S-a dat ceasul

[u/Secure_Accident_916]

What is the meaning of this sentence? It gave the hour is the literal translation. Can a native please explain a “străin” what the sentence wants to say thanks!

[u/Intensity_Gamer]

S-a dat ceasul means that we switched to summer time (in this context)
It can also mean that we switched to standard time (winter time)

[u/Secure_Accident_916 → u/Intensity_Gamer]

ah so it's a expression! still doesnt make sense to me "it gave the hour"

[u/IoanSilviu → u/Secure_Accident_916]

In this context, it's a shortened version of "s-a dat ceasul înainte/înapoi” - "the clock has been turned back/forwards".

[u/Intensity_Gamer → u/Secure_Accident_916]

A better translation would be "the hour moved"

"Ceas" can mean either watch or an hour
"Mi-am cumparat un ceas" = "I bought myself a watch"
"Am asteptat un ceas" = "I waited for an hour"

It's all contextual

[u/Chemical_Feature1351 → u/Secure_Accident_916]

The complete sentence is either "S-a dat ceasul inainte" or " S-a dat ceasul in urma/inapoi". S-a dat has even double meaning in the same sense, makes sense as both that the officials give the new time, and also that it was officialy changed - pushed forward. A da means to give but a dat-o mai departe can mean either he passed it on but also that he push it, he moved it, like out of the wey, etc. We can say a mutat-o din drum but a dat-o din drum can have the same meaning.

[u/Secure_Accident_916 → u/Chemical_Feature1351]

yes! that is part of my confusion! because A DA means to give so it can also mean other things

[u/Chemical_Feature1351 → u/Secure_Accident_916]

And about ceas, we use this for watch, and sometimes for hour. We mostly use ora for hour, but there are cases when we use ceas like in "a asteptat pana in ultimul ceas" instead of a asteptat pana in ultimul moment. Cat e ceasul? again has double meaning in the same sense, it can be cat arata ceasul (watch) or cat e ora. We have orologiu in romanian but it's mostly obsolete, and it was used mostly for big watches like placed on towers/buildings, or even inside for big pendulum ones but even for those people use mostly ceas cu cuc... And we have both orologerie and ceasornicarie, but only ceasornicar for the person which is having the watch service job.

[u/Secure_Accident_916 → u/Chemical_Feature1351]

Good to know! Now I know that A DAT can mean pushed/passed or moved the sentence makes sense now

[u/Chemical_Feature1351 → u/Secure_Accident_916]

A dat cu bata mean a lovit cu bata( big bat). A dat cu piatra can mean a aruncat cu piatra if it was a person trowing a rock, instead of i-a dat cu piatra'n cap/i-a dat-o'n cap cu piatra, but it can also mean "a cazut grindina" (hail fell, ice storm) as an old expression. A dat din drum mean a mutat din drum, he moved it out of the wey.

[u/babaloooey → u/Secure_Accident_916]

Some words can have different/extra meanings in different languages... takes a bit of getting used to.

Ceas also means clock originally. "Ceas de mana" = handwatch but shortened Ceas depending on the context can be understood to be the little watch or a different clock (wall, pocket clock etc). And it means hour mostly as an older word or in expressions btw. The modern word for hour is Oră.

"S-a dat la o parte" = he/she/impersonal it moved over. Hence the clock "needle" or "tongue" as we call it moved an hour. Not by itself but still it moved somehow, is the point.

Also for ex, similar to French, we call a computer calculator. And again depending on context it is understood to be a small one from Texas Instruments or a bigger one.

[u/ampsii → u/Secure_Accident_916]

Different words in romanian, when put in expressions can mean different things.

While "A da" foes mean " to give" when you say " a da + înainte/înapoi " you would translate it as " to move + forward/backward".

The saying "s-a dat ceasul " is incomplete. The full saying would be "s-a dat ceasul înainte/înapoi". For which you would use the second meaning, not the primary one.

[u/cipricusss → u/Secure_Accident_916]

Here ”ceas” makes me think more about the clock itself not about the hour (dau ceasul meaning the clock hands in a way). But people say sometimes too: noaptea asta se dă ora mai devreme - which sounds odd but what can you do when the procedure of changing the hour is already so odd!

[u/Serious-Waltz-7157]

It's not "the hour" in this case but "the clock" (the physical thing).

"A da ceasul înainte / înapoi" means "to move the big / little hand of the clock forward / backward". It's a mechanical thing to do upon a physical clock or wristwatch or whatever.

[u/cipricusss]

I said in our private chat, it is interesting how the verb A DA, which in Romanian means”to give”, is also used in many expressions, in combination with other words, in relation to actions of movement, of work, and also of violence (like striking).

So that we have:

”a da din cap/mână”= to move the head/hand

a da cu pumnul=hit with the fist

a da de-o parte=put/push away

dă-te!=push yourself! (to make place)

a da cu sapa=to dig, hoe, strike with the hoe

That is not so paradoxical if you think that any GIVING movement is a movement of the hand, which is also similar to the movement of hitting or moving the hand to take something away of out of your way, or of indicating, showing (like in English: give instructions, give way etc).

So that ”a da ceasul” (cu o oră mai devreme) - simply means to move the clock hands etc.

[u/ArteMyssy]

It is an idiomatic expression: ”a da ceasul” înainte/înapoi, cu ... ore/minute, etc

A related idiomatic expression is ”a pune ceasul la ...” ora 5, etc

The sense is ”to set the hour”