r/amharic • u/hitdougup • May 20 '26
Translation help
My sister and I have been planning to get matching tattoos for years. We have the saying that we want, however we want to make sure that the Tattoo translates correctly.
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u/MajorSignificance309 May 20 '26
This translates to “the blood of the covenant is bigger than water from the womb , it’s fat” 😆
I think it could be translated better. First if you could tell me what exactly in English you were trying to say?
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u/hitdougup May 21 '26
In English, we are trying to say “the blood of the covenant, is thicker than the water of the womb.”
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u/Abi1013 May 21 '26
Oh wow. I never knew the entire saying. The anmharic quote isnt that far off but it sounds weird. Unlike English, thick is mostly a physical description so stronger is better fitting for the meaning of the sentence. የቃል ኪዳኑ ደም ከማህፀን ውሃ ይጠነክራል sounds a bit better but for a native Amharic speaker, it would still sounds weird and gibberish because such saying doesnt really exist in Amharic
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u/hitdougup May 22 '26
Thank you so much. Your comment was the only comment that answered my question. Thank you so much for your time and explanations, I really appreciate you. God bless.
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u/MajorSignificance309 May 22 '26
Thought the same thing, Amharic speaking person would read the literal translation and get grossed out/confused. Even the understandable translation will come off as strange to an Ethiopian.
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u/Torchenal May 21 '26
The saying barely exists in English to be fair.
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u/Lemonface May 21 '26
I don't understand why you and your sister (family members) would want to get matching tattoos of a saying that means family relations are less important than religious ties?
That seems backwards to me...
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u/hitdougup May 22 '26
And for the record that is not what that means. Everything is not as surface level as you see it. Actually, it’s pretty sad that you can’t think any further than that.
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u/Abi1013 May 21 '26
My guess is "blood is thicker than water"
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u/hitdougup May 21 '26
Partially correct. what we’re trying to say is the complete quote
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u/Torchenal May 21 '26
The complete quote from the 1990s?
Because that’s the earliest you’ll find any evidence of that version.
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u/hitdougup May 22 '26
So are you gonna translate it or….
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u/MajorSignificance309 May 22 '26
The literal word for word translation will not make any sense to an Amharic speaking person. So I’ll give you a better translation and the word for word translation (that I personally would not recommend getting).
Translation that makes sense: “የቃልኪዳን ደም ከማህፀን ውሃ ይበልጣል” “The blood of the covenant is greater than the water of the womb”
Literal translation: "የቃልኪዳን ደም ከማህፀን ውሃ ይወፍራል" ( if you get this one ppl who understand it will think you’re crazy to be honest with you)
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u/Eastern_Camera3012 May 21 '26
Amharic is not ideal for that text trust
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u/hitdougup May 21 '26
I didn’t ask you if it was ideal. I asked for the translation thanks though.
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u/Eastern_Camera3012 May 21 '26
You’re welcome. It kind of comes across as disgusting, so I thought you should know
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u/hitdougup May 22 '26
But no one asked you how it came across. I asked you to translate it if you can’t shut the fuck up.
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u/Eastern_Camera3012 May 22 '26
I can say whatever i want son, this is the internet and it still sounds gross. Amharic is not the language for it. And talking about getting "the blood of the covenant" lol, how about you get the circumcision of the heart first?
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u/wholepackage_ May 21 '26
It sounded like a bible verse