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Aufräumer

English translation: trouble-shooter

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	Aufräumer
English translation:	trouble-shooter
Entered by:	Belinda Zauner

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16:04 Jun 29, 2008

German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general)

German term or phrase: Aufräumer

Als XXX zum Vorstandsvorsitzenden der [Firma] berufen wurde, eilte ihm ein wenig der Ruf des jungen, toughen Aufräumers voraus.

From a magazine article. I understand the meaning of "Aufräumer" (someone who goes in to sort out a company that's having problems) but can't think what term we would use in English...

Belinda Zauner KudoZ activity Questions: 57 (1 open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 0
Local time: 21:45

trouble-shooter

Explanation:
How about this for pretty mid-Atlantic expression?
That's what many an "Aufräumer" has been called in the past.

Selected response from:

David Moore
Local time: 21:45

Grading comment

It was a tough call as there were a number of good answers, but "trouble-shooter" was the expression that had been on the tip of my tongue and was what I decided to go for in the end.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

efficiency expert

Jim Tucker

4 +2

Mr Fixit

Robin Salmon

3 +2

trouble-shooter

David Moore

whip things into shape

Paul Cohen

3 +1

hatchet man

jccantrell

someone who will clear the decks

Helen Shiner

4 -1

a tough clean sweeper

Ellen Kraus

someone who will clean house

gangels

...to straighten things out

Nicole Y. Adams, M.A.

young Turk

Jonathan MacKerron

radical reformer

franglish

tough sweeper

Christo Metschkaroff

Discussion entries: 3

Answers

23 mins confidence:

tough sweeper

Explanation:
Somebody who can manage a hard task - e.g. to restructure a company, to rehabilitate it, etc.

Christo Metschkaroff
Bulgaria
Local time: 22:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Bulgarian
PRO pts in category: 12

31 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

a tough clean sweeper

Explanation:
in Anlehnung an: a new broom sweeps clean neue Besen kehren gut

Ellen Kraus
Local time: 21:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 77

1 hr confidence:

radical reformer

Explanation:
[PPT] General Overview of Russia and Russian Investors MarketFile Format: Microsoft Powerpoint - View as HTML
He has been a radical reformer and his losses are due more to the compromises he ..... Grigory Kulikov, chairman of the board at MIEL, one of Moscow's top ...
negochia.com/files/presentation.ppt - Similar pages

[PPT] General Overview of Russia and Russian Investors MarketFile Format: Microsoft Powerpoint - View as HTML
He has been a radical reformer and his losses are due more to the compromises he ..... Grigory Kulikov, chairman of the board at MIEL, one of Moscow's top ...
negochia.com/files/presentation.ppt - Similar pages

I'll grant it's more often used in politics

franglish
Local time: 21:45
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 34

1 hr confidence:

someone who will clean house

Explanation:
he arrived with the reputation as a young, no-nonsense guy who will clean house.

In the US: To clean house here means getting rid of the old encrusted management. But to say 'housecleaner' would miss the mark. Nor should you say 'to clean THE house', just 'to clean house'.

gangels
Local time: 13:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

German
PRO pts in category: 184

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

trouble-shooter

Explanation:
How about this for pretty mid-Atlantic expression?
That's what many an "Aufräumer" has been called in the past.

David Moore
Local time: 21:45
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 225

Grading comment

It was a tough call as there were a number of good answers, but "trouble-shooter" was the expression that had been on the tip of my tongue and was what I decided to go for in the end.

2 hrs confidence:

young Turk

Explanation:
perhaps

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2008-06-29 18:16:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

someone who wasn't afraid to upset the apple cart

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2008-06-29 18:21:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

came in like gangbusters

Jonathan MacKerron
Local time: 21:45
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 152

5 hrs confidence:

...to straighten things out

Explanation:
...reputation of a tough young gun who straightens things out

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2008-06-29 21:59:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry, I should have put "someone to straighten things out" in the headline

Nicole Y. Adams, M.A.
Australia
Local time: 05:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

German
PRO pts in category: 12

6 hrs confidence:

someone who will clear the decks

Language variant: someone who will sweep with a new broom

Explanation:
Hope this helps

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:45
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 27

9 hrs confidence:

whip things into shape

Explanation:
He was preceded by his reputation as a young tough executive who whips things into shape.

An example from BusinessWeek:
"The flexibility and lack of structure, which had enabled the company's success, had also by then produced a bloated staff and inefficient workflow. So McNerney had plenty of cause to ***whip things into shape.***"
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038406....

"I still believe that there will shortly be hundreds of millions of people making “phone calls” on the stupid network, doing things that were impossible on the old telecom network. But whether they’ll be doing it on Skype is becoming less likely. Skype needs someone with strategic discipline to ***whip things into shape.***"
http://www.telepocalypse.net/archives/000761.html

Paul Cohen
Greenland
Local time: 17:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 56

9 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

Mr Fixit

Explanation:
I have heard this expression in the context (see Google link).

Reference: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=corporate+Mr+Fixit&bt...

Robin Salmon
Australia
Local time: 05:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

17 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

efficiency expert

Explanation:
or "business efficiency expert" - someone who goes into a company and fires a lot of people, or (in the best case) restructures the co. for efficient use of its resources

Jim Tucker
United States
Native speaker of: English

22 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

hatchet man

Explanation:
This is for the USA. Someone who comes in to reduce expenses, usually by eliminating jobs and workers.

Pretty common usage in USA financial articles when a company is undergoing reorganization.

Reference: http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/46/1/84.pdf
Reference: http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/4097.html

jccantrell
Local time: 12:45
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 100

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Changes made by editors

Jun 30, 2008 - Changes made by David Moore:
Field (specific)	Idioms / Maxims / Sayings => Business/Commerce (general)
Jun 30, 2008 - Changes made by Steffen Walter:
Field (specific)	Business/Commerce (general) => Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

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Aufräumer

English translation: trouble-shooter

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Aufräumer

English translation: trouble-shooter

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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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