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the Wally with the Brolly

German translation: Steve McSchirm, Trottel ohne Hirn

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23:44 Dec 29, 2010

English to German translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Steve McClaren's nickname

English term or phrase: the Wally with the Brolly

Hi All,

This one has been haunting me on and off for a couple of years. There must be a better translation than the seemingly official "Trottel mit dem Schirm".

I'm sure someone can come up with something which has a nicer ring to it?
Well, maybe not. But you could at least try! :-)

Yes, it's about Steve McClaren, former England football manager.
If you need more info, please read e.g.:
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/von-sir-alex-zu-dieter-hoen...

TIA,
Cilian

(And no, there's no context as such. I don't have a specific text. But it's mentioned so often in the sports media, and gets me thinking every time.)

Cilian O'Tuama KudoZ activity Questions: 147 (none open) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 5874
Local time: 10:21

German translation:Steve McSchirm, Trottel ohne Hirn

Explanation:
ohne Gewähr - spiele eher selten Fußball

Selected response from:

Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Local time: 01:21

Grading comment

The more literal translations don't do it for me, sound too forced. I think the simple McSchirm is best. Thanks all round.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +2

Steve McSchirm, Trottel ohne Hirn

Johanna Timm, PhD

der Schirm- und Hirnlose

Thayenga

Kleines Hirn mit großem Schirm/Platzheld (Superheld) mit Regenzelt

Susanne Schiewe

der Trainer, der trotz Schirm mit seiner Mannschaft baden ging

Stephanie Busch

der Knallkopf mit dem Parapluie

Bernhard Sulzer

wenn der Steven mit dem Schirme

Joan Hass

der Wally hat sie nicht alle

Ramey Rieger

der Blödel mit dem Regenknödel

David Hollywood

der Riesentrottel mit dem Riesenschirm

katiadegennaro

Summary of reference entries provided

Stevey Poppins

kriddl

Discussion entries: 8

Answers

4 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly der Blödel mit dem Regenknödel

Explanation:
rhymes and with a wee bit of poetic licence .....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2010-12-30 04:21:15 GMT)
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imaginative thinkers will maybe see the image :)

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Note added at 4 hrs (2010-12-30 04:24:03 GMT)
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i.e large round things like an umbrella ... bit far fancied I admit ...

David Hollywood
Local time: 05:21
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

the wally with the brolly

Steve McSchirm, Trottel ohne Hirn

Explanation:
ohne Gewähr - spiele eher selten Fußball

Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Local time: 01:21
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 55

Grading comment

The more literal translations don't do it for me, sound too forced. I think the simple McSchirm is best. Thanks all round.

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you. Maybe just (Steve) McSchirm would even suffice, although a lot kinder than the English.

6 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly der Schirm- und Hirnlose

Explanation:
Hits the tone of the original

Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 10:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Hmm, you don't seem to have read the Q properly.

10 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly der Wally hat sie nicht alle

Explanation:
just as silly

Ramey Rieger
Local time: 10:21
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Hmm, you don't seem to have read the Q properly.

14 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly wenn der Steven mit dem Schirme

Explanation:
auf entsprechende Person bezogen, mit Hinweis auf meinen Beitrag zu kiddl:
ich denke mal da kommt der Ausdruck her und sollte so auch stehen bleiben schmunzeln musste ich weil der Ausdruck von Steven P. kommt und der betroffene "Fussball-Manager" Steve heisst. Die Bilder passen perfekt ;-)

könnte man es meiner Ansicht nach scherzhafterweise mit:
"wenn der Steven mit dem Schirme" .... "übersetzen" besser deuten,
denn es scheint sich ja auf den Manager zu beziehen.

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Note added at 14 hrs (2010-12-30 13:57:32 GMT)
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bin kein Fussballkenner, aber in Zusammenhang mit einem Fussballmanager
find ich Begriffe wie Trottel etc... nicht angebracht, mögen in gewisser Weise gerechtfertigt sein , wenn sein Management zu wünschen übrig lässt, aber da hab ich keine Ahnung von.

