fragte ich auf die Gefahr hin, dem Sohn die Wörter wieder abgewöhnen zu müssen,
English translation: Very difficult to translate
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09:01 Sep 27, 2009
German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase:fragte ich auf die Gefahr hin, dem Sohn die Wörter wieder abgewöhnen zu müssen,
It's taken from this text:
„Eher ein richtiger oder ein genialer Soldat“, sagte der dritte, den ich jedoch sogleich
unterbrach. „Soldat? Wieso Soldat?“ [[[fragte ich auf die Gefahr hin, dem Sohn die Wörter wieder abgewöhnen zu müssen, die zu erwarten waren, sobald sich dieser Freund seiner Armeezeit erinnerte.]]] Er antwortete: „Ein richtiger Soldat, weil er auch den idiotischsten
Befehl ausführt. Und ein genialer Soldat, weil er ihn so ausführt, dass das Idiotische des
Befehls augenfällig wird. Ein Mensch wie er kann zum Segen der Truppe werden.“
Explanation: Hier ist mein Vorschlag, eher eine Riesenumschreibung. Der Satz kann auf jeden Fall nicht 1 zu 1 übersetzt werden. Da bin ich mir 100% sicher. Umschrieben wäre so was möglich:
"Soldier? Why (a) soldier?“ I asked, though I was taking a risk. My son would probably recall (the story/incident) as soon as this friend from his army days (told it) and then I would again have to wean him from the habit of (repeating it).
Wenn Sie nur wissen wollen, was es genau heißt:
I asked, risking that I would have to discourage my son from repeating what was to be expected as soon as this friend of his army days remembered (the story/incident)
In German you can leave out most of these nouns describing exactly what took place, but in English you need something. "Story/incident" may not be right in your context, but this first construction should be viable.
Bei den Wörtern, die zu erwarten waren, handelt es sich um Flűche, die der Freund vermutlich ausstoßen wird, sobald er sich seiner Armeezeit erinnert. Diese Flűche sind die „Wörter“, die die Mutter dem Sohn dann wieder abgewöhnen werden muss. Sie stellt die Frage „Soldat? Wieso Soldat?“ aber trotzdem, wohl wissend, dass sie damit Gefahr läuft, ihr Kind mit Worten vertraut zu machen, die es lieber nicht hören und später ganz schnell vergessen sollte.
There are four men talking about the speaker's son, and each of them gives his variant of the his future occupation. The men who is talking now is a third one. And They all are the speaker's friends. The text doesn't contain much information about them, sadly.
Could you explain the story a little please? Who is this 'dritter' and what relation does he bear to the speaker's son? Or is it someone else's son? And what are the words that are mentioned here? EN does so often need to unpack the more cryptic GER!
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Answers
24 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
at the risk of having to wean the son off the words again, which
Explanation: If it's her son, I'd prefer using "her son"
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 37 mins (2009-09-27 09:39:17 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
... "my son" rather, sorry
philippid United Kingdom Local time: 03:48 Works in field Native speaker of: German, English PRO pts in category: 3
Explanation: Hier ist mein Vorschlag, eher eine Riesenumschreibung. Der Satz kann auf jeden Fall nicht 1 zu 1 übersetzt werden. Da bin ich mir 100% sicher. Umschrieben wäre so was möglich:
"Soldier? Why (a) soldier?“ I asked, though I was taking a risk. My son would probably recall (the story/incident) as soon as this friend from his army days (told it) and then I would again have to wean him from the habit of (repeating it).
Wenn Sie nur wissen wollen, was es genau heißt:
I asked, risking that I would have to discourage my son from repeating what was to be expected as soon as this friend of his army days remembered (the story/incident)
In German you can leave out most of these nouns describing exactly what took place, but in English you need something. "Story/incident" may not be right in your context, but this first construction should be viable.
Henry Schroeder United States Local time: 22:48 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 88
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peer agreement (net): +2
