Question on a translation

Abigail V.A0Kwiziq community member

Question on a translation

L'argent ne fait pas le moine. I want to translate it in English, can I say" Money does not make the monk"?

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Abigail,

Just wondering if you are not confusing two sayings-

L'argent ne fait pas le bonheur = Money doesn't bring happiness

and 

L' habit ne fait pas le moine Don't judge a book by its cover 

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Cécile - I think the confusion is deliberate, it's a joke. If you google it you can find it on T-shirts etc. So it's very hard to translate. I think you'd have to take two similar sounding English sayings and mix them up. Or perhaps just use the literal translation - it makes no sense but it's kind of funny.

CécileKwiziq team member

Hi Alan,

This is funny as I often mix my metaphors in English like -

A rolling stone is worth two in the bush !

LOL

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Apparently there was a short film called this, which was translated as "Monks that money can buy".

https://www.annecy.org/about/archives/1981/official-selection/film-index:film-810179

Question on a translation

L'argent ne fait pas le moine. I want to translate it in English, can I say" Money does not make the monk"?

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