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German to English translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - Economics / from a business book
German term or phrase:unter Zwang stehen
These "meines" Autors:
Im Regelfall arbeiten Menschen (und wirtschaften Unternehmen) nicht, weil sie wollen, sondern weil sie müssen. *Sie stehen unter Zwang.* (Grund: Weil sie Verpflichtungen/ökonomische Schuldverhältnisse eingegangen sind)
Wie sage ich das am besten?
They are under pressure? They act under constraint? They are under duress???? They are forced to?
Ich brauche dasselbe Wort noch einmal für die Überschrift: Wirtschaften resultiert aus Zwang.
Der Stil des Buches ist zwar seriös, aber nicht steif. Es ist eben kein wissenschaftiches Werk, sondern ein Sachbuch für Manager.
Das scheint mir - wenn auch als Nicht-Muttersprachler - die genaueste Entsprechung für einen unpersönlichen Zwang - ökon. Zwangslage - zu sein (sicher besser als force und pressure) und würde sich auch gut für den Titel machen - ich glaube besser als 'compulsion' wegen dessen Psycho-Konnotation.
Aber Dianas "are compelled to" ist sicher auch eine gute Lösung für den Satz.
Vgl. to be constrained by circumstances = Sachzwängen unterliegen (Dict.)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 8 days (2009-11-24 22:55:38 GMT) Post-grading --------------------------------------------------
Apparently it is impossible to let the system "decide". I am giving the points to Peter because I ended up using his wording and because I found his explanation very enlightening.
Everyone else, please forgive. I regret not being able to grade several answers at once... Thanks again for an interesting discussion and many helpful comments. 3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I'll leave it to the system to award the points this time, as each of you has provided valuable inputs and I just can't make up my mind on which answer to choose.
As for my text, I'll probably go back using either "necessity" or "constraint", both of them options I had been considering before I posted.
Thanks again, this has been very insightful!
@Necessity
scheint mir nicht so gut zu passen, da uneindeutiger als 'Zwang' und etwa '...results from necessity' nicht den gleichen Bedeutungsgehalt hat (bei 'Zwang' geht es um einen kausalen Mechanismus - à la 'unsichtbare Hand'-, während 'necessity' eine finale Zweckbestimmung beschreibt).
Actually, what Joanna and wfarkas wrote is exactly how I read that sentence: They work (do business) because they have no choice/alternative.
So that is the meaning: "Sie stehen unter Zwang" = sie haben keine Wahl, sie sind durch die Umstände gezwungen.
Which English translation of "Zwang" would best convey that meaning?
Actually, I had also thought of "necessity" (which would also work nicely for the chapter title). Would that be off the mark?
Not sure if being a native speaker really helps here, but my personal feeling is that "force" has more to do with brute strength applied directly (fors - strength) and "compel" with necessitating something using force (pellere - drive). The other difference that presents itself to me is that "compel" is used a lot in the passive, which is why I prefer "the workers are compelled to...". But in fact there is really very little in it!
Compel means to constrain (which is yet another alternative). to (bring about by) force. Force also means to constrain (against one's will). Either word would work, just decide which fits your context and register best.
Could any of the native speakers explain to me what the difference is between force and compel? Where is the nuance? And would one rather be compelled or forced by circumstance?
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Answers
7 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
are forced
Explanation: would be my choice. They don't work because they want to but because they are forced.
Ted Wozniak United States Local time: 17:57 Meets criteria Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
17 mins confidence:
have no alternative
Explanation: They are forced to do so because they have no alternative - but no one is brandishing a stick!
Maybe lack of alternative is easier to work into your title too.
Joanna Scudamore-Trezek Austria Local time: 00:57 Meets criteria Works in field Native speaker of: English
xxxwfarkas Canada Local time: 18:57 Meets criteria Works in field Native speaker of: English, French
32 mins confidence:
under duress
Explanation: ‘Outside of the hotel industry, about two-thirds of the Filipino work force, including the undocumented, live and work under duress.’ http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/017.html
‘The prohibition of all forms of forced labor: includes security from prison labor and slavery, and prevents workers from being forced to work under duress’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_rights
‘Human services professionals are pivotal members of our society. They often work under duress and as a result, stress related health and mental health problems commonly lead to job burnout in this population (Maslach 2003).’ http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/32767203/...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 39 Min. (2009-11-16 15:47:39 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Explanation: The advantage here is that you also have compulsion, they are under compulsion, for use elsewhere in the text.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 4 hrs (2009-11-16 19:28:13 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
to force and to compel are almost but not quite synonyms (see the discussion) for zwingen.
The other reason why I prefer "compel" here is the association with "compulsive" = "zwanghaft" . I think there is a tiny bit of "Zwanghaftigkeit" involved in "unter Zwang stehen"
British Diana Germany Local time: 00:57 Meets criteria Works in field Native speaker of: English
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peer agreement (net): +1
