I heard this line on television just a while ago:
‘It’s funny what a man won’t do to save his own life.’
It was translated in Dutch, but I’ll write the translation in English: ‘It’s funny that a man will do anything to save his own life.’
Does the first sentence make any sense to you?
Thank
Hi Marc, the sentence makes perfect sense to me since I can detect some humor or even sarcasm in it.
I think your translation should be: It isn’t funny that a man will do anything to save his own life.
Probably depends on what exactly you want to say. Let’s assume that the most logical version of the statement is something along the lines of ‘It’s funny to see what a man is willing to do to save his life’. Now, if you want to be sarcastic you can flip this around: ‘It’s funny what a man is unwilling to do to save his own life’.
But, Torsten, in either case the word ‘funny’ does not appear to sound natural to me.
It has a similar meaning as in the phrase ‘funny you should say that’.
Torsten, Anglophile thanks for your replies.
Marc
I agree with Torsten, particularly with respect to the sarcasm.
The word “funny” can be ambiguous. Often times a confused listener will say “Funny ‘ha-ha’ or funny strange?“