Talking with my colleague about reading though an extra-thick medical book, I said jokingly:
Zum Gelehrten tauge ich wohl nicht, was? Wenn du es schaffst, auch nur einen dieser Wälzer durchzulesen, ohne dabei einzuschlafen, dann nur zu. {or: "dann mal zu"}
Here I wanted to express the idea of:
... If you can read though any of these extra-thick medical books without falling asleep, more power to you.
In English, "more power to you" is used in an encouraging tone, praising someone for what they have started out to do, wishing them success.
The "nur zu", for lack of a better phrase, sprang to mind, but I get the feeling that "nur zu" carries a rather detached connotation, as in "then go ahead (even if I won't do it myself)".
Does "nur zu" or "mal zu" work well enough? How is this idea commonly expressed in German?