_virginia_coali...


Åsa Schoening
United States
Local time: 14:36
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Swedish
PRO pts in category: 2
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