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Stammtischpolitiker

English translation: bar room politician

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Stammtischpolitiker
English translation:bar room politician
Entered by: Chris Rowson (X)

06:23 Jan 18, 2004
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary
German term or phrase: Stammtischpolitiker
The meaning of the German original is clear to me.
But what is the correct English word/ phrase?
TIA
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
Poland
Local time: 03:40
barroom politician
Explanation:
or the more British (and alliterative) version "pub politician". I am not sure there is really a "correct English version". The "armchair politician" seems well-established but doesn´t entirely have the same flavour.
Selected response from:

Chris Rowson (X)
Local time: 03:40
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone for your help! Also your comments to other Prozarian's suggestions are quite interesting.

Chris, a thousand thanks to you! That's what I was looking for.
Cheers, Agnieszka
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +8armchair or alehouse politician
Narasimhan Raghavan
2 +4barroom politician
Chris Rowson (X)
5armchair or alehouse politician
Helena Korhonen
4 +1political dilettante
Roddy Stegemann
3hobby politician, spare-time politician, amateur politician
Stefanie Sendelbach
3 -1crackerbarrel politician
Jonathan MacKerron


  

Answers


31 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
hobby politician, spare-time politician, amateur politician


Explanation:
something like that.

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Note added at 33 mins (2004-01-18 06:57:46 GMT)
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If you want to express the \"Stammtisch\" meaning, you might want to describe it in a whole phrase like for example:
somebody that talks politics while sitting in the pub / while sipping beer
somebody that likes to discuss politics with his friends

Stefanie Sendelbach
Germany
Local time: 03:40
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in pair: 344

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Richard Benham: The first three really miss the point, and the ones added later are too longwinded and wishy-washy, sounding almost refined.....
13 hrs
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38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +8
armchair or alehouse politician


Explanation:
See:http://www.wordreference.com/de/en/translation.asp?deen=Stam...
Source: The Collins Large German Dictionary © 1999 HarperCollins Publishers

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Note added at 42 mins (2004-01-18 07:06:04 GMT)
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See also for cross checking with reverse translation:
http://www.dict.cc/?s=armchair

Narasimhan Raghavan
Local time: 07:10
Native speaker of: Tamil
PRO pts in pair: 721

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Roddy Stegemann: armchair politician
8 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Rowan Morrell: Armchair is good in this context.
39 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Lori Dendy-Molz: I'd go with armchair; alehouse strictly UK English.
1 hr
  -> Thanks. Alehouse will then be English English!
agree  Margaret Marks: Armchair is right in British; have never heard of alehouse - maybe it's outdated?
2 hrs
  -> Thanks
agree  writeaway: armchair-alehouse is outdated English English.
2 hrs
  -> Thanks
agree  Nigel Hagger-Vaughan: I'd go with armchair.
3 hrs
  -> Yes Sir
agree  David Moore (X): ....yessssssir!
6 hrs
  -> Thhhhanks
neutral  Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.: armchair traveler is the stronger association
8 hrs
  -> armchair travelers as well as backseat drivers are there along with armchair politicians.
agree  Mario Marcolin: armchair..
11 hrs
  -> Thanks
neutral  Richard Benham: Armchair is terrible. Suggests someone who sits at home reading books of political theory--what we want is someone who gets into arguments in his local pub. "Alehouse" is not familiar, but its meaning is obvious and so it's OK.
13 hrs
  -> Thanks for your comments
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47 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
armchair or alehouse politician


Explanation:
See Collins German English Dictionary

Helena Korhonen
Local time: 04:40
Native speaker of: Native in FinnishFinnish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Richard Benham: See my comments on Narasimhan Raghavan's identical answer. Dictionaries are good servants but bad masers, particularly when it comes to expressions like this.
13 hrs
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49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
political dilettante


Explanation:
Someone who dabbles in politics, but with little effective result.

Roddy Stegemann
United States
Local time: 18:40
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 285

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Lori Dendy-Molz: This is normally applied to someone actually elected to office.
1 hr
  -> If so, I shudder to think what they were called before they were elected!
agree  Textklick: Arm detracts from the public aspect, alehouse sounds a bit old-fashioned; let's fall back on the OED "1753 SMOLLETT Ct. Fathom xxxii, He sometimes held forth upon painting, like a member of the Dilettanti club.
2 hrs
neutral  Richard Benham: A dilettante is someone who dabbles in something. This guy does not dabble in politics; he just arges about it with his friends in the pub.
13 hrs
  -> Did you say your prayers today, Richard?
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +4
barroom politician


Explanation:
or the more British (and alliterative) version "pub politician". I am not sure there is really a "correct English version". The "armchair politician" seems well-established but doesn´t entirely have the same flavour.

Chris Rowson (X)
Local time: 03:40
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 768
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone for your help! Also your comments to other Prozarian's suggestions are quite interesting.

Chris, a thousand thanks to you! That's what I was looking for.
Cheers, Agnieszka

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Roddy Stegemann: Bar room politician has a more international air about it, doesn't it?
1 hr
agree  writeaway: since anything 'Stammtisch' conjures up discussion and beer/booze in the local Kneipe, I think bar room politician is the best option.
2 hrs
agree  Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.: needs to be there to convey the Stammtisch - easy to imagine the political bar room brawl
7 hrs
agree  Richard Benham: what else?
12 hrs
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
crackerbarrel politician


Explanation:
according to Langenscheidt

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 5577

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Richard Benham: That really takes the biscuit! It sounds like a joke! Never trust a dictionary for an idiomatic translation of a culturally specific term. Never, never, never!
9 hrs
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