Joan Hass
Local time: 10:21
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 8

16 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly der Riesentrottel mit dem Riesenschirm

Explanation:
riesig komisch? ;-)

katiadegennaro
Local time: 10:21

Notes to answerer

Asker: macht einen Riesenunterschied :-)

5 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly der Knallkopf mit dem Parapluie

Explanation:
my suggestion as a similarly funny-sounding phrase (at least I tried):)
or a picture of a man that appears quite silly under a big umbrella.
In Anlehnung an McClown:

der (Trainer)Clown mit dem großen, bunten (Regen)Schirm

http://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/startseite/detail/-/spec...

http://de.eurosport.yahoo.com/fussball/mauertaktik/article/3...
Fantasie-Parapluie

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Note added at 6 hrs (2010-12-30 06:43:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

PS: ich versteh Parapluie schon, aber wenn es jemandem zu veraltet ist, dann halt "Regenschirm"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2010-12-30 06:46:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

...was aber nicht origineller wäre als die überall verbreitete Übersetzung. "Parapluie" macht's m.E. bunter und komischer.

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Note added at 1 day1 hr (2010-12-31 01:31:10 GMT)
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der Heini -- ja, aber der Gedanke mit dem Schirm muss m.E. erhalten bleiben. "Im Trockenen" bringt das nicht rüber.

Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 04:21
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 35

Notes to answerer

Asker: der trockene Hirt / der Heini im Trockenen... ?

2 days14 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly Kleines Hirn mit großem Schirm/Platzheld (Superheld) mit Regenzelt

Explanation:
Flachhirn unter'm Regenschirm

noch ein paar Vorschläge ...

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Note added at 2 Tage14 Stunden (2011-01-01 14:14:40 GMT)
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Vollpfosten mit Schirm/Vollpfosten auf Regenwachposten
Vollhorst mit Schirm/Schirmhorst/Schirmdepp
Dummbauer auf Regenlauer

Susanne Schiewe
Germany
Local time: 10:21
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 16

3 days11 hrs confidence:

the wally with the brolly der Trainer, der trotz Schirm mit seiner Mannschaft baden ging

Explanation:
or:

der Trainer, der zusammen mit seiner Mannschaft im Regen stand

The first wordings that came to my mind were:

Steve McClaren und seine Mannschaft standen als begossene Pudel da
Steve McClaren und seine Mannschaft gaben keine gute Figur ab

But somehow I think this is too hard. After all there can be only one winner to a game, even if the media like to treat losers as utter failures. Steve McClaren surely is no brainless idiot; rather he was out of luck in having this photo circulate on top of losing an important match.

I hesitated a long time over whether I should add any more translation suggestions to the existing ones - some of which I find really funny, though on the whole I think they do justice neither to the person nor to the situation. Expressions like "Trottel" should be handled with care - "wally" was probably mainly used because it rhymes nicely with "brolly". And in the absence of a "considerate" rhyme in German, using a metaphor might be a neat solution.

Stephanie Busch
Germany
Local time: 10:21
Native speaker of:

German

Notes to answerer

Asker: We're translators, not dipomats. :-)

Reference comments

9 hrs peer agreement (net): +1

Reference: Stevey Poppins

Reference information:
Ein Bild zum Thema! Finde allerdings den eingebürgerten Trottel mit dem Regenschirm ganz ok. Knirps passt ja leider weder auf den Schirm noch auf den Mann...

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesparrowman/4592917680/

kriddl
Germany
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 8

Note to reference poster

Asker: Yes, thanks. Something along these lines might be best.

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the Wally with the Brolly

German translation: Steve McSchirm, Trottel ohne Hirn

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the Wally with the Brolly

German translation: Steve McSchirm, Trottel ohne Hirn

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Answers

Reference comments

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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