English translation: the romance/glory(of being there)
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00:20 Feb 22, 2011
German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
German term or phrase:bei uns Dichten
"Sie bekommen bei uns Dichten, 10 Mark am Tag, außerdem ersetzen wir ihnen den Lohnverlust." In an account of an attempt to make a film on a shoestring budget, written by the director. Does "dicht" have a colloquial meaning here? (I believe the suggestion is that the filmmakers are tightwads, paying the actors minimally--is that an idiomatic meaning of "dicht"?)
Thanks Ramey. This one is still a bit of a mystery to me, but this answer seems to be in the right spirit, anyway. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
@ everyone
Why on earth should it not be poetry? Let me tell you from the native speaker's point of view. Either they have to jump into the water and get some kind of tight swimming rings - if that's what you are looking for - or they get the let's say priveledge of poetry. It's just a verb that has been made into a substantive in an uncommon way.
@ Ramey
The romance/glory of being there would be if they did something for free, so I think it does not fit idiomatically with 10 Marks per day and wage compensation.
Thanks for your input. So far I don't think I've found the solution, so here's a little more context. This is describing a film made with amateur actors who took leave from their jobs. The director writes: "Die fünf Leute, die wir uns ausgesucht haben, kriegen Urlaub. Sie bekommen bei uns Dichten, 10 Mark am Tag, außerdem ersetzen wir ihnen den Lohnverlust." To answer the questions: it is a capital D; it's definitely not poetry; and this is a published text written by the director, so a transcription error seems unlikely. However, I'm divided on whether then first comma is right--I'm tempted to read it as "bei uns Dichten," rather than reading "Dichten" as the first object of "Sie bekommen," but I'm not quite sure how to translate it either way.
is not "tight" in the sense of stingy.
It could possibly be a transcription error for "dicke 10 Mark" which would be Berlinerisch (?) for "with us, you can earn easily 10 Marks".
This would make sense in this particular sentence, but we would need more context to be sure.
Is that first comma accurately copied from the source text? If so, it surely has a grammatical purpose.
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Answers
18 hrs confidence:
poetry
Explanation: Dichten = to write, to make, to put together poetry. Gedichte=poetry. If the director says you get to make poetry, he is colloqially - though it is an unusual phrase, and he can`t say Dichtkunst and he can`t say Gedichte schreiben - referring to the freedom of art that lyes between the lines of the poetry and their interpretation- the script for the actors. =You get poetry and some kind of wage and maybe a bed to sleep in. It definately does not reffer to a tight wage in that sense. It means he won`t be bothering the actor with their interpretation. (Maybe he is not in the position to evaluate that, anyway...:-) )
Juliana Mraz Germany Local time: 00:31 Specializes in field Native speaker of: German
The translation workplace 
