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Help with correct spelling

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timstudio

New Member
Hi Guys, a dutch client who is into horses gave me a quote to put on the back of a horse trailer. I'm not sure how to grammatically spell and put this quote correct. (i'm dutch)

The quote as given:

' A travellers son or girl next to horses is a god greatest gift to men ' (next to meaning standing beside horses)

Any advice how to put this quote on the trailer without the client making a fool out of himself when cruising in England? I'm not sure if this is a known quote in the horse world.

:thumb:
 
BrianKE

BrianKE

New Member
timstudio said:
' A travellers son or girl next to horses is a god greatest gift to men ' (next to meaning standing beside horses)
Click to expand...


Without any context as to what the quote should mean (found nothing when Google'd) it is hard to say but here is one stab at it:


'A traveler's son or daughter next to a horse is God's greatest gift to man'

- OR -

'A traveler's son or daughter next to a horse is God's greatest gift to a man'


In the first sentence 'man' refers to humankind in general whereas the second sentence 'a man' refers to a specific person, i.e. the traveler.

The sentence's grammar and punctuation are correct but the sentence doesn't make much sense to me. Perhaps it is a quote known to horse people.

Please note that I am from 'across the pond' (America) so maybe it makes sense in England. Also, I am no English teacher!
 
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timstudio

New Member
I think the first option is the best. Thanks! The clients words were....uhmm..something like that I think, just make something out of it. The sentence was given in a mix of dutch and english.:peace!:
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
What it means depends very much on how it's punctuated. Also know that in jolly olde England a 'traveler' is a Gypsy. A real live garlic scented crystal ball wrangling palm reading Gypsy.

The original quote: ' A travellers son or girl next to horses is a god greatest gift to men '

As written (with spelling, grammar, and punctuation correction) ' A traveler's son or girl next to horses is god's greatest gift to men ' Inarguably means the Gypsy's spawn in close proximity to horses. Whose horses remains unclear.

Alternately, with a couple of commas, ' A travelers son or girl, next to horses, is god's greatest gift to men ' Unequivocally means that the spawn are second to horses in the divine gift hierarchy.

The first version seems rather idiotic whereas the second, with the commas, at least makes sense.
 
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timstudio

New Member
Well, you guys make it a lot more confusing :)

I guess I better contact the client. It's a fact he knows little about the English language and I really have no idea what he actually means. I guess it's better to start of with the correct sentence in Dutch, and try to translate that. It's probably something he heard once, and tried to remember, which came out a little bit weird.

I'll keep you updated what he actually is trying to quote.
 
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timstudio

New Member
After consulting the client he insists it is going to be:

A traveler's son or girl next to horses is God's greatest gift to man

Well, I guess I tried :)
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Now, it makes sense.

A traveler uses and depends on his horse for just about everything, but next to that are his kids... being his greatest gift from God in God's eyes to procreate. :wink:
 
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