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German to English translations [PRO] Other / Family history - Switzerland
German term or phrase:köstlich
I am working on old handwritten letters from the 19th century. They originate in Switzerland. One of the terms is "köstlich". In the context of the letter in question, it could mean "delicious" or "costly" as the context is about the price of beef and pork.
Is/was there such a term in Schwyzerdeutsch i.e. "köstlich" = costly?
Thank you.
Explanation: After having received the new context 'Der Wein war auch geraten. Aber er ist "köstlich"' I believe in the interpretation being expensive, same es Horst discussed with the term "kostbar".
On the other hand the term "köstlich" is ambiguous, and has also the sense of being delicious. Therfore I propose "precious" as translation.
ch stamme aus einer Küstenregion der Union und weiß daher sehr genau, wie kostbar unsere Meeresressourcen sind und wie wichtig nachhaltige Maßnahmen zur Erhaltung dieser Ressourcen für [...]
Coming from a maritime region of the Union, I am acutely aware of the preciousness of our marine resources and the need for sustainable activities, which assure these resources for future generations.
europarl.europa.eu
:
Da der Klimawandel zunehmend das Wasser als eine unserer kostbarsten, aber endlichen Ressourcen bedroht, ist es an der Zeit, Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung des Verbrauchs zu ergreifen.
[...] in this virtual footprint, and with climate change threatening one of our most precious, yet finite resources, the time has come to take action to stem the flow.
ec.europa.eu
:
[...] Klimawandels ist, dass in vielen Teilen der Welt sauberes Wasser immer kostbarer wird, da immer weniger davon zur Verfügung steht.
A serious effect of climate change is to reduce the level of fresh water available in many parts of the world, making it increasingly precious.
ec.europa.eu http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?source=auto&qu...
it's financial. Interpretation: Last autumn we had a lot of fruit and potatoes. [we ate our hearts out] NEW SENTENCE (not agglutinated): The wine was great too [but we had not so much of it]. NEW SENTENCE: But expensive.
Reference from 1825:
The Linguist: or, weekly instructions in the French & German languages
Köstlich, adj. costly, exquisite, precious, splendid; but kostbar, expensive, costly, in the sense of costing a good deal. Ein Ding kann köstlich seyn und doch nicht kostbar, a thing may be precious, exquisitely good, and yet not expensive. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tn8SAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA237&lpg...
Es ist durchaus möglich, dass „köstlich“ hier im veralteten Sinne von „sehr wertvoll“ verwendet wird. Das hat nicht unbedingt damit zu tun, dass der Text aus der Schweiz kommt, sondern eher damit, dass der Text sehr alt ist.
Aber wie bereits gesagt, braucht man da wirklich mehr Kontext und den Originalsatz.
I firmly believe it means "delicious" but could you provide more context
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
1 min confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
delicious
Explanation: has to be
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 7 mins (2011-10-27 02:18:18 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
although Swiss German is a law unto itself
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 10 mins (2011-10-27 02:21:33 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
love Switzerland and spent a super year there
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 49 mins (2011-10-27 02:59:58 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
tasty or mouth-watering/mouthwatering
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 12 hrs (2011-10-27 14:22:23 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
in light of the wider context provided it would appear that this is an archaic use and means "expensive" (pricy in modern English) so I would go with that ...
David Hollywood Local time: 23:20 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
Explanation: After having received the new context 'Der Wein war auch geraten. Aber er ist "köstlich"' I believe in the interpretation being expensive, same es Horst discussed with the term "kostbar".
On the other hand the term "köstlich" is ambiguous, and has also the sense of being delicious. Therfore I propose "precious" as translation.
ch stamme aus einer Küstenregion der Union und weiß daher sehr genau, wie kostbar unsere Meeresressourcen sind und wie wichtig nachhaltige Maßnahmen zur Erhaltung dieser Ressourcen für [...]
Coming from a maritime region of the Union, I am acutely aware of the preciousness of our marine resources and the need for sustainable activities, which assure these resources for future generations.
europarl.europa.eu
:
Da der Klimawandel zunehmend das Wasser als eine unserer kostbarsten, aber endlichen Ressourcen bedroht, ist es an der Zeit, Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung des Verbrauchs zu ergreifen.
[...] in this virtual footprint, and with climate change threatening one of our most precious, yet finite resources, the time has come to take action to stem the flow.
ec.europa.eu
:
[...] Klimawandels ist, dass in vielen Teilen der Welt sauberes Wasser immer kostbarer wird, da immer weniger davon zur Verfügung steht.
A serious effect of climate change is to reduce the level of fresh water available in many parts of the world, making it increasingly precious.
ec.europa.eu http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?source=auto&qu...
Johannes Gleim Local time: 04:20 Native speaker of: German PRO pts in category: 8
The translation workplace 
