Denkverbot

English translation: Thought Control or Thinking Forbidden or Thinking Verboten

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	Denkverbot
English translation:	Thought Control or Thinking Forbidden or Thinking Verboten
Entered by:	Dr. Fred Thomson

17:10 Aug 4, 2004

German to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

German term or phrase: Denkverbot

As in not to think critically, not to think for yourself.
It's a headline so no context.
Can anyone think of something short and snappy.
Thanks in advance!

Simona de Logu KudoZ activity Questions: 114 (none open) (1 without valid answers) (5 closed without grading) Answers: 564 United Kingdom
Local time: 05:10

Thought Control or Thniking Forbidden or Thinking Verboten

Explanation:
Not knowing the context, it is difficult to come up with an appropriate heading.

Selected response from:

Dr. Fred Thomson
United States
Local time: 22:10

Grading comment

I think "Thought Control" works best for my purposes.
Thanks a lot and also to everyone else.

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +3

Thinking banned!

David Moore (X)

4 +1

Critical thinking prohibited!

Ingrid Blank

The thought police

Dr Andrew Read

prohibition to think

Narasimhan Raghavan

Thought Control or Thniking Forbidden or Thinking Verboten

Dr. Fred Thomson

Forbidden Thought

RNolder (X)

No questions allowed!

Fantutti (X)

thinking is discouraged

Kim Metzger

No thinking!

Nathan Hanika (X)

4 -1

freedom of thought

Greg Twiss

A reason for not reasoning

Textklick

the closing of the American mind

Jonathan MacKerron

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

2 mins confidence:

thinking is discouraged

Explanation:
Maybe?

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 22:10
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 100

5 mins confidence:

prohibition to think

Explanation:
See: PROHIBITION TO THINK
PROHIBITION TO THINK. ... If Kelemen expects the readers to accept his assertions uncritically,
it means he wants to impose on the readers a prohibition to think. ...
www.nctimes.net/~mark/bibl_science/kellemen.htm - 101k - Cached - Similar pages

Narasimhan Raghavan
Local time: 09:40
Native speaker of: Tamil

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

Thinking banned!

Explanation:
should be pretty snappy for a headline...

David Moore (X)
Local time: 06:10
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 39

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Critical thinking prohibited!

Explanation:
Critical Thinking Prohibited. Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Jr. Copyright
(c) 2001 First Things 112 (April 2001): 20-22. Federal courts ...
www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ ft0104/opinion/gaffney.html - 23k - 3 Aug 2004

Ingrid Blank
PRO pts in category: 11

51 mins confidence:

Thought Control or Thniking Forbidden or Thinking Verboten

Explanation:
Not knowing the context, it is difficult to come up with an appropriate heading.

Dr. Fred Thomson
United States
Local time: 22:10
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 37

Grading comment

I think "Thought Control" works best for my purposes.
Thanks a lot and also to everyone else.

1 hr confidence:

the closing of the American mind

Explanation:
to plagiarize a book title

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 76

1 hr confidence:

A reason for not reasoning

Explanation:
Long shot - from your "As in not to think critically, not to think for yourself."

Textklick
Local time: 05:10
Native speaker of: English

12 mins confidence:

Forbidden Thought

Explanation:
Another idea.
HTH

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 6 mins (2004-08-04 19:17:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Per your new note, it may also just simply mean \"thoughtless\". (I know, I know, then it would be literally \"denklos\". But maybe something along those lines or even \" the unthinkable\" would work.

RNolder (X)
Local time: 00:10
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

4 hrs confidence:

No thinking!

Explanation:
Just thought I'd add my bit to the suggestions already made.
Should work if it's a headline.

Nathan Hanika (X)
Local time: 05:10

5 hrs confidence:

The thought police

Explanation:
Hi, I think this would fit your context well. It's a standard term in English and was coined by George Orwell (poss. in "1984"), but is still used in exactly the context you're talking about.
Here are some of the many 1000 google hits:

Reference: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761563733/002...
Reference: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p14s02-stgn.html

Dr Andrew Read
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:10
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

12 hrs confidence:

No questions allowed!

Explanation:
Especially not about 9/11. Just another option.

Fantutti (X)
Local time: 21:10
Works in field

50 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

freedom of thought

Explanation:
"freedom of thought" is often used by journalists etc., so if you can fit it in then you should be fine

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs 26 mins (2004-08-05 11:37:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Of course, the German term \"Denkverbot\" implies that you can\'t think freely, but as this is going to be a heading of a text, then I don\'t see a problem. \"Freedom of Thought\" as a term is well-established in English, as is \"Denkverbot\" in German. Germans obviously just like to view the problem from the \"negative\" side, if you will. Naturally, the rest of the text would then explore the \"limits\" imposed on this freedowm

Greg Twiss
Germany
Local time: 06:10
Native speaker of: English

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations