Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

at wits' end

Arabic translation:

أعيتهم الحيل

Added to glossary by Nadia Ayoub
Nov 3, 2010 18:01
13 yrs ago
8 viewers *
English term
Change log

Nov 8, 2010 13:20: Nadia Ayoub Created KOG entry

Discussion

TargamaT team Nov 3, 2010:
أعياهم الأمر أعتقد أنَّ هذا هو التعبير العربي المختصر

:-)
Nesrin Nov 3, 2010:
A small idiom full of meanings.. I think it's a combination of: بذلوا قصارى جهدهم، فاستنفدوا الحلول المتاحة، فاحتاروا، فعجزوا عن التفكير! So a lot of the suggestions here would work, depending on which angle you want to focus on...
As the definition says "to be very worried or upset because you have tried every possible way to solve a problem but cannot do it"
Noha Mostafa Nov 3, 2010:
It is also like saying لقد احترت واحتار دليلي
Nesrin Nov 3, 2010:
I think the closest equivalent to that is the colloquial expression غـُلـب حمارهم... but I can't think of a fusHa expression that matches it... I'm sure there's one. It means they can't think of any more solutions to whatever problem they're in.

Proposed translations

+5
3 hrs
Selected

أعيتهم الحيل

Peer comment(s):

agree Nesrin : Best suggestion in my opinion!
1 hr
Many thanks Nesrin :)
agree ahmadwadan.com : ممتاز
9 hrs
Many thanks Ahmad :)
agree marwa_adam
9 hrs
Many thanks Marwa :)
agree Abdurrahman Asal
11 hrs
Many thank Abdurrahman :)
agree TargamaT team
14 hrs
Many thanks Targamat :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
-1
4 mins

في نهاية الذكاء

Without more context, this is the literal translation.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Nesrin : The literal translation doesn't really make sense in Arabic.. the context provided isn't that bad.
10 mins
disagree ahmadwadan.com : Does not look proper Arabic.
12 hrs
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23 mins
English term (edited): at wits\\\' end

عجز عن التفكير

كناية عن عدم القدرة على التفكير السليم (بسبب الارهاق الفكري) Atlas Encyclopedic Dictionary
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23 mins

على قدم وساق

The closest I could think of, it conveys the meaning rather than literal translation
Peer comment(s):

neutral Nesrin : I don't think that's close to the meaning though... ( http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be at wits'+end )
3 mins
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+2
24 mins

استنفذوا كل الحلول المتاحة

As I said in the discussion field, I feel that there's a proper Arabic idiom for that, similar to the Egyptian غلب حمارهم, but this suggestion may work in your context (more context may indeed be helpful).

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Note added at 30 mins (2010-11-03 18:31:50 GMT)
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كما أشار الزميل العزيز.... استنفدوا (بالدال) .. معذرة
Peer comment(s):

agree TargamaT team : استنفدوا (بالدال) كل ما يمكن عمله
2 mins
صح صح! استنفدوا بالدال...... شكرا جزيلا
agree ahmadwadan.com : http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/204495/rescuers-at-wit...
12 hrs
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+2
9 mins

بذل قصارى جهده، أقصى مايسع، أقصى حد ممكن

Be at your wits' end
to be very worried or upset because you have tried every possible way to solve a problem but cannot do it I've tried everything I can think of to make her eat and she flatly refuses. I'm really at my wits' end.

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be at wits' end


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Note added at 1 hr (2010-11-03 19:19:31 GMT)
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أعياهم الأمر



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Note added at 1 hr (2010-11-03 19:22:48 GMT)
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http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/بقرة
Peer comment(s):

agree Nesrin : أعياهم الأمر - good one! There's also Nadia's أعيتهم الحيل
4 hrs
شكرًا، رويدًا رويدًا نصل إلى التعبير... :-))
agree ahmadwadan.com : فعلوا كل ما يستطيعون فعله
12 hrs
شكرًا أخي أحمد
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2 hrs

لم يعد بإمكانهم/بوسعهم فعل شيء

/
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3 hrs

إستفرغوا وسعهم

...
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3 hrs

حائرون

أو في حيرة من أمرهم

حائرون جمع حائر
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Reference comments

12 hrs
Reference:

Rescuers 'at wits' end'

على رأي نسرين: غلب حمارهم ومش عارفين يعملوا إيه
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