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Glossary entry

Portuguese term or phrase:

Mais vale cair em graça do que ser engraçado.

English translation:

It's better to be likeable than to be funny. / Falling into grace is worth more than being funny.

Added to glossary by Oliver Simões
May 26, 2018 16:13
6 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Portuguese term

Mais vale cair em graça do que ser engraçado

Portuguese to English Art/Literary Cinema, Film, TV, Drama Subtitles
This is a Portuguese popular saying and I want to know if there's any English equivalent (as I can't think of any).

Thanks in advance for your help!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 It's better to be likeable than to be funny.
5 +2 it is better to be in someones good graces than ingratiate yourself
4 +2 Falling into grace is worth more than being funny
3 +1 It is better to hit it off, than "to be" funny / it's better to fall into grace, than to be gracious
3 It is better to be appreciated than to be absurd.
References
Cair em graça é, fundamentalmente, agradar.
Change log

May 28, 2018 17:42: Oliver Simões Created KOG entry

May 30, 2018 12:38: Oliver Simões changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/2407412">Oliver Simões's</a> old entry - "Mais vale cair em graça do que ser engraçado."" to ""It's better to be likeable than to be funny.""

Discussion

Tania Pires (asker) May 26, 2018:
@ jessé machado That doesn't make sense!
Tania Pires (asker) May 26, 2018:
@Oliveira Simões Não sei se será bem uma expressão, uma vez que não encontro em mais lado nenhum. Mas a ideia é essa. À falta de melhor, pode ser. Obrigada!
jessé machado May 26, 2018:
''better laugh than be the laughter'' maybe?
Tania Pires (asker) May 26, 2018:
@Teresa Obrigada :)
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida May 26, 2018:
Cair em graça = conquistar o favor de alguém, agradar a alguém, tb se diz na gíria em PT(pt) cair no goto...
https://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/caiu
Oliver Simões May 26, 2018:
Sugestão Uma referência em inglês que talvez se aplique ao presente contexto:

"One of the adults there, I guess you could call her the comedy camp counselor, went all harsh on another one of the aspiring comics after his spiel. She commented, 'It is better to be likeable than to be funny. That's one of the top rules of comedy.' " http://scrollwork.blogspot.com/2012/01/would-you-rather-be-f...
Oliver Simões May 26, 2018:
@Tania Obrigado. Seria equivalente a "better to fall in love than fall out of love"? Esta expressão foi mencionada no artigo que o Charles postou. Eu não conhecia o dito português; aprendi algo novo.
Tania Pires (asker) May 26, 2018:
@Oliveira Simões O link que o Charles colocou em referência explica bem o significado desta expressão.
Tania Pires (asker) May 26, 2018:
@Teresa Obrigada, mas neste caso convinha-me mesmo que estivesse relacionado com ter graça, ter piada.
Tania Pires (asker) May 26, 2018:
@Oliveira Simões Nunca tive uma explicação oficial, mas penso que seja: mais vale cair na graça de alguém (gostarem de nós) do que nos armarmos em engraçadinhos.
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida May 26, 2018:
@Tania Talvez "It's better do be lucky than good" tenha mais ou menos o mesmo sentido...
Oliver Simões May 26, 2018:
Qual é o significado? Este dito popular teria alguma relação com "graça" no sentido bíblico? O que quer dizer?

Proposed translations

+3
41 mins
Selected

It's better to be likeable than to be funny.

Sugestão baseada no artigo postado anteriormente. Não me parece ser um dito popular, mas, de qualquer forma, penso que traduz o sentido do dito português.
Reference:

http://scrollwork.blogspot.com/2012/01/would-you-rather-be-funny-or-likeable.html

Note from asker:
Obrigada! Também não me parece ser uma expressão, mas a ideia é essa.
Peer comment(s):
agree Katarina Peters
7 mins
Thank you, Katarina.
agree JohnMcDove : Yes, indeed. (Your answer wasn't here while I was writing mine, but it is a very popular saying in Spanish, at least. :-) /./ You're welcome. ... a César o que é de César... ;-)
8 mins
Thank you, John, for the "agree" and comment.
agree R. Alex Jenkins
22 hrs
Thank you, Richard.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "This is one of those cases where I wish I could pick more than one answer. This time I didn't want to take a risk so I picked the one that I knew to be closer to the context, but if anyone looks up this page please scroll down because there are excellent answers here for other contexts. Thank you everyone for your troubles."
+2
34 mins

