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Topic: I don't speak German (Read 276 times) |
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Celebrindor
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #15 on: May 15th, 2005, 4:32am » |
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on May 15th, 2005, 1:12am, silver.paladin wrote:
I don't know about others here, but for me, shouting out KUGEL BLITZ was enjoyable. It sounds so serious and so death defying!
For some reason, I seem to recall there being a Blitz Krieg also, which would sense, as it is Rolling Thunder.
Some German words just sound good in English, IMO. |
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I played a "Glucksrad" today. Knowing what the card does really helps translation - "All players must their hand discard, and seven new cards draw". 
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As of the 21st, i've been here for 1 year! yay!
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Ralph Herold
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #16 on: May 15th, 2005, 5:02am » |
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A few German names are well done, but the majority is inferior to the English names. This is partially the fault of the translators (especially the old German Magic cards had a lot of flaws), but the greater part of the problem lies in the simple fact that some things can not be translated well. Every language carries around its own specific mood and the German language is precise, but cold and does not express excitement very well. There is a reason why the word "cool" (in the meaning: This is so cool!) was immediately adopted by Germans for the lack of an encompassing German word.
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AXIOS
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #17 on: May 15th, 2005, 10:36am » |
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on May 15th, 2005, 5:02am, Ralph Herold wrote:
| (in the meaning: This is so cool!) was immediately adopted by Germans for the lack of an encompassing German word. |
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Das is so kalt! 
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ende73
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #18 on: May 15th, 2005, 12:42pm » |
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on May 15th, 2005, 5:02am, Ralph Herold wrote:
| A few German names are well done, but the majority is inferior to the English names. This is partially the fault of the translators (especially the old German Magic cards had a lot of flaws), but the greater part of the problem lies in the simple fact that some things can not be translated well. Every language carries around its own specific mood and the German language is precise, but cold and does not express excitement very well. There is a reason why the word "cool" (in the meaning: This is so cool!) was immediately adopted by Germans for the lack of an encompassing German word. |
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I don't totally agree with you: German contributed the word "Geil" to other langauges, at least in the 80s with that hit-song (of course younger members won't remember)
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Ralph Herold
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #19 on: May 15th, 2005, 7:11pm » |
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ende73: I agree with you that "geil" is a German substitute for the word "cool", but its spectrum of possible uses is limited. A person can be "cool", but if he/she is "geil", then he or she is sexually attractive, that is he/she is "hot", which is not something completely different but does not express the same sentiment either.
Anyway, aside from my less than perfect example, my point still is that German is most often incapable to fully translate the excitement coming with English names. Card names are either too clumsy or merely descriptive and sometimes inappropriate for the lack of an exactly matching word and therefore do not carry the awe, the terror, the power or the majesty they are imbued with in their native language.
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silver.paladin
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #20 on: May 15th, 2005, 7:43pm » |
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on May 15th, 2005, 7:11pm, Ralph Herold wrote:
| Anyway, aside from my less than perfect example, my point still is that German is most often incapable to fully translate the excitement coming with English names. Card names are either too clumsy or merely descriptive and sometimes inappropriate for the lack of an exactly matching word and therefore do not carry the awe, the terror, the power or the majesty they are imbued with in their native language. |
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I don't think there is any problems with translating words so that they express the same meaning or excitement as English words - mainly because the English language is so inundated with slang - and slang for the most part is not easily translateable.
Probably one of the biggest problems with the English language is the gratuitous amount of slang that is in use in everyday speech. This is more so with the younger generation, who appear to feel the need to use slang (or other various non-words) to describe what is happening with or to them. Of course, this all comes about from the 60's and 70's when slang was first widely used, but slang is more or less used by the younger generation (of the decade).
The biggest problem, as I see it, is that German, Greek, French and so on, are older languages, and are often the building blocks for the newer languages (British English and American/Canadian English are often almost 2 different versions of English). As such, originally there was need and/or desire to create new English words to better express the understanding of an event or action. Today, there is more of a general want to be "cool" and create new words, which sound like virtual pig latin to anyone who does not know what that word means, or is meant to be.
It is interesting to note however, that the majority of people who are properly schooled, passed high school and or post secondary, use very little slang in their everyday conversations. However, those that are constantly using slang, often did poorly in their language skills class (if not poor in school altogether). Although this distinction is starting to disappear in the last 5 or so years, as slang is becoming more and more common with all people (especially the younger generation), whether they were well schooled or not.
So, back to the original topic of translations, most of todays common English language is derived from other languages, and as a result, slang has been created to create new words, ideas and such. On the flip side, languages such as German are much older and as such, never needed to be created in modern times, so translating words from slang English to German (French, etc) was not needed, so sometimes the current translations (as they exist) will not properly convey the same meanings as the 'original' slang English.
One thing which I do not know, and would be interested in learning, is really what is the difference between high and lo German - other than the fact that one was the noble and the other common man. Are they essentially one language now, or is there distinctive differences between the two?
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AXIOS
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #21 on: May 15th, 2005, 10:09pm » |
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do a translation for what the dutch word "geil" means
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silver.paladin
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #22 on: May 16th, 2005, 2:10am » |
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on May 15th, 2005, 10:09pm, AXIOS wrote:
| do a translation for what the dutch word "geil" means |
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You mean like "Geil as Boter"  Potatoes beware!
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AXIOS
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #23 on: May 16th, 2005, 10:16am » |
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on May 16th, 2005, 2:10am, silver.paladin wrote:
You mean like "Geil as Boter" Potatoes beware! |
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Ralph Herold
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Re: I don't speak German
« Reply #24 on: May 21st, 2005, 4:38pm » |
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silver.paladin: There is no true distinction between upper-class and lower-class German. As I believe it is true for most other languages as well, lower-class German has a more limited word pool, abbreviates and merges words, uses incorrect conjugations and declinations of words, and prefers to keep sentences short. In addition, lower-class German is more likely to use dialect.
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