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wisdom of hindsight

English translation: knowledge of what happened later

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:wisdom of hindsight
Selected answer:knowledge of what happened later
Entered by: Jack Doughty

10:59 Feb 21, 2012
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law (general) / jugement
English term or phrase: wisdom of hindsight
I have to translate a document from English to French and I didn't understand the sentence between brackets, here is the paragraph:
If the cost reductions had been implemented from 2005 onwards (as is now confidently and with the wisdom of hindsight declared, the work force would,) as already mentioned, have had to be reduced by at least 50%.......

Thanks in advance.
Nouar Nassima
Algeria
Local time: 00:49
with the knowledge of what happened later
Explanation:
Knowing what we know now, which would not have been known in 2005, we can now state with confidence...
Selected response from:

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:49
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3with the knowledge of what happened later
Jack Doughty
4 +2...knowing what we know now
eski
4wisdom that comes from knowing what has happened
Shera Lyn Parpia
4needs to changed around
Mark Nathan
4If what is known now was only known then...
Andrew Bramhall
4a posteriori knowledge
lorenab23


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
with the knowledge of what happened later


Explanation:
Knowing what we know now, which would not have been known in 2005, we can now state with confidence...

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:49
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 239
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Stephanie Ezrol
1 hr
  -> Тhank you.
disagree  Andrew Bramhall: No.The explanation is correct, the answer isn't.//This answer is totally wrong, despite the further two sympathy votes (from non-native speakers)
1 hr
agree  Veronika McLaren
7 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Tina Vonhof (X): But it doesn't necessarily have to be knowledge about what happened, it could just be that more information has become available.
12 hrs
  -> Thank you. That's true.
agree  Phong Le
1 day 3 hrs
  -> Thank you.
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
wisdom that comes from knowing what has happened


Explanation:
Being able to see what has happened makes us wise when we think the past over!

see
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hindsight
the ability to understand, after something has happened, what should have been done



Shera Lyn Parpia
Italy
Local time: 01:49
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
needs to changed around


Explanation:
If the cost reductions had been implemented from 2005 onwards (as it is now confidently, with the wisdom of hindsight, declared they should have been), then the work force would, as already mentioned, have had to be reduced by at least 50%.......

wisdom of hindsight = being able to look back on a situation in the past with the benefit of knowing what the future holds

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 mins (2012-02-21 11:17:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, "Needs to be changed around"

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 01:49
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
If what is known now was only known then...


Explanation:
then things would have been done differently.

Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:49
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Veronika McLaren: If what is known now had been...
1 hr
  -> Not necessary to use the pluperfect- the imperfect or imperfect subjunctive are also valid..
neutral  Trudy Peters: w/Veronika
2 hrs
  -> ditto above
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
...knowing what we know now


Explanation:
Following Jack's lead:
knowing what we know now...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2012-02-21 15:55:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In Hindsight: What We Would Have Done Differently Launching ...blog.wixelhq.com/in-hindsight-what-we-would-...En caché - Traducir esta página
Haz hecho público que te gusta. Deshacer
That said, knowing what we know now, there are certainly things that we would have done or approached differently. Hindsight is after all an exact science.
Without benefit of hindsight, could we expect 911 operator to grasp ...mynorthwest.com/.../Without-ben... - Estados UnidosEn caché - Traducir esta página
Haz hecho público que te gusta. Deshacer
8 Feb 2012 – "We all have the benefit of hindsight. We know now that Josh Powell took a hatchet to his little boys before setting the house on fire, but nobody ...
Knowing what we know now, what would you do different. - Page 2 ...forum.keypublishing.com › ... › Naval AviationEn caché - Traducir esta página
Haz hecho público que te gusta. Deshacer
16 Jan 2012 – Knowing what we know now, what would you do different. ... Go with CATOBAR QEC from the start (easy with hindsight of technology ...
wisdom of hindsightwww.proz.com › ... › English › Law (general) - Traducir esta página
Haz hecho público que te gusta. Deshacer
4 hours ago – (KudoZ) English translation of wisdom of hindsight [jugement - Law ... Knowing what we know now, which would not have been known in 2005, ...
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eski :))

eski
Mexico
Local time: 17:49
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  British Diana
4 hrs
  -> Thanks & have a great rest of the week, British Diana. eski :))
agree  Tina Vonhof (X): The shortest way to put it (but just a few examples would be sufficient).
8 hrs
  -> Thanks for the your confirmation & for your comment, Tina. eski :))
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
a posteriori knowledge


Explanation:
this sentence is complicated for no reason.
"As is now [...] declared"...lets switch it to the active voice.
Now we can declare, confidently and with a posteriori knowledge, that if we had implemented the cost reductions as of 2005, we would have had to reduce the work force by at least 50%...

lorenab23
United States
Local time: 16:49
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4
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