Camille Nadded a comment 8 years ago
THANK YOU!
unknown quantity (it's idiom, but I can't translate it
unknown quantity
EditedТёмная лошадка (about a person) ; Тёмный лес (about something unstudied)
Turner may do well in the election, though he is an unknown quantity as a campaigner. ;
The new computer system is still an unknown quantity for our department.
Для Тёрнера выборы могут пройти хорошо, однако этот кандидат - тёмная лошадка.
Новая компьютерная система всё еще тёмный лес для нашего отдела.
First example, as i assume, comes from the horse racing, where there's a new competitor with unknown perks.
The second means that something is as dark as dense forest, where one can't see very far and has no idea of what's lay further.
THANK YOU!