Does anyone know a similar German phrase to the English "Hindsight is 20/20"? LEO and dict.cc aren't of any help. Thanks!
P.S. My first post in a long, long time. For those of you I got to spend time with in Munich and are still there, I hope its going well! I'm actually going to graduate from college in 23 days... scary thought.
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Hindsight is 20/20
The German equivalent of this phrase
Mei, wenn man das gewusst hätte.
I'm not totally sure what the expression means. If it means something like "with hindsight, everything is crystal-clear", then I would translate it as "Im Nachhinein ist es sonnenklar." oder "Hinterher ist es sonnenklar."
I agree.
20/20 means all clear, and is used by alot of optitions.
Hindsight is when you look back at something.
Hinterher ist es Sonnenklar.
Im nachhinein ist alles klar.
20/20 means all clear, and is used by alot of optitions.
Hindsight is when you look back at something.
Hinterher ist es Sonnenklar.
Im nachhinein ist alles klar.
Im Nachhinein ist man immer schlauer.
Bavarian: Schmeck's, Kropfata. Meaning that a person with a goiter cannot taste what he eats and has to be told afterwards what it was.
Bavarian: Schmeck's, Kropfata. Meaning that a person with a goiter cannot taste what he eats and has to be told afterwards what it was.
QUOTE
Hindsight is 20/20
I understand what it means but I've never heard that in English
BR, 20/20 is an american expression but it is used in the UK as well, especially when talking about hindsight.
QUOTE (boomtown_rat @ Apr 28 2006, 11:06 am) 
I understand what it means but I've never heard that in English
It's an American expression.
edit: Ooops OG beat me to it.
Then let's make up similar phrases in English
Like,
Looking into the past is always prescient.
Like,
Looking into the past is always prescient.
QUOTE
20/20 is an american expression but it is used in the UK as well, especially when talking about hindsight.
oh I've heard 20/20 plenty, but never in combination with hindsight. Makes sense though I guess, useful phrase
20/20 is an english expression but like br i've never seen it used in " hindsight is 20/20". It sounds very stilted to me.
But don't you have to convert the 20/20 to metric units?
QUOTE (bluedave @ Apr 28 2006, 11:10 am)
20/20 is an english expression but like br i've never seen it used in " hindsight is 20/20". It sounds very stilted to me.
Naw, it's quite commonplace in America. Very casual.
QUOTE (bluedave @ Apr 28 2006, 11:10 am)
20/20 is an english expression but like br i've never seen it used in " hindsight is 20/20". It sounds very stilted to me.
i agree that the phrase "hindsight is 20/20 is stilted, I'd use it along the lines of "with 20/20 hindsight, blah blah"
I'll check on the origin but i thought it was US cos we don't measure vision in that way. we use dioptrin.
edit:
this source says it is an americanisms from 1940's:
http://www.geckohospitality.com/cblog/inde...ht-is-2020.html
QUOTE
Hindsight is 20/20 is a phrase that is all too familair, but what does it mean and where did it originate? It means that it's very easy to be wise/knowledgeable after events have happened. The 20/20 is a way of medically recording perfect vision.
It's a common saying in the U.S. An Americanism, the term originated about 1940 and soon was transferred to other examples of twenty-twenty (20/20) hindsight
It's a common saying in the U.S. An Americanism, the term originated about 1940 and soon was transferred to other examples of twenty-twenty (20/20) hindsight
For the record, 20/20 vision isn't actually good, it's just average.
It means you can see at 20 feet what the average person can see at 20 feet. Healthy young adults that don't require corrective vision should be about 20/15
It means you can see at 20 feet what the average person can see at 20 feet. Healthy young adults that don't require corrective vision should be about 20/15
don't the brits say "it's easy to be wise after the event" or something along those lines?
Hinterher ist man immer schlauer.
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