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  2. Dutch to English

pfuj teufel!

English translation: bah!

09:18 Apr 21, 2001
Dutch to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary
Dutch term or phrase: pfuj teufel!
Context is a midden nederlands gedicht over Heironymus Bosch voor een rondleiding in Den Bosch
The whole line is as follows: 'Jeroen Bosch hield niet van vrouwen ..... pfuj teufel!'
Harold Mitchell
English translation:bah!
Explanation:
pfui = disgusting, yuck
Teufel ofcourse is the devil.
There is no really one-to-one translation of this
I thought of "bah humbug", which is a common expression of disgust, but humbug is = Schwindlerei. So "bah" is the onlything I can come up with.

Selected response from:

Alexander Schleber (X)
Belgium
Local time: 10:41
Grading comment
What made this answer acceptable was pfui = disgusting, which I didn't know. I don't necessarily think that in a text like this, contemporary glosses like bah!, beurk!, goodness me, no! or similar really express the time and place adequately, so my preference is to treat it literally as 'disgusting devil!' Bosch is involved in some kind of defection to the baroque Spanish Church is what I surmise, and he has painted some kind of incriminating painting. The
poem or poem fragment is an exponent of a religious and artistic polemic. Very many thanks for this, which was immensely helpful.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
nabah!
Alexander Schleber (X)
naperish the thought!
Marijke Mayer
nagood gracious, no!
Carla Zwanenberg
naFie devil
Vesna Zivcic
nabeurk!!
Madeleine van Zanten
nabloody hell
Berry Prinsen


  

Answers


31 mins
bah!


Explanation:
pfui = disgusting, yuck
Teufel ofcourse is the devil.
There is no really one-to-one translation of this
I thought of "bah humbug", which is a common expression of disgust, but humbug is = Schwindlerei. So "bah" is the onlything I can come up with.



Alexander Schleber (X)
Belgium
Local time: 10:41
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 826
Grading comment
What made this answer acceptable was pfui = disgusting, which I didn't know. I don't necessarily think that in a text like this, contemporary glosses like bah!, beurk!, goodness me, no! or similar really express the time and place adequately, so my preference is to treat it literally as 'disgusting devil!' Bosch is involved in some kind of defection to the baroque Spanish Church is what I surmise, and he has painted some kind of incriminating painting. The
poem or poem fragment is an exponent of a religious and artistic polemic. Very many thanks for this, which was immensely helpful.
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53 mins
perish the thought!


Explanation:
As you will know, opposed to German, in Dutch and English we don't use the word devil anymore in this context. If you want to use something contemporary, then you might have to look into this direction: what a devilish thought/the very idea repulsed him


    own experience
Marijke Mayer
Netherlands
Local time: 10:41
Native speaker of: Dutch
PRO pts in pair: 525

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Sven Petersson
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56 mins
good gracious, no!


Explanation:
Just another possibility that came to my mind.

Groeten,
Carla

Carla Zwanenberg
Netherlands
Local time: 10:41
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
PRO pts in pair: 187

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Sven Petersson
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1 hr
Fie devil


Explanation:
"... that tastes really awful. And the equivalent with the exact same meaning in German is "Pfui", often used for emphasis as in "Pfui Teufel !" (fie devil)."

Also found:

How disgusting!
For shame!
To hell with!


    Reference: http://www.vub.ac.be/STER/KoenWWW/Ph/Links/dig228.txt
Vesna Zivcic
Local time: 10:41
Native speaker of: Croatian
PRO pts in pair: 4
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5 hrs
beurk!!


Explanation:
none

Madeleine van Zanten
Switzerland
Local time: 10:41
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in pair: 68
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5 hrs
bloody hell


Explanation:
This would be the translation for the colloquial German expression.
I wonder if even in midden nederlands the expression pfuj teufel was used but nowadays when used in the German language it means bloody hell.
Berry

Berry Prinsen
Spain
Local time: 10:41
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Sven Petersson
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