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"ampel-koalition"

English translation: traffic light coalition


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09:09 Sep 21, 2009
German to English translations [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - Government / Politics / coalition politics
German term or phrase: "ampel-koalition"
Current German federal elections, where the FDP party has ruled out ""ampel-koalition"" with the Red-Green (SPD-Green Party).
joyarjun1
English translation:traffic light coalition
Explanation:
It's awfully awkward, but this is what it's called.

Selected response from:

Lingua.Franca
Local time: 00:45
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.



Summary of answers provided
4 +6traffic light coalition
Lingua.Franca
4three-way coalition
Helen Shiner


  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
traffic light coalition


Explanation:
It's awfully awkward, but this is what it's called.




    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_light_coalition
Lingua.Franca
Local time: 00:45
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ingrun Wenge: yes
6 mins
neutral  mill: definitely requires an explanation for an English readership
51 mins
  -> I agree - it needs a translator's note.
agree  Helen Shiner: Yes, this is right, but I agree with mill that it needs glossing. Pretty ugly term, isn't it?
58 mins
  -> Horrible :) I agree with mill, too. Needs a translator's note.
agree  Stuart Dykes
1 hr
agree  Alan Johnson
3 hrs
agree  Clive Phillips: Yes, but in the plural, viz. traffic lights coalition. Explanation: Colour adopted by political party: SPD=red, FDP=yellow, Greens=green.
6 hrs
agree  sibsab
6 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
three-way coalition


Explanation:
I think this is how it is normally said:
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/91615

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Note added at 10 mins (2009-09-21 09:19:54 GMT)
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In a lively television debate on Monday night, there was only one point of agreement between the Greens, the Left Party and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). The administration of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) with their rival Social Democrats (SPD) was, they agreed, a disaster that must not be repeated.

Then, one by one, they dismissed the alternatives, in particular a series of three-way coalition options viewed by political analysts as the way of the future in Germany’s increasingly fragmented five-party electoral landscape.
“We want to end the grand coalition and prevent a left-wing government,” said FDP leader Guido Westerwelle, in a dig at the Left Party and the Greens.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0916/12242546...

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Note added at 1 day5 hrs (2009-09-22 14:29:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks for your comments. I am afraid that I don't specialise in this field, so I would not be the best person to advise you on this. Perhaps you would get a more useful response if you posted your question as a forum thread.

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:45
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: I think your explanation explains the phrase best; a literal translation does not mean anything in the particular context as I provided. Thank you so much! Incidentally, could you please suggest an online dictionary that deals with such phrases used esp. in the German magazines and newspapers? Also a web site, or paper dictionary, for explaining the various nouns and verbs with different prefixes (Einrichtung, Vorrichtung; Zufahrt, Auffahrt, Einfaht, etc.) and their differences?

Asker: 3-way coalition is revealing enough, only, is the colour of FDP yellow? If that were so, then red-yellow-green 3-way coalition would be the most perfect and satisfactory explanation.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  mill: Ampelkoalition is a specific three-way coalition (FDP, SPD and Greens)
1 hr
  -> Yes, you are right, though I found this translation in so many places. Rainbow coalition is also used, though generally not for Germany. Any of the solutions will need an explanation for an EN readership.
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PRO / non-PRO		PRO (2): Lingua.Franca, franglish


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