Sonderling Sunday – Ready for a Duel
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, I’m back to the book that drives this whole series, The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy, otherwise known as Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge.
Last time, we left off in the middle of Chapter Twenty-Five, on page 344 in the English edition, Seite 437 auf Deutsch.
The first sentence has some fun words to know:
“Jo’s ready room was a moldy locker area that it seemed had never been cleaned.”
= Jos Garderobe war ein muffiger Umkleideraum, der offenbar noch nie gesäubert worden war.
(My day is complete, now that I can call moldy things muffiger. Seems perfect for that fuzzy appearance…. Umkleideraum means “undress-room.”)
“the tiles were dirty and chipped” = die Fliesen waren schmutzig und angeschlagen
I hope you never need to use this sentence:
“and the rusty plumbing dripped with mysterious juices.”
= und aus den rostigen Rohrleitungen tropften mysteriöse Flüssigkeiten.
“teasing” = Neckereien
“unexpected tenderness” = unerwarteter Zärtlichkeit
Oh, this one’s much better in German:
“a little gasp”
= einen kleinen Überraschungsschrei
(“a little surprise-cry”)
Germans can make up words at a moment’s notice:
“cat’s-head helmet” = Katzenhelm
I never get tired of saying this word:
“silver whiskers” = silberfarbenen Schnurrbarthaaren
“pointed ears” = spitzen Ohren
“insults” = Beleidigungen
“hard-core” = hartgesotten (“hard-boiled”)
Okay, this just doesn’t capture the English:
“Atta girl”
= So will ich dich hören, Mädchen
(“That’s how I want to hear you, girl”)
Another one that has come up before, whose sound I love:
“sipped” = schlürfte
“hero” = Heldin
“hissed and bubbled” = zischte und blubberte
“tickling her veins” = prickelnd durch ihre Adern
“bruise” = blauer Fleck (“blue spot”)
“putrid air” = stinkende Luft
“fabulous” = fabelhaft
“demolish” = auseinandernehmen (“out-another-take”)
“pep talk” = aufmunternder Worte
“usher” = Lakai
“stirrups” = Steigbügel (“climb-hangers”)
“tumultuous crowd” = tosende Menge
“announcer’s” = Ansagers
“cheering” = spornten
“tying her up” = sie einzuschnüren
“lolled” = lümmelte
“convention of eelmen” = Abordnung von Aalmännern
“streamers” = Papierbahnen
And I’ll stop right before the duel begins:
“She looked up and swallowed. This was it.”
= Dann blickte sie hoch und schluckte. Das war’s.
Gute Nacht! I suspect this week if I run across an Abordnung von Aalmännern, I will give out at least einen kleinen Überraschungsschrei! Bis bald!