Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
zum Dichten angeregt
English translation:
has always inspired creative minds
Added to glossary by
Amy Billing
Dec 18, 2009 11:47
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
United Kingdom
Speaking your language
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: German to English, Spanish to English, English
zum Dichten angeregt
German to English
Marketing
Engineering: Industrial
I'm translating a brochure for a company that makes seals (Dichtungen). The final page is about the company's location in the Rhine-Nekar metropolitan region. I have an idyllic photo of a boat on a river with the caption:
Der Kulturraum rund um Neckar und Rhein hat die Menschen schon immer zum Dichten angeregt – nicht erst seit der Industrialisierung.
I currently have:
The cultural life around Neckar and the Rhine has always inspired poetry – not only since the age of industrialisation.
However, this completely loses the double-meaning of Dichten as poetry and sealing and doesn't really make sense with the bit about industrialisation (i.e. when seals became more popular). Any ideas of how I can get around this?
Der Kulturraum rund um Neckar und Rhein hat die Menschen schon immer zum Dichten angeregt – nicht erst seit der Industrialisierung.
I currently have:
The cultural life around Neckar and the Rhine has always inspired poetry – not only since the age of industrialisation.
However, this completely loses the double-meaning of Dichten as poetry and sealing and doesn't really make sense with the bit about industrialisation (i.e. when seals became more popular). Any ideas of how I can get around this?
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+2
3 hrs
Norbert Hermann
Native in German
&
English
Works in field
YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE - over 40 YEARS!
Native in: English 
, German
Works in: English to German, German to English, Portuguese to German, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
37
Selected
has always inspired poets and thinkers...
and since the beginning of the industrial age also engineers and designers ????? or something on this line
I can't see how you could make it work with Dichten but it could work with thinkers.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-12-18 15:39:36 GMT)
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has always inspired thinkers...
and since the beginning of the industrial age also great designs
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Note added at 4 hrs (2009-12-18 16:11:24 GMT)
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or short and sweet:
... has always inspired great thinkers and designs
I can't see how you could make it work with Dichten but it could work with thinkers.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-12-18 15:39:36 GMT)
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has always inspired thinkers...
and since the beginning of the industrial age also great designs
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2009-12-18 16:11:24 GMT)
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or short and sweet:
... has always inspired great thinkers and designs
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Teresa Reinhardt
: yep, das Land der Dichter und Denker; I like this best
51 mins
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thank you!
|
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| agree |
Annett Kottek (X)
: I like it. Alternatively maybe 'has always stirred the creative spirit'- - the addition of 'not only since the age of industrialisation' makes clear their creative attitude towards seal making. (And some puns are frankly not worth saving.)
16 hrs
|
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thank you!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for your help - I actually opted for 'has always inspired creative minds' in the end but got there from this posting."
4 mins
inspired poetry
region.. has always been an inspiration to poetry
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Note added at 6 mins (2009-12-18 11:54:53 GMT)
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inspired poets..
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Note added at 6 mins (2009-12-18 11:54:53 GMT)
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inspired poets..
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Cilian O'Tuama
: "However, this completely loses the double-meaning of Dichten as poetry and sealing..."
25 mins
|
| neutral |
Armorel Young
: isn't that what the asker said herself (but was dissatisfied with)?
2 hrs
|
3 hrs
sealing
Sealing a relationship with the landscape: the Neckar/Rhein area has inspired both poets and industrialists
Not entirely convinced - just kicking the idea about.
Incidentally, Kulturraum to me implies a geographical area - I'd prefer area/region to "life" (and would perhaps drop the "cultural altogether - it sits less happily in English than Kultur in German).
Not entirely convinced - just kicking the idea about.
Incidentally, Kulturraum to me implies a geographical area - I'd prefer area/region to "life" (and would perhaps drop the "cultural altogether - it sits less happily in English than Kultur in German).
5 hrs
Michele Johnson
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Works in field
Germany
American engineer, Dip. Trans IOL, BDÜ
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, English
running a "tight" ship
Now this is sort of going in the other direction and losing the poetry connection. But if it's not mentioned elsewhere, you could possibly get away with it. Are there more sentences about poetry or is that it? I think you're going to have to compromise, and at least here there's a double entendre that fits well with the picture. So instead of portraying the locals as writers you paint them as efficient and disciplined, thereby confirming every positive stereotype of Germans around the world :)
7 hrs
... has always inspired Dichter in both senses of the German word ...
"The Rhine-Neckar region has always inspired Dichter in both senses of the German word – first it was poets and then, with the Industrial Revolution, came the seal manufacturers."
Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and explain rather than translate. The alternative is to ask the client company to rewrite its front page - minus puns.
Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and explain rather than translate. The alternative is to ask the client company to rewrite its front page - minus puns.
7 hrs
Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Germany
Quality Translations since 1986
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, English, German, and 6 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
101
a source of inspiration and innovation
(has always been) a source of inspiration and innovation
?
?
10 hrs
Nicole Backhaus
Native in German
Native German - Fast and affordable
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, German to English
has a high density in poets
versuche dichten und dichten unter einen Hut zu bringen. Nur so ein Vorschlag.
Discussion