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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Wo kann man Spaß haben?

English translation: Where can you have fun?

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Wo kann man Spaß haben?
English translation:Where can you have fun?
Entered by: BrigitteHilgner

08:24 Dec 14, 2005
German to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
German term or phrase: Wo kann man Spaß haben?
What would this mean, if as a tourist I ask "Wo kann man Spaß haben?" to a German.
Does "Spaß haben" in general communication sends wrong signals?
Or does it simply mean "to enjoy/ to have fun" e.g. having fun in amusement park.
Savita Malhotra
Where can you have fun
Explanation:
Naturally it depends on the situation, but you might also ask:
Wo kann man sich gut unterhalten?
If you are looking for something specific, you might choose:
Wo findet man ... (Where do you find)
Wo geht man hin, um ... (Where do you go to ...)
Selected response from:

BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Local time: 02:30
Grading comment
Thanks :)
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3Where can you have a good time (in this town)?
CMJ_Trans (X)
4Where can you have fun
BrigitteHilgner
4Can you point me toward a good time?
Steven Sidore
4Where to enjoy entertainment
Sabina La Habana Reyes
3Where to go for adult entertainment
Klaus Herrmann


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Wo kann man Spaß haben?
Where can you have fun


Explanation:
Naturally it depends on the situation, but you might also ask:
Wo kann man sich gut unterhalten?
If you are looking for something specific, you might choose:
Wo findet man ... (Where do you find)
Wo geht man hin, um ... (Where do you go to ...)

BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Local time: 02:30
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 23
Grading comment
Thanks :)
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Where can you have a good time (in this town)?


Explanation:
Where do people go to enjoy themselves?

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 02:30
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  franglish
8 mins
agree  Stephen Roche: 'A good time' may also suggest 'adult' fun if this is what's intended, but without spelling it out.
20 mins
neutral  Savita Bhalla: i think "Where can you have a good time" can also send wrong signals
31 mins
  -> no - it is as ambiguous as the original - that is the whole point
agree  Mandy Williams: I think asker basically wants to know whether the German could be misconstrued. It can and so could this suggestion.
46 mins
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52 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Wo kann man Spaß haben?
Can you point me toward a good time?


Explanation:
An attempt to capture the ambiguity--naughty or not--of the original. I'm inclined to believe naughty, but it would depend on the situation.

Steven Sidore
Germany
Local time: 02:30
Native speaker of: English
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22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Wo kann man Spaß haben?
Where to go for adult entertainment


Explanation:
Maybe it's just me but even in general communications, this "Spaß haben" does not sound innocent at all.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 57 mins (2005-12-14 09:21:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Just for the record, I don't think there's much room for ambiguity in the German sentence, it's eindeutig zweideutig.

Klaus Herrmann
Germany
Local time: 02:30
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Stephen Roche: I think this depends entirely on the asker and the context./I agree that in certain contexts iit may suggest 'naughty' fun, but the only context we have here is that it's from a tourist. Adult ent. far too explicit IMO.
3 mins
  -> To my ears, "Wo kann man Spaß haben" doesn't really sound idiomatic when asking for a Disney theme park. "Spaß haben" has strong connotations, and I don't have a particularly dirty mind :).//True, I've been a little more explicit to make my point ;)
neutral  Savita Bhalla: Klaus, can you suggest some better way of asking"Where can one enjoy/have fun", as you yourself are a German. Because I also personally feel, that "Spaß haben" cannot always be taken in good sense.
1 hr
  -> May I suggest that you ask this as a German-German question so you don't have to rely on my opion only, giving this question as reference/context. I'd probably say 'Wo is denn hier 'was los' or 'Wo kann ich in der Freizeit hingehen'?
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Wo kann man Spaß haben?
Where to enjoy entertainment


Explanation:
another possibility

Sabina La Habana Reyes
Local time: 02:30
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in SpanishSpanish
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