all you eat has contributed to your silly strong muscles

[GoodTaste]

Does "all you eat has contributed to your silly strong muscles" sound idiomatic in English?

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Mom doesn't allow her son to eat chicken at dinner time. Her son protests:"Why does my sister eat it then?" Mom tells him:"She works in an office and needs better nutrition. And you? Have you ever found any work to do? You're unemployed and all you eat has contributed to your silly strong muscles. What benefit is there?"

Source: It is a Chinese short story. I wrote it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Source: It is a Chinese short story. I wrote it.

Do you mean that this piece is your attempt to translate a Chinese short story that already exists?

 

[GoesStation]

The phrase doesn't mean much in English.

 

[GoodTaste]

Do you mean that this piece is your attempt to translate a Chinese short story that already exists?

Only the title of the OP is a translation.

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, as GoesStation said, the phrase in the title means nothing in English. Is it supposed to mean something like "All the food you eat has resulted in your having very strong muscles"?

 

[GoodTaste]

Well, as GoesStation said, the phrase in the title means nothing in English. Is it supposed to mean something like "All the food you eat has resulted in your having very strong muscles"?

It supposed to mean the son is not smart and can only do some simple work like carrying bricks in a construction site. A man who has strong muscles yet is brainless is described in Chinese as "a man with silly strength" (or as I described it as "a man with silly strong muscles").

So the translation is a failure? How to properly describe it in English?

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not understood that way in English. We occasionally use "silly" to mean "a lot of".

I bought a car yesterday. I can't tell you what I paid for it. It was silly money. I'm so embarrassed.

Someone with the qualities you described would be said to be "all brawn and no brain".

 

[Skrej]

It's not understood that way in English. We occasionally use "silly" to mean "a lot of".
I bought a car yesterday. I can't tell you what I paid for it. It was silly money. I'm so embarrassed.

'Silly money' isn't used in AmE, at least in that context. I think most AmE speakers would try and parse 'silly money' as something like 'fake' or 'play' money, or possibly 'counterfeit' with the right context.

The closest AmE equivalent would be something like 'a crazy/ridiculous amount of money'. I suppose you could say 'a silly amount of' in AmE, but then I'd interpret that as being a surprisingly low amount of money - some kind of unbelievable bargain.

At the moment, I can't think of another way to express the OP's intent other than what ems has suggested.

 

[Tdol]

Is the son strong or fat?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Does "all you eat has contributed to your silly strong muscles" sound idiomatic in English?

No!

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Mom doesn't allow her son to eat chicken at dinner time. Her son protests:"Why does my sister eat it then?" Mom tells him:"She works in an office and needs better nutrition. And you? Have you ever found any work to do? You're unemployed and all you eat has contributed to your silly strong muscles. What benefit is there?"

Source: It is a Chinese short story. I wrote it.

All he eats has contributed to his the family's poverty.

The phrase "silly strong muscles" makes no sense.

Exercise builds muscles. If he just sits around the house, he's not building his muscles, no matter how much he eats. Overeating and idleness make people fat, not strong.

 

[GoodTaste]

Is the son strong or fat?

Strong. The son is all brawn and no brain in his mom's opinion.

 

[GoodTaste]

All he eats has contributed to his the family's poverty.

The phrase "silly strong muscles" makes no sense.

Exercise builds muscles. If he just sits around the house, he's not building his muscles, no matter how much he eats. Overeating and idleness make people fat, not strong.

In the scenario of the OP, the family is not in poverty and the son does love to exercise everyday. But he's not intelligent.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree that the story makes no sense. At its most basic level, it simply states that a mother feeds her working daughter chicken and refuses to feed it to her unemployed son.

 

[GoodTaste]

I agree that the story makes no sense. At its most basic level, it simply states that a mother feeds her working daughter chicken and refuses to feed it to her unemployed son.

The main task of the OP is to solve the linguistic question: How to express this mother's emotion about her son who's all brawn and no brain.

Of course "all brawn ad no brain" has already been one good answer. There may be more there in English. I think of one - "You useless wimp!" - "It is pointless to feed you! - You useless wimp!"

But I am actually not sure about the circumstances in which the scornful expression "You useless wimp!" can be properly applied.

 

[GoesStation]

But I am actually not sure about the circumstances in which the scornful expression "You useless wimp!" can be properly applied.

It's the wrong word here.

 

[Tdol]

I agree that the story makes no sense. At its most basic level, it simply states that a mother feeds her working daughter chicken and refuses to feed it to her unemployed son.

Maybe he eats too much of the family's protein, but it's an odd tale to me.

 

[GoodTaste]

It's the wrong word here.

Why?

Maybe he eats too much of the family's protein, but it's an odd tale to me.

That is a common story in China. The mom's behavior aims to spur his son to make efforts to win respect in the family.

 

[GoesStation]

But I am actually not sure about the circumstances in which the scornful expression "You useless wimp!" can be properly applied.

It's the wrong word here.

Why?

A wimp is a cowardly, weak person. A musclebound person would rarely be described that way.

 

[Tdol]

That is a common story in China. The mom's behavior aims to spur his son to make efforts to win respect in the family.

That's a cultural issue. I have not come across something similar in my culture. That's not judging cultures- just a difference. Go ahead and feed his sister the chicken. ;-)

 

[GoodTaste]

A wimp is a cowardly, weak person. A musclebound person would rarely be described that way.

Couldn't it be "a spiritual wimp" or "an intelligent wimp"?