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Eselsbrücke


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Eselsbrücke
English translation:memory jogger, memory aid, aide memoire, memory hook, mnemonic, memory prompt
Entered by: sappho
Options:
- Contribute to this entry
- Include in personal glossary

17:51 May 24, 2007
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase: Eselsbrücke
I can't really use mnemonics because that would not be understood by EVERYONE. I can get around it, but having something nice would please me enormously. Can anyone help at all :-)
sappho
Local time: 14:18


Summary of answers provided
4 +7memory jogger
David Hollywood
3 +3memory aid
Bernhard Sulzer
5aide memoire [usually without the acute accent on the e]
Hermeneutica
4a clue (to remember something)Antoinette-M. Sixt Ruth
3memorable phrasesNadine Kahn
2 +1trick
Henry Schroeder
3memory hook
Frosty


Discussion entries: 9





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Esels Brücke
memory hook


Explanation:
Maybe?

Frosty
Local time: 14:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
Esels Brücke
memory jogger


Explanation:
:)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 mins (2007-05-24 17:55:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

aide memoire (a bit flashier)

David Hollywood
Local time: 09:18
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 26

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ingeborg Gowans
5 mins
agree  Jonathan MacKerron: "mnemonic", but who on earth can pronounce it correctly...
11 mins
agree  Craig Meulen: Memory jogger is a great suggestion.
1 hr
agree  gangels
1 hr
agree  Textklick: Spectrum colours: Richard Of York Gained Battles In Vain. German lessons at school: "Durch, ohne gegen wider, um, für" (AKA "Dogwuf") ;-) http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13518362.500-memory-jo...
5 hrs
agree  Paul Cohen
7 hrs
agree  Colin Newberry: Or "Löffel - Gabel -Messer" (the order in which from birth you'd learn to use them w/o injury) to remember it's der - die - das.
12 hrs
neutral  Nadine Kahn: Don't think it'll fit in the context provided. It is not about "Gedächtnistraining" here
13 hrs
neutral  Cetacea: I only know that as a brand name.
22 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
aide memoire [usually without the acute accent on the e]


Explanation:
... is the standard EN term, but since we don't know who your audience is ...

HTH

Dee

Hermeneutica
Local time: 14:18
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
trick


Explanation:
This is sort of "officially" wrong in my opinion, but it's how I would translate Eselbrücke or what I would say in English if I weren't translating and needed to remembers something:

"I need some trick to remember her name..."

At least in New York, "memory jogger" is never used, wouldn't even be understood at first by many people, whereas Eselsbrücke is something you hear nonstop in Germany...

Henry Schroeder
United States
Local time: 08:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 88

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Craig Meulen: In the asker's sample text, "play with tricks" wouldn't work, imho.
5 mins
  -> True, you'd have to say something like "use tricks"; this may come down to a British-American difference - as an American "memory joggers" sounds bizarre and confusing
agree  Bernhard Sulzer: trick or memory technique
13 hrs
  -> It's great that you also comment on the English here from an American perspective - we are few.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
a clue (to remember something)


Explanation:
Just common experience.

Antoinette-M. Sixt Ruth
Local time: 07:18
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
memory aid


Explanation:
would be understood by all, n'est pas?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2007-05-25 06:30:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

or:
memory technique
http://www.ababasoft.com/mnemonic/tech02.htm

Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 08:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 55

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Henry Schroeder: This morning in the microsoft thesaurus I ran across not only "memory aid", but also "prompt" - might we say the latter too in this case? I feel like my mother says it, at least in the phrase "to prompt my memory"...
59 mins
  -> yes, I've heard it many times. You are right. And it works in this context. You hear/see/smell/feel the prompt and you remember.
agree  Rebecca Garber
9 hrs
  -> thank you, Rebecca! Have a good holiday weekend.
agree  Cetacea: with a slight preference for "prompt".
10 hrs
  -> danke, Cetacea!
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
memorable phrases


Explanation:
... play with memorable phrases and combine numbers with letters.

Or: Phrases which are easy to remember.


For passwords you are to use the first letter of each word of a memorable phrase/sentence, for example.

Nadine Kahn
Germany
Local time: 14:18
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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Changes made by editors
May 29, 2007 - Changes made by sappho:
Created KOG entryKudoZ term => KOG term
May 24, 2007 - Changes made by Marcus Malabad:
Term askedEsels Brücke => Eselsbrücke
FieldOther => Art/Literary


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