Falling into grace is worth more than being funny

or: being accepted is better than being ridiculed

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Note added at 47 mins (2018-05-26 17:01:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

yes, but check the explanation, too. I couldn't think of any other popular saying in English.
Note from asker:
This is a direct translation of what I wrote.
Peer comment(s):
agree JohnMcDove : Yes, the "funny" thing in Portuguese, Spanish, Catalonian or Galego, is that "graça" and "engraçado" use the same root word, which makes it more "funny"... ;-) /./ Yes, alas, it would be nice to find a synonym that could duplicate the play on words.
17 mins
and in English, grace and funny are not related
agree Mario Freitas :
4 hrs
Thanks, Mario!
Something went wrong...
+2
5 hrs

it is better to be in someones good graces than ingratiate yourself

it is better to be in someones good graces than ingratiate yourself
Peer comment(s):
agree Marian Vieyra : I like this one, Nick as it replicates the pun and the meaning.
16 hrs
Thanks Marian - I was hoping it would come across :-)
agree JohnMcDove : I like the pun, and play on words. I am not sure if "ingratiate yourself" could come across with some irony. I was about to give a neutral, but maybe just adding these quotation marks might possibly do the trick...
21 hrs
Thanks :-) yes the quatation marks would help to reinforce the jeu de mots.
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

It is better to be appreciated than to be absurd.

I think 'appreciated' captures the first idea; not so sure about 'absurd', but at least it provides a sense of alliteration.
Note from asker:
I like this one too. Thanks Muriel!
Something went wrong...
+1
48 mins

It is better to hit it off, than "to be" funny / it's better to fall into grace, than to be gracious

This saying is very well known in Spanish, Gallego and Catalonian:

https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/Ficha.aspx?Par=590...

https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/Ficha.aspx?Par=590...

https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/Ficha.aspx?Par=590...


"Literal" translation, noted in the "Centro Virtual Cervantes" is this:

[It's better to please than being funny]

https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/Ficha.aspx?Par=590...

https://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/Ficha.aspx?Par=590...

I hope the links work appropriately, but the sense of "opportunity" in the saying is that it is better to "connect" with the persons you meet, than "to be" "funny".

That is, it is better that other people (who you just met) consider you a funny - likable guy or gal, "than to be funny".

In other words, it is better to "hit it off with charm" than "to be charming".

The point in Portuguese and Spanish (Galego, Catalonian, etc.) is that there is the play with "cair em graça" (to be considered charming, nice) and "ser engraçado", as in "being funny".

That is, "it is better to ingratiate yourself, than to be a funny person".

Example: I might be a horrible person telling jokes, that is, I am NOT a "funny" person, but I can say something to my boss, which he considers really funny. Then that is better than "to be funny"...

Another way to put it, would be, it is better to "do the action that is funny" than "to be funny", that is "it it better to amuse, than to be amusing".

I hope some of the above is of some help!


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2018-05-26 17:13:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You're welcome, Tania! :-)

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Note added at 3 hrs (2018-05-26 20:03:46 GMT)
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https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hit it off

I was trying to come up with something like "better to charm than be charming", or something with an word that sounds the same (I have not been able to find a good EXISTING expression in English), but then focusing on the meaning, the first option of "hit it off", (as in the first impression, or "at first glance"), seems to better convey the idea.

So (depending on your context), "It is better to hit it off [with someone/ with some specific person], than to try to be "funny" [with everyone - and really no one in general].

"It is better to come across as a charming/likeable person than to "try to force yourself to be charming"... (i.e., a bit of a lucky thing)


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2018-05-26 20:26:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Thank you, totally understood. No trouble at all on my part. (It is fun! ;-)

Just thought about this one,

"It is better to hit it off than to be off-color!" ;-)

That is probably a bit too risqué, but, hey, the "ser engraçado", like the Spanish, "ser gracioso", undoubtedly has a sarcastic or ironic connotation, of actually "being annoyingly funny" type of idea...

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/off-color



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Note added at 1 day 3 hrs (2018-05-27 19:45:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It is better to FIND the FAVOUR of someone, than to trying to be "funny"...

Alliteration with meaning... ("funny" in quotation marks!)
Note from asker:
Thanks, John! That's a very good explanation!
The thing is, I love your explanation, but I'm going with Oliveira's answer because I need 'funny' to be in my context and it's the answer that's closer to what I need. I really wish there was a way to do the play on words, but I need the 'funny'. I really appreciate your trouble though.
Thanks :)
Peer comment(s):
agree Katarina Peters : Yes, but "gracious" does not mean "funny" in English...
37 mins
Muito obrigado, Katarina. :-) / Yes, you're totally right. It would be a false friend situation, but I was trying to keep the phonetic repetition -- and that's why went off onto my looong explanation... ;-)
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

21 mins
Reference:

Cair em graça é, fundamentalmente, agradar.

O que é cair em graça? Não estamos aqui a falar da graça divina, mas sim em cair na graça das pessoas. Cair em graça é, fundamentalmente, agradar.

http://azweblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/mais-vale-cair-em-graca...
Note from asker:
Thanks for the reference, Charles!
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
22 mins
agree JohnMcDove : Exatamente. :-)
32 mins
Something went wrong...
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