Talk:rendre à César ce qui est à César

English translation may be wrong

The more likely translation is "give to the government what the government is due." not "give credit where credit is due."

In the quote from the Bible, Caesar means the government. Jesus had been asked, if people should pay taxes to the Romans. He held up a Roman coin that had a picture of Caesar on it and said, "Render onto Caesar what is Caesar's." Lmfox2002 (talk) 04:15, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

@Lmfox2002 Yes, that's what you would get from the literal translation, and the likely meaning of the quote in the Bible that this came from, but that's not the same as what speakers of the language mean when they say it and what the people they say it to understand it to mean. The way that language is used by real people doesn't always follow logically from its literal meaning. Chuck Entz (talk) 04:40, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

I have never heard the phrase used any way except to mean paying taxes or in some other reference to government. It's not necessarily a favorable reference to government or taxes.

Wiktionary's definition of the English version of the quote and the written English examples that are given all refer to taxes and government.

It's unfortunate that the definition of the French version has no written French examples. Lmfox2002 (talk) 05:58, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

Are you a native French speaker? I am, and my experience is the exact opposite of yours: in real life I have never heard the phrase used to mean paying taxes. I wasn't aware of that sense until I started contributing here. PUC – 09:15, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

That's why it is so important to have examples of published uses of the phrase in French. Lmfox2002 (talk) 15:51, 11 November 2023 (UTC)