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Brillengesicht

English translation: bespectacled face


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Brillengesicht
English translation:bespectacled face
Entered by: BirgitBerlin
Options:
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11:10 Apr 19, 2006
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / teenage novel
German term or phrase: Brillengesicht
Is there a snappy way of expressing this in English?

"Laura musste eine Brille tragen, weil der Schularzt herausgefunden hatte, dass sie kurzsichtig war. Den ganzen Kindergottesdienst lang heulte Laura vor Scham und versteckte ihr **Brillengesicht** hinter ihrem Diddl-Ranzen."

Maybe something with "four eyes", but I'm not sure whether the German is a negative term or more neutral.
Rachel Ward
Local time: 13:17
bespectacled face
Explanation:
Brillengesicht is not negative, Brillenschlange is.
I'd say "She hid her bespectacled face behind the "Diddl" school-bag."

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Note added at 4 mins (2006-04-19 11:15:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Terence beat me to it...
Selected response from:

BirgitBerlin
Germany
Local time: 14:17
Grading comment
Thanks, everyone
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +6bespectacled face
BirgitBerlin
4 +1bespectacled face
Terence Ajbro
4 -1four-eyed face
Armin Prediger
3four eyes
Ingeborg Gowans


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
bespectacled face


Explanation:
--

Terence Ajbro
Local time: 14:17
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Cetacea: Yes, I think "four eyes" would be too negative here.
26 mins
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3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +6
bespectacled face


Explanation:
Brillengesicht is not negative, Brillenschlange is.
I'd say "She hid her bespectacled face behind the "Diddl" school-bag."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 mins (2006-04-19 11:15:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Terence beat me to it...

BirgitBerlin
Germany
Local time: 14:17
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thanks, everyone

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ian M-H: Terence only got there first because you took the trouble to offer an explanation.
31 mins
  -> Thanks, Ian.
agree  Annette Urbschat
50 mins
  -> Thanks, Annette.
agree  Bryan Smith: Yes, I think this is the best choice here
1 hr
  -> Thank you!
agree  Steven Sidore
1 hr
  -> Thanks!
agree  Walter Köppe
2 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  Nicole Schnell
6 hrs
  -> Thank you!
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20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
four eyes


Explanation:
this came to mind immediately, if it doesn't sound too negative in the context.
Obviously she wasn't happy with it.


Ingeborg Gowans
Canada
Local time: 09:17
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Ian M-H: Offering this suggestion with the qualification "if it doesn't sound too negative" is merely repeating Asker's question: "Maybe something with 'four eyes', but I'm not sure whether the German is a negative term"
29 mins
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25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
four-eyed face


Explanation:
While Brillengesicht is not as negative as Brillenschlange, I wouldn't consider it 100% neutral; also, the excerpt indicates that Laura is ashamed of her glasses. In conjunction with the context of a teen novel and the request for a snappy way of saying this, I would suggest 'four-eyed face'.

Armin Prediger
Local time: 13:17
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Bryan Smith: I would not consider "four-eyed face" at all correct as I have never heard four-eyes used as an adjective in real life so why do it here... "four-eyes" is just a name refering to PERSON, not a face.
48 mins
  -> With all respect, it's "four-eyed" used as an adjective, not "four-eyes". Seems to be a common enough adjective according to google, and its meaning is very clear in this context.
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