alte Möhre - obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment ( translation glossary) Customer feedback,General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters,Tech/Engineering

« alveolengängig

Return to KudoZ list

Sicherheitsblutabna... »

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	alte Möhre
English translation:	obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment
Entered by:	jfwhiteley

Options:
- Contribute to this entry

10:32pm Jan 22, 2007

German to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Customer feedback

German term or phrase: alte Möhre

This is from a consumer customer response to the manufacturer about the manufacturer's product, which is an extractor hood for home stoves.

jahrelang haben wir nach einem gescheiten Ersatz für unsere "alte Möhre" geucht.

jfwhiteley

KudoZ activity
Questions: 343 (9 open)
Answers: 0

United States

obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment

Explanation:
Everywhere I have seen this used, this is what they are talking about. I wanted to say "old piece of junk" but this German seems to be used for working equipment, so junk does not get done.

Jalopy might work for a car, but as you are not talking about a car. Maybe this will give people a push in other directions

Selected response from:

jccantrell
United States

Note from asker to answerer

Hello,

Thanks for the help. I used decrepit.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +6

old banger

xxxFrancis Lee

3 +2

(old) worn-out (exhaust) pipe* / the (our) good old pipe

Bernhard Sulzer

3 +2

obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment

jccantrell

old clunker

Annette Urbschat

hunk a junk

Jonathan MacKerron

Answers

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment

Explanation:
Everywhere I have seen this used, this is what they are talking about. I wanted to say "old piece of junk" but this German seems to be used for working equipment, so junk does not get done.

Jalopy might work for a car, but as you are not talking about a car. Maybe this will give people a push in other directions

jccantrell
United States
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Note from asker to answerer

Hello,

Thanks for the help. I used decrepit.

8 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

old banger

Explanation:
Yes, "old banger" usely applies to a car, but for me it works here too because the extractor hood is likewise a clapped out device that is almost part of the family. This is probably not what they'd say in N. America (also re. "clapped out"), but still ... Any more info on context?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2007-01-23 06:47:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

about typewriters:

As I was restoring this machine and tweaking it up for the website, I compared this old banger to my own personal Streamliner, and it's truly almost as nice as that one.
http://mrtypewriter.tripod.com/remingtonstreamliner.htm

xxxFrancis Lee
Germany
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 80

9 hrs confidence:

hunk a junk

Explanation:
perhaps too casual?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2007-01-23 08:14:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

rust bucket

Jonathan MacKerron
Germany
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 60

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

(old) worn-out (exhaust) pipe* / the (our) good old pipe

Explanation:
a few more (some of them angrier) variations showing "it was really time for that piece of ... to go."

* if its the hood and the pipe - and Möhre (=carrot) seems to be referring to the exhaust pipe. Without a hood, it would just be "pipe" or "stove pipe."

the (our) good old pipe (as in: we did like it/did not hate it but it had to go anyway)

or:
good-for-nothing (piece of an) exhaust pipe (exhaust hood)
sorry excuse for an exhaust pipe
worn-out piece of a pipe
old, decrepit pipe
worn-out stove hood (exhaust hood)
sorry piece of equipment/pipe
no-good-piece of junk/ pipe

http://www.searoom.com/veleda/logsec01/stove.htm
worn out twenty-three year old Kenyon stove

http://language.bin.org/ref/dict/?t=sorry
good-for-nothing goldbrick"; "the car was a no-good piece of junk" [syn: good-for-nothing, good-for-naught, meritless, no-account, no-count, no-good] ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extractor_hood
exhaust hood, stove hood, ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day10 hrs (2007-01-24 08:47:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

if it's ... (corr.)

Bernhard Sulzer
Austria
Works in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 44

1 day14 hrs confidence:

old clunker

Explanation:
Here in Vermont we call those items 'old clunker'....

Annette Urbschat
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

German
PRO pts in category: 3

Return to KudoZ list

German: alte Möhre

English translation: obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment