Originally Posted by
meany
I have a question - what is the exact meaning of the adverb `pre` in this part:
Ja, pre bih ove svoje ruke
Me, I would rather these hands
zeljne svega vezala u cvor
wistful of everything tie in node
pre nego da ih grli, ljubi
than to be hugged, kissed
neki drugi drazi muski stvor
by some other graces male 'creature'
Here's what the dictionary says:
pre I (E) prije (W)
1. prep. with gen. before; ~ čka(rata) before dinner (the war); ~ vremena too early; ~ svega first of all; ~ njega before him
2. adv. before, earlier; on je ~ došao he came earlier; što ~ as soon as possible; što ~, to bolje! the sooner, the better! *ko ~ devojci, onog i devojka the early bird gets the worm; ~ ili kasnije sooner or later; u toliko ~ all the more so; ~ nego before; ~ što kupim kuću, hoću da je i vi vidite before I buy the house, I'd like you to see it too; on je završio zadatak, ~ nego ja he finished the problem before I did
3. prep. ago (with the acc. of such nouns as godina , mesec ); ~ godinu (mesec) dana a year (month) ago; ~ nekoliko dana a few days ago; ~ mnogo godina many years ago
pre II (a. and adv. prefix) very, too, excessively - prejak , prebogat , prekasno
pre- III (verbal prefix which can denote)
1. across, over, through - prebaciti 1, preći 1, prespavati 3, prestajati II
2. (division into parts) - preseći 1
3. (repetition) - prepisati
4. (change of place) - preseliti
5. (action of covering) - prekriliti
6. (excess) - prepuniti
7. (surpassing) - prebaciti 2
rather ['rae(th)ë(r)]; [a] adv
2. pre (prije); it looks blue ~ than green izgleda pre plav no zelen
Here is how I would translate that part:
Ja, pre bih ove svoje ruke zeljne svega vezala u cvor
I'd rather tie these hands of mine that are desirous of everything in a knot
pre nego da ih grli, ljubi neki drugi drazi muski stvor
Before I'd let some other more precious male creature (being) embrace or kiss them
I hope this is enough info for you