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Jugend ist nicht immer Gott.

English translation: Youth is not invincible.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Jugend ist nicht immer Gott.
English translation:Youth is not invincible.
Entered by: Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.

12:33 Jan 18, 2004
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary / story set in Germany during WWII
German term or phrase: Jugend ist nicht immer Gott.
Anyone ever hear this saying before? It’s supposedly Bavarian, but a Bavarian friend of mine said he’d never heard it before. What does it mean?

In my text the count has been injured in a bloodbath and his son rides off into the night to rescue him. His fiancée is afflicted by bad premonitions and stares out into the night waiting for her lover to return. She thinks the following to herself:

Der Sommer voller Hoffnung war dahin. Der Sommer ihrer Liebe auch? Bäume, sie stehen und wachsen und schweigen. Jugend ist night immer Gott. Er war die erste Nacht mit Frost, alles bekam eine weiße Schicht.

Any ideas?? At the moment I’m sort of leaning towards
God does not always protect the young.
This might stray too far from the original, but writing something along the lines of Youth is not always God makes no real sense to me.

Thanks for all your help!
Gunilla Zedigh
Germany
Local time: 23:21
youth is not invincible after all
Explanation:
The "immer" is just expedient. Not terrific style. What needs to be conveyed is the unreasoning hopefulness, now tempered.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs 23 mins (2004-01-18 15:57:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

... Youth believe they are invincible and they constantly questions and challenge
authority. ... Point 2 - Youth culture feels they are invincible. ...
www.wayne.unl.edu/newsitems/news030922093319
Selected response from:

Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
United States
Local time: 17:21
Grading comment
thanks everyone ... i forgot to mention that this sentence broke with the style of the original and that's why i wanted to change it ... i agree that it makes as much sense in german as in english ... think i prefer invincible ... but not because i'm frightened ... thanks again! gz
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3youth is not always almighty
AThode (X)
4 +2youth is not invincible after all
Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
3 +2God is not always on the side of youth
IanW (X)
4 +1Youth is not always God
Richard Benham
4there is more to life than being young
Roddy Stegemann
3 +1Youthfulness is not immortal.
vishoy


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
God is not always on the side of youth


Explanation:
I'm not 100% sure if that's the right interpretation - let's see what our German colleagues have to say ...

IanW (X)
Local time: 23:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 2468

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Will Matter: pretty close!
1 hr
agree  Gareth McMillan: "But global marketing is!" I rather like yours in spite of its deviation.
5 days
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3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
youth is not always almighty


Explanation:
nicely captures double sense + German meaning behind the words

AThode (X)
Local time: 23:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in pair: 21

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michele Johnson
1 hr
agree  Will Matter: nice!
1 hr
agree  Ellen Zittinger
10 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
there is more to life than being young


Explanation:
In the spirit that she is growing up.

Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 14:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 285

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Richard Benham: "There is more to life than being alive"--A Thorogood: Home Sweet Home
7 hrs
  -> Yeah, like eating the dead! In the spirit of never having grown up!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
youth is not invincible after all


Explanation:
The "immer" is just expedient. Not terrific style. What needs to be conveyed is the unreasoning hopefulness, now tempered.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs 23 mins (2004-01-18 15:57:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

... Youth believe they are invincible and they constantly questions and challenge
authority. ... Point 2 - Youth culture feels they are invincible. ...
www.wayne.unl.edu/newsitems/news030922093319

Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
United States
Local time: 17:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 986
Grading comment
thanks everyone ... i forgot to mention that this sentence broke with the style of the original and that's why i wanted to change it ... i agree that it makes as much sense in german as in english ... think i prefer invincible ... but not because i'm frightened ... thanks again! gz

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ellen Zittinger: I also like "youth is not invincible"
6 hrs
agree  Roddy Stegemann: Yes, the feeling of invincibility is what gives youth its character and its worth. Life for the sake of living!
6 days
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1 day 22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Youthfulness is not immortal.


Explanation:
To me "Gott" here means immortal.

vishoy
Local time: 02:51
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 6

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gareth McMillan: Agree, but just "youth"- direct ref. to age. "Youthfulness" is only the appearance of youth. "Immortal" is by far the best solution here, for me.
3 days 23 hrs
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5 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Youth is not always God


Explanation:
This makes about as much sense in English as it does in German (in fact it is perfectly understandable in both languages). So there is no need to mess around with it.

Richard Benham
France
Local time: 23:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 777

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gareth McMillan: About as good as the source text. So it has to be right, nicht war? ADD: Could be the site wants to limit its operations to the northern hemisphere- nothing more than that.
38 mins
  -> Thanks for getting and agreeing before I get suppressed again.
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