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auf der kurzen Strecke

English translation: cut to the chase

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German term or phrase:	auf der kurzen Strecke
English translation:	cut to the chase
Entered by:	Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.

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14:13 Sep 15, 2003

[FAQ]

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary

German term or phrase: auf der kurzen Strecke

"Treueste Fankreise hat sie sich mit ihrer wöchentlichen Kolumne "XYZ" erworben: Dort geht es auf der kurzen Strecke um Männer und Frauen, sie ist Expertin auf dem Gebiet zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungen."

This is a bibliographical text about a certain author. I've asked German colleagues what "auf der kurzen Strecke" might mean in this context, but haven't come to any conclusions. I'd be grateful for any explanations/suggestions from anyone who knows what it means.

Many thanks

Ian

xxxIanW KudoZ activity Questions: 632 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 2731
Local time: 01:12

she cuts to the chase about men and women

Explanation:
Maybe too colorful, but I'd turn it around: An expert on relationships, she cuts to the chase...

Selected response from:

Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.

Grading comment

Thanks Maureen, and to everyone else who contributed.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

2 +4

in a nutshell

shabda

4 +2

In short terms

hirselina

3 +2

short pieces about

Nancy Arrowsmith

4 +1

see explanation below

Nicole Tata

4 +1

in the main (or in general) these columns are concerned with

Dr. Fred Thomson

3 +1

basically

Trudy Peters

in brief

Сергей Лузан

Her column is right on track......

roneill

In short articles

David Moore

she cuts to the chase about men and women

Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.

...to cut a long story short, it's about...

xxxAS in Munich

Answers

6 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

in a nutshell

Explanation:
....sounds like this

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Note added at 2003-09-15 14:23:18 (GMT)
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i.e. \"to put it short\"

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Note added at 2003-09-16 08:16:32 (GMT)
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Having considered the proposals below, I would like to put forward this opinion:
auf der kurzen Strecke being understood as \"spatially restricted column\" would mean that it is an adverbial of place. But then it should not have been separated from \"dort\".
Therefore I think it is an adverbial of manner, i.e. to take the shortcut way of telling s.th..

However, it is quite possible that it is not an interjection of the author of the text( to put it short), but means that she writes in a nutshell/ writes concisely/ writes briefly about....

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Note added at 2003-09-16 08:19:50 (GMT)
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Which is different from feeling shortage of space.

shabda
Local time: 02:12
Native speaker of:

Bulgarian
PRO pts in pair: 34

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

In short terms

Explanation:
"Auf der kurzen Strecke" is a sporting term refering to a short (running etc.) distance. "Kolumne" could be considered as "kurze Strecke" compared to "Romane".

Maybe you could leave things open by translating it as "in short terms"?

hirselina
Local time: 01:12
PRO pts in pair: 325

54 mins confidence:

she cuts to the chase about men and women

Explanation:
Maybe too colorful, but I'd turn it around: An expert on relationships, she cuts to the chase...

Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 986

Grading comment

Thanks Maureen, and to everyone else who contributed.

57 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

in the main (or in general) these columns are concerned with

Explanation:
I'm not sure that you need to find a phrase that exactly matches "auf der kurzen Strecke." I don't like "in short" or "in short terms" because I don't think it fits the context.
To say: "In a nutshell these columns are about . . ." doesn't work too well either.
Maybe: "These columns are really about men and women . . ."

Dr. Fred Thomson
United States
Local time: 17:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 5857

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

short pieces about

Explanation:
men and women

These are short pieces/texts about

Nancy Arrowsmith
Local time: 17:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 474

1 hr confidence:

In short articles

Explanation:
....possibly; sort of "in summary".

David Moore
Local time: 01:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 9023

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

see explanation below

Explanation:
Kurze Strecke refers to the fact that she only has a limited amount of space available (on the page, in the mag) for her column - these are short pieces, as Nancy has already said. In the context, I’d write something like:

Within the confines of her weekly column, she writes about men and women …

Her weekly column xyz has attracted a loyal following: succinct/concise articles about men and women and how they relate to each other are expertly delivered week/at the rate of one a week

Weekly column … where she manages to expertly deal with topics such as men, women and the relationship between in only a few hundred words.

hope it helps

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Note added at 2003-09-16 08:30:38 (GMT)
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weekly column ... where in (just) a few paragraphs ...

Nicole Tata
Local time: 00:12
Native speaker of:

English,

German
PRO pts in pair: 1322

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

basically

Explanation:
[The column] basically deals with men and women....

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Note added at 2003-09-15 16:14:34 (GMT)
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essentially may be a better option

Trudy Peters
Local time: 19:12
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in pair: 2962