Help/conversation

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Help/conversation
Message from solas posted on 14-09-2015 at 22:08:55 (D | E | F)
Hello,
Could you help me please?
This is a conversation between a boyfriend and his girlfriend. She was excited and told him that she might have a chance to get promotion, but she would have to move to another country that is very far away. He tried to convince her to calm down.

Boy: All I'm saying is to just sit for a beat and make sure this is something you want to do.
Girl: Why don't I "just sit for a beat"? What, I'm gonna be fifty? Or if I just sit around, hanging around, doing the same thing, working with the same people?

In the conversation, she is getting mad.
I wonder if she means "If I sit for a beat, I'll soon be fifty," or "I'm still young, it's not like I'm going to be fifty pretty soon. So, I don't need to sit for a beat."
Thank you very much.
Solas

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Edited by lucile83 on 14-09-2015 23:03

Re: Help/conversation from athens2014, posted on 15-09-2015 at 10:48:40 (D | E)
Hello,
Have you heard or read this conversation? If it is from listening, it is possible to be: "If I sit for a bit, I'll soon be fifty"? In this case, I think the more correct is: "If I sit for a bit, I'll be soon fifty".

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 15-09-2015 at 13:04:21 (D | E)
Hi, thank you very much for your comment.
I read and listened to what she said again, and I'm pretty sure that she said as I wrote in my question.
The reason why I asked this question is, if she means what you think, she would say "If I sit for a beat, I'll soon be fifty," instead of saying "What, I'm gonna be fifty?"
I don't think both are the same meaning.
Thank you very much.
Solas

Re: Help/conversation from bluestar, posted on 15-09-2015 at 13:32:48 (D | E)
Hello,
I'd say that the girl means to say: "I don't want to waste time talking about this; I want to get moving on it" ..
She doesn't want to dawdle and thus miss the opportunity. It's an exaggerated way of putting it.

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 15-09-2015 at 15:31:44 (D | E)
Hi, Thank you very much for your comment.
As you mentioned, she doesn't want to waste her time, and she is exaggerating.
Yes, I totally agree with you.
But what I would like to know is the meaning of what she says literally. - I'm sorry, I may not have been clear about this.
When someone reacts as "Why don't I 'just sit for a beat'? What, I'm gonna be 50?", I would think she says "Do I look like I need to sit for a while like an middle-aged woman?" But I wonder if there's a chance she means "If I sit down for a while, I'll soon be fifty."
Thank you.

Re: Help/conversation from melmoth, posted on 15-09-2015 at 19:33:08 (D | E)
Hello,
"sit for a beat" doesn't make much sense to me. Are you sure you heard it right? "for a bit" would make sense.
Cheers.

Re: Help/conversation from athens2014, posted on 15-09-2015 at 19:52:13 (D | E)
Hi Tara,
If you have read it on subtitles of a movie, I remember that in some movie the translation of "The bottom line is" was "The subcutaneous injection is ". So, If you can't find the explanation that you are looking for, maybe the written text is a result of misunderstanding!

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 15-09-2015 at 21:35:49 (D | E)
Hi melmoth,

Thank you very much for your comment.
I understand it sounds strange, but that's what they say. I can tell the difference between "beat" and "bit." It also says in the script, too.
But frankly, it doesn't really matter to me whichever they say (I'm sorry) because what I'd like to know is "what, I'm gonna be fifty?" part, not the "sit for a beat" part.

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 15-09-2015 at 21:47:22 (D | E)
Hi athens2014,
Thank you very much for your suggestion.
Yes, I think sometimes they put wrong subtitles. In this one, I listen to what characters (actors) say, and also read the script. So, I guess if there's a mistake, maaybe the screenwriters wrote weirdly?
The girl reacted what her boy friend had said to her "Just sit for a beat".
And said "What, I'm gonna be fifty?"
I just want to know what she literally means.
I wonder if she means:
"Just sit for a beat? Do I look like almost fifty?"
or
"If I sit for a beat, I'll be fifty soon!"
Thank you.

Re: Help/conversation from melmoth, posted on 15-09-2015 at 22:53:59 (D | E)
Hi Solas,
In my opinion, it's a waste of time trying to make sense out of these sentences. It's not proper English, as far as I can tell. To me it sounds much more like a random translation, as athens2014 suggested. Like the famous "All your base are belong to us". If would be interesting to have the opinion of a native speaker, though. Cheers

Re: Help/conversation from lucile83, posted on 15-09-2015 at 23:12:45 (D | E)
Hello,
What I understand is that the girl doesn't want to wait any longer before moving and having a better job; she is around 30 and she doesn't want to have the same life when she is 50. She doesn't even want to sit for a while thinking about all of it, losing her time; she has made her decision.

Hi melmoth,
I agree it is not proper English but that's not a problem if one does really want to understand what the characters are saying.

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 15-09-2015 at 23:20:45 (D | E)
Hi melmoth,
I guess you're right.
It's a bit disappointing, though. I mean it's spoken by a native speaker, so I thought native speakers would understand what it means even if it was not a correct usage.
Anyway, I'll let it go, then.
Thank you for telling me the phrase. I'll keep that in mind.
Cheers.

Re: Help/conversation from melmoth, posted on 15-09-2015 at 23:34:17 (D | E)
Hi Solas,
I think you guessed pretty well what it means. When somebody doesn't express himself clearly, one can only guess at what he means and arrive at approximate conclusions. That's what I meant when I said there's not much point in investigating much longer than you did. Sometimes you say something muddled and you yourself don't really know what you mean precisely, you're just expressing a vague feeling. Cheers.

Re: Help/conversation from jonquille, posted on 16-09-2015 at 01:04:50 (D | E)
Hello!
You say the quote is from a video (with subtitles). Which video? Perhaps if we could hear it ourselves (youtube?) we would know the context better.
jonquille

Re: Help/conversation from athens2014, posted on 16-09-2015 at 05:45:32 (D | E)
Hi Tara,
Sometimes even in the real life, people express their own self by an ambiguous way. This happens because of the lack of clear thinking. So, maybe this attitude concerns the quality of the character (role). When someone is confused they use unclear arguments.

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Edited by lucile83 on 16-09-2015 06:19

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 16-09-2015 at 21:28:55 (D | E)
Hi melmoth,
Yes, I understand what you're trying to tell me. Sometimes I can't understand what they say or write in my native languages when they don't make sense. But in that case, it's obvious why I don't understand.
When I don't understand what they say or write in English, I tend to think it's because of the lack of my comprehension skills. It's hard to tell if it's something even native speakers don't understand.
I appreciate your advice. Thank you.

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 16-09-2015 at 21:37:37 (D | E)
Hi jonquille,
Thank you very much for your kind suggestion. Unfortunately, we can't share the video on the net. But I see your point: Not only what they say, but also how they say (the tone) is really important in order to know the exact meaning.
Thank you again for trying to help me.

Re: Help/conversation from solas, posted on 16-09-2015 at 21:46:00 (D | E)
Hi athens2014,
I appreciate your suggestions and advice.
Thank you very much for taking your time, and trying to help me.

Re: Help/conversation from therese30, posted on 21-09-2015 at 15:24:58 (D | E)
Hello,
Have you heard or read this conversation? If it is from listening, it is possible to be: "If I sit for a bit, I'll soon be fifty"? In this case, I think the more correct is: "If I sit for a bit, I'll be soon fifty".
Let me help a little bit.
How about this one...
" If I sit here for a bit, soon I'll be fifty".

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