It’s time for Sonderling Sunday, that time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.
This week, we’re back to my stand-by, and the inspiration for Sonderling Sunday, James Kennedy‘s The Order of Odd-Fish, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge.
After all this time, we’re past the halfway point, on page 225 in English, and Seite 283 auf Deutsch. I’m still hoping that the phrases I choose to translate, while obviously being tremendously practical, will also intrigue readers into picking up this book, without giving away spoilers.
“straying” = streunten
Hmm. What does this translation say about the title?
“freakish” = seltsamer
“extinct” = ausgestorben (“out-died”)
“his skin became bark-like” = seine Haut aus wie Borke
“sneaked” = schlichen
“muttered scathing insults” = murmelte beißende Beleidigungen (“murmured biting insults”)
“deliriously colored butterflies” = berauschend bunte Schmetterlinge
Interesting that English is more efficient here:
“prodded” = stupste mit einem Finger (“poked with a finger”)
“trudged” = schlurfte
You never know when you’ll need to say this:
“beeping crystal-like flowers” = piepsenden kristallartigen Blume
“Amazingly” = Verblüffenderweise
And how handy to know the German word for this, for your next vacation!
“secret dissection lab” = geheimen Sezierlabor
“colorful guts” = bunte Innereien
Should we be worried that I find this fun to say?
“sliced into sheets” = in Scheiben geschnitten
“stole” = stibitzte
“furry starfish” = pelziger Seestern
Another fun one to say:
“roar of shock” = erschreckte Schrei
“campaign” = Schlachtplan
“funeral” = Beerdigung
“It’s become harder and harder to fritter away the entire day.”
=Es wird immer schwerer, den ganzen Tag nur herumzuhängen.
Okay, I can’t get past that sentence, when I look at the clock! I’m going to call it a night.
Some fun words to say tonight. On your next vacation to Germany, be sure to ask where you can find piepsenden kristallartigen Blume or a geheimen Sezierlabor.
Bis bald!