09:12 Sep 2, 2001 |
German to English translations [PRO] Tech/Engineering | |||||
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| Selected response from: Dan McCrosky (X) Local time: 17:14 | ||||
Grading comment
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Summary of answers provided | ||||
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na | small transporter |
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na | van |
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na | Pick-up truck |
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na | small lorry / small van |
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na | Light goods vehicle |
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na | (mini) panel van or light truck or van |
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na | small lorry (UK) / light truck or van (US) |
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na | minivan / light pick-up (U.S.) |
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na | van |
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small transporter Explanation: By all means, GOOGLE was right. Small transporter is the officially used term. Regards, medline |
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van Explanation: If it's got dedicated storage space, I'd call it a van. A minivan is more of an oversized family car. Handy for shopping and bringing kids to football practise. |
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Pick-up truck Explanation: It depends on the model. Pick-up truck is another possibility. |
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small lorry / small van Explanation: These would be the UK English equivalents. Also one should remember, that a lorry can be an open motor vehicle, whereas a van is usually closed. In my experience "transporters" are usually closed vehicles. HTH |
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Light goods vehicle Explanation: Another alternative maybe, then you don't have to worry about whether to call it a van or not |
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(mini) panel van or light truck or van Explanation: This one is not easy. As Evind mentioned, a Minivan is usually a somewhat oversized or undersized family car, the oversized ones are normally shaped like a teardrop with the small end forward and the undersized ones mostly look like a shoebox with a nose. A pick-up is usually not translated or referred to as a "Pritsche" form of "Kleintransporter". This site is not a real authority but they use "van" for "Kleintransporter": http://www.pdcastings.co.uk/pbs/index.shtml PBS (precision brake disks GmbH) is one of the foremost brake disks manufacturers in the automotive industry. PBS brake disks are available for most models of cars and vans, offering the customer the optimum product at the optimum price. = PBS (Präzisions Brems Scheiben GmbH) ist einer der führenden Hersteller von Bremsscheiben für die Automobilindustrie. PBS-Bremsscheiben sind für nahezu alle PKW-Modelle und Kleintransporter erhältlich und bieten dem Kunden das bestmögliche Produkt zum bestmöglichen Preis. The biggest problem with "van" for "Kleintransporter" is that VW has or better had a model called simply the "Transporter". I have owned a couple and they were just a VW Bus without windows behind the driver's seat. That same model is now called a "Van". This BBC site uses "VW van" for what I would call a "VW bus", in other words, with windows: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/newsnight/newsid_137... So more confusion. This less than authoritative site: http://mars.spaceports.com/~bund/flecktarn_fahrzeuge-heer.ht... uses the term small cargo lorries, but cannot even spell the plural of lorry: Kleintransporter {Small cargo lorrys} A Google English .com search for the phrase "small transporter" only turns up 112 hits, mostly not pertinent. http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&num=100&btnG=Google-Suche... The same search under .uk yields only nine hits, about half not pertinent. Because of the limited usage, "small transporter" might not be such a good choice. An old term, "panel van" still draws over 700 .uk English Google hits and over 3000 .com English Google hits. The problem is that although the term is very clearly self-explanatory, many of the hit sites refer to old-timer vehicles. http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&num=100&btnG=Google-Suche... http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&safe=o... Some of the hits were modern enough though, such as this Citroen site: http://www.avalon-citroen.co.uk/interface/generic01/WebPage.... DaimlerChrysler refers to a "Kastenwagen" as a "panel van" still today. http://www.mercedes-benz.com/e/ecars/transporter/sprinter/pd... As does Mazda: http://www.southamptonmazda.com/s-evan.html Based on all the above, I think "(mini) panel van" might still be the best choice even today if you know the rear of the vehicle is enclosed, if you do not know this for sure, "light truck" draws 26,000 .com English Google hits and over 200 .uk hits. "light lorry" draws only three hits so just plain "van" might be better for the UK. HTH Dan |
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small lorry (UK) / light truck or van (US) Explanation: Van can refer to an automobile that carries small commercial loads as well as a personal vehicle (like a minivan). However, do not use minivan if you are not sure if it refers to a personal (not commercial) vehicle. Full-time inhouse translator in US |
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minivan / light pick-up (U.S.) Explanation: The answer in part will depend on the appearance of the vehicle. If it is a small an, it'd be a minivan, if it is a small pickup truck, it would be a light pick-up. |
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van Explanation: if it's closed as you indicate or pick-up if it's open (i.e. a small lorry) 13 years in Germany + professional experience |
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