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German to English translations [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase:Sich selbst auf den Arm zu nehmen.
This if from a book called " Der Ausserirdische ist auch nur ein Mensch". The first line is " Haben sie schon einmal versucht, sich selbst auf den Arm zu nehmen?"
I know what it means. It means to mock yourself, make fun of yourself, take the piss out of yourself etc. What I am wondering is, does anyone know of an equivalent English saying? Since this is expressive writing I am trying to use semantic translation and would like to stay as close to the original as possible. If no equivalent saying exists, which option would you suggest?
Explanation: It is just a suggestion, but semantically correct, I believe. How you would proceed with the futher subject matter i.e. about science, I really don't know. I leave that up to someone else.
It turns out I was not accepted by the university. So, I would say doing the annotated translation is not looking too good right now ha ha. Still, thank you very much for your help and have yourself a great week :) 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I think if you can tackle two or three of these kinds of first puns / analogies, then you'll be well on your way. I wish you luck in any case, because the story sounds great! ;) A nice open, yet funny and clever text..
However, I believe this is a play on words. “sich selbst auf den Arm zu nehmen” meaning to make fun of yourself/pull your own leg, and “sich selbst auf den Arm zu nehmen” meaning to literally lift yourself up. My belief is based on the next line which is “Sie meinen das geht gar nicht? Auch nicht mit ausgefeilter Atemtechnik?”. If this is indeed the case, I must now combine the two meanings. This is a culturally specific construct which is impossible to translate. It would perhaps be possible to translate both meanings separately, but not to combine the two meanings in a pun in a succinct English construction. I see no way to avoid a “loss” when translating this sentence. Rewording the text is necessary. If the first line would be “Have you ever tried pulling your own leg?” the only way to imply lifting yourself up with the aid of controlled breathing would be “Have you ever tried pulling your own leg? No? You think it is not possible? Even if you are very flexible?”. I believe this brings across the general meaning of what the author is trying to say, even if the words and the technical meaning are slightly altered.
Thank you all for your help so far. If you are interested, here is what I have wriotten to far :
A problem is the very first line. “ Haben sie schon einmal versucht, sich selbst auf den Arm zu nehmen?” This represents considerably difficulty when trying to find an English equivalent ( dennotative, connotative, pragmatic, textual, formal, and aesthetic). Since this is an expressive piece of literature it requires semantic translation. However, in this case, translating literally would not work. Saying “take yourself on your arm” would make no sense to the readership in the target language. In terms of pure meaning this means “to mock yourself”, “ to make fun of yourself”, “ to take the piss out of yourself”, or “ pulling your own leg”. “To mock yourself” sounds vey old-fashioned in English, and this text is meant to be upbeat, funky, modern, no doubt aimed at a young readership. to make fun of yourself” comes a lot closer. The option “to take the piss out of yourself” could perhaps come across as slightly obscene. “Pulling your own leg comes semantically very close. I would therefore choose “Have you ever tried to pull your own leg?” as the safest option in this case.
if you tackle this part of the text, the beginning and get the hang of doing it well and easily, you may well have a chance of translating the whole text really well. I'd at least give it a go. For the first part, you'd have to alter the pun to refer to pulling ones leg. But whether this can be done in practically without losing the humourous character and with it also all making sense.. I do not know ;) give it a go, at least.. that's what I'd say.
I actually did not consider that..... I will add more context. After what I already added comes : "Das einzige hinderliche sind dabei diejenigen, die ihrerseits auch etwas in ihren Armen tragen. Die bedenkentraeger. Im sinne von : Darf man ueber die Wissenschaft lachen? Eigentlich nicht. Das ist normallerweise ein bierernste sache. Aber manchmal muss man einfach, und sei es nur aus Hilflosigkeit."
On another note, I am doing this for a proposal for an MA annotated translation. I am suggesting this text. However, it seems to be getting more and more complicated, perhaps I should choose a different one. Could you give me your opinion on how hard this would be to translate? Should I perhaps find something more straight-forward? Or is this a good choice?
Wird dann auch erklärt, WIE man sich selbst auf den Arm nehmen kann? Ich habe den leisen Verdacht, hier geht es um ein Wortspiel mit der Doppelbedeutung von „auf den Arm nehmen“ (also dass man sich selbst praktisch hochhebt - warum sonst, wäre dazu eine „ausgefeilte Atemtechnik“ nötig?).
The next line is : " Sie meinen, das geht gar nicht? Auch nicht mit ausgefeilter Atemtechnik ? Ich sage Ihnen, es geht!Man kann sogar nicht nur sich selbst auf den Arm nehmen, sondern in den Armen auch noch etwas halten. Die Wissenschaft zum Beispiel.
Explanation: It is just a suggestion, but semantically correct, I believe. How you would proceed with the futher subject matter i.e. about science, I really don't know. I leave that up to someone else.
Example sentence(s):
Have you ever tried pulling your own leg?
Rebecca Lavnick Austria Local time: 14:21 Native speaker of: English, German
Grading comment
It turns out I was not accepted by the university. So, I would say doing the annotated translation is not looking too good right now ha ha. Still, thank you very much for your help and have yourself a great week :)
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +4
