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- "Η αποταμίευση βοηθά την οικο…
34 Comments
Saving in a bank - yes. The bank invests the money further, which helps stimulate production and economic growth. Saving cash or precious commodities physically at your place - no. You're just taking money and assets away from the market, away from people who could use them.
Doesn't it help the economy more to spend your money on goods than put it in a bank?
Usually, yes, if you mean "gross domestic product". The only way I can make sense out of the statement is if it means my personal balance sheet. I believe "οικο" derives from the ancient Greek word for "home". So if I can save on buying a loaf of bread, it's good for home economics.
Yes, to all of you who have commented on the accuracy of this sentence let me just reply that in our efforts to create a course of correct Greek on a wide variety of topic there have been cases where the facts are inaccurate. We are not experts in all fields and would, therefore, appreciated your feedback to help correct them. So, instead of telling us how the bank makes money show us how we can use the requisite vocabulary and grammar to make correct sentences to help Greek learners.
466
I think I've seen επενδύση elsewhere in this course... maybe "Οι επενδύσεις βοηθούν την οικονομία." as a sentence to add?
- 20
I would disagree in this case, because επένδυση is translated as an investment, even though it is helping economy I think it is too far from the original idea of money saving
Great selection for this time of year and the theme of this sentence. Thanks Phil, I haven't read it all but it looks really interesting and shows a new dimension to Scrooge. We might have something to learn from him.
The English sentence seems rather strange. [EDIT: This comment was about the original translation Saving [sic] help the economy.]
Εἰλικρινῶς ἡ ἀκριβέστερη μετάφραση τοῦ νὰ «ἀποταμιεύσῳ» εἶναι μήπως "to horde". Τὸ «ταμεῖον» λέγεται λαϊκὰ ἀλλιῶς ὡς καὶ ὁ θησαυρός.
horde=a large number of people (ορδή), you probably mean to hoard
Sorry, out of curiosity what kind of Greek is this? It doesn't have enough archaic forms for me to think it might be ancient. Is this Katharevousa?
I'm assuming it's just using the older accent system. The grammar book I've been using uses all those accents, eliminated in 1982. See Wikipedia Greek diacritics Thank goodness we don't need to use them!
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I disagree with this. It would be more difficult for sure but I think it is a big loss of connection with the ancient Greek. And many people thought so, the first time the bible was published in dimotiki there were riots. Also, the church still uses the old diacritics, so still it is useful. I believe we can still have a debate about the impact of the 1982 law.
We agree on that, but at that time many people could barely write, let alone have to remember the diacritics.
Yes, I think so too. "αποταμίευση" means making deposits in the bank. I've changed it to "saving money" but don't think it's good enough please give some feedback.
My comment was not meant to be about style or a better/best translation, but just about the grammar of Saving help the economy. I had already reported it twice, and finally decided to use a comment, hoping that you might see it.
As for the translation of αποταμίευση etc, other people have commented on similar sentences before. One that comes to mind is the comment thread of the sentence The savings are interesting/Η αποταμίευση είναι ενδιαφέρουσα where the words κατάθεση and deposit are brought up. Anyway, I'm no expert in Greek or English, but it seems to me that your present translation Saving money helps the economy is probably as good as it gets. [My own favorite is of course Hoarding money helps the economy, but I realize that it's not a very precise translation. :-D]
"Putting money in a savings account" seems to be the concept, but I don't think there is shorter way to really say that in English.
Yes, the translation here is awkward but that often happens. A fine sentence in one language doesn't translate smoothly into another.
Avoiding these issues might, however, result in restricting what we could offer learners to only those sentences that sounded good in translation. That would be a disservice to learners. So, we'll do our best to make translations as smooth and comprehensible as possible without losing the necessary Greek.
Our thanks to all of you who have put forward ideas they help us tremendously.
Βοηθάει?
is another valid form of that verb.
But is pronounced differently, and is thus not acceptable in a "type what you hear" exercise.
- 1486
"Thrift helps the economy" is not currently accepted. This seems like a legitimate translation (even if it's not actually true), as long a "αποταμίευση" means saving money in both senses - ie the sense of avoiding extravagance as well as the sense of putting money away for later.
However jaye16 says here that the word means saving in the bank - is it limited to that sense?
I was about to agree, since putting money away implies one has probably already cut back on the amount of money they spend. On the other hand, there's another word, "εξοικονόμηση". Not sure really, we'll get back to you.
We've decided it's better not to accept it (for now, at least). The rationale behind this is that "αποταμίευση" (ταμείο=cash register/cash desk/treasury/fund etc) focuses on putting money away, whereas "εξοικονόμηση" focuses more on not spending it. I'll leave my comments here and delete them if something changes.
- 1486
Ah - I see. I initially ticked the "my answer should be accepted" box, but then began to wonder when I read the comments on this page. Subtle differences. I'll add "εξοικονόμηση" to my vocabulary lists.
I also hadn't clocked that "αποταμίευση" derives from "ταμείο", altho it is obvious now you point it out.
