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Explanation: die "Freuden der Jugend" fällt mir jetzt gerade spontan ein.
Ist übrigens auch ein Romantitel von Denton Welchs, vor ca. 60 Jahren verfasst.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2009-10-09 14:44:34 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Klar, ohne Kontext ist es nicht leicht den richtigen Ton zu treffen. Mein Gedanke ist: Hier denkt ein alter Mann, und der denkt eher in "altmodischen" Deutsch, gerade wenn es ein geflügeltes Wort ist, als ein junger Mensch.
Auch vom Kontext ist nicht zu sehen, ob es kleine unbeschwerte Kinder sind, oder Jugendliche, die Spaß haben.
Thanks, Anja, for these very illuminating links.
Next time the issue of context lacking (or is it lacking context?) arises, I'm going to call in a moderator and see what happens.
Diana
I'm newish here, so I may not have grasped the idea.
But I think things would have turned out differently if the asker had provided the context from the outset - or if the users had refused to post until context was forthcoming.
I have just been involved in the term "Muckefuck", which ended up with 9 ( !)possibilities and no decision, partly because the answerers did not realise that the asker was looking for a (possibly) quite different metapher than simply that of Ersatzkaffee.
Here again, the context was not clear from the beginning - perhaps answerers should insist on this BEFORE posting suggestions?
Ja, einverstanden. Das geflügelte Wort "Freuden der Jugend" ist auf den ersten Blick naheliegend, und ich hätt's wohl gepostet, wenn Du mir nicht knapp zuvorgekommen wärst. Deshalb hatte ich Dir auch sofort das erste agree gegeben (später zurückgezogen, als mehr zum Kontext bekannt wurde). Warum die "Die Freuden der Jugend" hier nicht passt, hat Dr. Cornelia Schmutzler in ihrem Diskussionsbeitrag auf den Punkt gebracht.
Anja, I am fully aware, that my answer is probably not the ideal and that there might be a better option. All we can do is trying to help. To choose the nuances is up to the individual translator. And it happens to all of us, that the answer one believes it best is not prefered by the asker. But at the end of the day kudoZ helped a lot of people.
There's no advantage whatsoever. I've been a bit disenchanted with KudoZ lately, that's all. Still, maybe I should't have withdrawn my answer as it could have been helpful at a later point (term search). Anyway, "Freuden der Jugend" will do most of the time (in other contexts than this one), so it's no big loss ;-)... Have a nice evening!
Sorry to be so insistent, Anja, but what was the advantage or benefit to be gained from withdrawing your posting? You didn't do so in order to post a new answer as I had wanted to do on this other thread, so can you explain why you did it here- or would you rather not explain?
Wie kann man seine Antwort zurückziehen, Anja? Ich habe das vorher noch nicht gesehen. Einmal habe ich eine zweite Antwort gepostet, weil ich mir meine erste Antwort nicht mehr gefiel,und hätte die erste gern gelöscht, wenn ich gewüßt hätte, wie...
Diana
Although "Die Freuden der Jugend" is ahead at the moment, I still think that this does not convey the mood of the passage well enough. There is not only nostalgia, there is also a kind of bitter-sweet regret at time passing ( Gefühl der Vergänglichkeit). The other thing is that when inserting the expression into the translation it must be clear whose youth is being referred to - I think Lucy's ? Anyway, I still think Anja has got it right.
Dear collegues - just some more arguments to consider ;-): I think the context of this passage is quite clear: “Lucy and her five-year-old daycare (Kinderkrippe) friends, so it’s indeed about children. However, when you think of „die Freuden der Jugend“, this means something like going out on weekends, dancing, hearing your favorite music, smoking your first cigarette or joint, travelling with a backpack, first love... Evoking this kind of associations between a wading pool and water pistols would mean quite an abrupt break in the flow of thoughts the elderly man is following in this text passage.
I think he remembers the good times they had. There may be some "Wehmut", but he uses the word joy. After reading the context, I agree with Alexandra's suggestion.
There seems to be an air of sadness/rememberance in the text that does not configurate with "Freuden". The joy of youth that does not realise what growing up means!!
Thank you. The surrounding paragraph reads: "A blue jay landed on the picnic table. Joe admired its color. Chickadees flitted in and about the white pine hedge he’d planted from knee high seedlings found in the woods. It was well over his head, now. He thought about the changes this back yard had seen over the years, mostly about Lucy growing. He remembered her pool party that hot August, her daycare friends in the wading pool, the sprinkler going, their laughter and shouts... The joy of youth. They liked it. Ah! And water pistols, the old kind, not those big new ones with tanks and pressure enough to knock out an eye. Had to fill them up. That’s when you got wet. They had a good time."
Yes, I wonder does he sigh as he looks at these kids playing. In this case I would say something like "Ach ja, wie schoen war doch die Zeit", "Ach damals, als man noch jung war" or something along those lines.
The suggestions below sound a bit like book titles to me.
I am with Kim and Anja here,a bit more text would help to show whether one has fond childhood memories, or not. The joy of youth could also describe a cynical view towards one`s childhood.
It's usually best to work with as much relevant source text as possible.
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Answers
5 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +9
die Freuden der Jugend
Explanation: die "Freuden der Jugend" fällt mir jetzt gerade spontan ein.
Ist übrigens auch ein Romantitel von Denton Welchs, vor ca. 60 Jahren verfasst.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2009-10-09 14:44:34 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Klar, ohne Kontext ist es nicht leicht den richtigen Ton zu treffen. Mein Gedanke ist: Hier denkt ein alter Mann, und der denkt eher in "altmodischen" Deutsch, gerade wenn es ein geflügeltes Wort ist, als ein junger Mensch.
Auch vom Kontext ist nicht zu sehen, ob es kleine unbeschwerte Kinder sind, oder Jugendliche, die Spaß haben.
Alexandra Collins Local time: 00:35 Works in field Native speaker of: German PRO pts in category: 4
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +9