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kankerbak

English translation: bloody prison, damned prison


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Dutch term or phrase:kankerbak
English translation:bloody prison, damned prison
Entered by: Charles Stanford
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07:02 Aug 27, 2007
Dutch to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Prisoner's letter
Dutch term or phrase: kankerbak
Sorry if this is offensive (which I think it might be) but in a prisoner's letter, he uses the term "kankerbak" and I cannot find an English translation anywhere. Any help very welcome.
Charles Stanford
Czech Republic
Local time: 06:31
bloody prison, damned prison
Explanation:
'Kanker' (literally meaning 'cancer', of course ) is often used to ascribe a negative quality to all kinds of things, in this case 'bak' (a colloquial term for prison). In this context that would amount to something like '(this) bloody prison' or '(this) damned prison'. Hope this helps!
Selected response from:

Jack den Haan
Netherlands
Local time: 06:31
Grading comment
brilliant - thank you Jack
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2hellhole
Casey Dovale
3 +2bloody prison, damned prison
Jack den Haan


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
bloody prison, damned prison


Explanation:
'Kanker' (literally meaning 'cancer', of course ) is often used to ascribe a negative quality to all kinds of things, in this case 'bak' (a colloquial term for prison). In this context that would amount to something like '(this) bloody prison' or '(this) damned prison'. Hope this helps!

Jack den Haan
Netherlands
Local time: 06:31
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 26
Grading comment
brilliant - thank you Jack

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Buck
4 mins
  -> Thanks, B.
agree  Neil Cross
1 day4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Neil.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
hellhole


Explanation:
This is the negative term typically used in the US for prisons.

Casey Dovale
Local time: 06:31
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in DutchDutch
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: thanks Casey - yours was actually the term I used and thank you for that, but I hope you won't mind me giving the points to Jack because I had to get it off in 2 mins flat and he got straight back to me... thank you though


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Adam Smith
33 mins
agree  Lawyer-Linguist: better of the two answers, although Jack's explanation of how he got to the answer will no doubt be very helpful for the asker
7 hrs
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Changes made by editors
Aug 27, 2007 - Changes made by Antoinette Verburg:
Field (specific)Other => General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters


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