"...often go awry...?

[timepiececlock]

Is it "awry" or "astray" ?

Comments

[elz.livejournal.com]

Well, technically it's "gang aft agley" so there's probably some leeway in translation. ;)

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

:) Now how did you know that?

[elz.livejournal.com]

I read the poem that the phrase comes from in high school (To a Mouse by Robert Burns) and I was surprised to learn that it was actually written in the Scots dialect, and that the famous quote we're accustomed to was just a translation. (Check it out (http://plagiarist.com/poetry/?wid=5938))

And somehow, that tends to be the sort of completely random and generally useless knowledge that sticks in my head. Oh well. *g*

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Huh. I was fairly sure it had come from a Shakespeare passage. Though I guess it's possible this poem you know came before Shakespeare, or I remembered incorrectly.

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley"

[octopedingenue]

(and that last bit does mean "Go oft astray")

Robert Burns came after Shakespeare, but I'm pretty sure that "To a Mouse" is the poem that you're remembering bits from. Burns is one of the more beloved Scottish poets, I think; also wrote "To a Louse", which has the memorable bit, "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as other see us!" He might have also written an ode to haggis, bless his heart. :D

Re: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley"

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

nope, I've actually never heard of him except for the mice and & men quote, and never even heard his name, until just now.