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| This photo has been posted before on my blog here (25 April 2025) |
I ended yesterday's post with a question:
In Swedish we have a saying: "ha tur i oturen", meaning "to have good luck in the midst of bad luck"... I can't think of a corresponding common expression in English? If you can, please enlighten me!
I got several replies (thanks!) referring to the English quote about "clouds with a silver lining" - while no one seemed to have a different suggestion.
As perhaps not all readers are in the habit of going back to check replies to comments, I decided to put my "afterthoughts" in a separate post as well.
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I also asked Google AI, which gave me the following summary:
A "silver lining" refers to a positive or hopeful aspect within a difficult or negative situation. It signifies finding something good, even when things seem bleak. The phrase often appears in the idiom "every cloud has a silver lining," suggesting that even in the worst circumstances, there's always a potential for something positive.
The phrase originates from a poetic image of clouds with a bright edge when the sun is behind them. This suggests that even when things are cloudy (bad), they can still have a bright, positive aspect. It's a metaphor for optimism and finding a reason to be hopeful, even when facing adversity.
And Google AI's comment about the Swedish expression "tur i oturen" goes something like this (translated from Swedish to English by me):
"Tur i oturen" is a Swedish expression describing a situation where something bad leads to something good. It's when an accident or adversity brings an unexpected positive result. For example: You miss a train, but because of that, you get the unexpected chance of meeting an interesting person. Or your flight gets delayed, but because of that you get upgraded to first class.
I'm now thinking that perhaps a better translation to English of the Swedish expression would be "bad luck bringing good luck". However, this is not to be interpreted as something that always happens, or is always possible - it's only used when it happens.
I'm familiar with the saying "every cloud has a silver lining" in English since before. To me there is a slight difference in meaning between that and the Swedish expression about having "good luck in the midst of bad luck", but I suppose it's as close as we'll get in finding an equivalent :)
The Swedish expression kind of involves a turn of events [i.e. first something bad happens; but after that, something good happens to at least partly kind of balance that out]; while to me the "silver lining" seems to be more about finding a brighter side to a dark situation.(?)
I looked up the phrase "silver lining" in my copy of Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and here is what they say:
A silver lining. The prospect of better days, the promise of happier times. The Saying, Every cloud has a silver lining, is quite an old one; thus in Milton's Comus, the Lady lost in the wood resolves to hope on, and sees 'a sable cloud turn forth its silver lining to the night'.
Though outwardly a gloomy shroud
The inner half of every cloud
Is bright and shining;
I therefore turn my clouds about,
And always turn them inside out,
To show the lining.
Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler, The Wisdom of Folly