Category: Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge

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 the book where we’re guaranteed to find some delightfully bizarre word choices, no matter where we look, James Kennedy‘s The Order of Odd-fish, otherwise known as Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge. (Happy Belated Birthday, James!)

Last time, we left off on page 156, Seite 196 auf Deutsch. Jo is about to see a picture of her birth in the Tapestry. Without giving away spoilers, I’m sure we can find some fun phrases to translate.

I mean, how does he make these up? Of course I discover that I’ve always wanted to know how to translate “a blizzard of demolishing gray fire.” Turns out, that’s ein Sturm aus verheerendem grauem Feuer.

And there’s more!
“swirling ashes” = wirbelnden Aschesäulen (According to Google, that’s “swirling ash-columns.”)

Here’s a phrase a little easier to use:
“she couldn’t help it” = sie konnte nichts dagegen tun (“She could do nothing against it.”)

“gaunt” = hagerer

“a mass of tangled hair” = einer wilden, zerzausten Haarmähne (“a wild, disheveled hair-mane”) (Haven’t we had other characters described similarly in this book? I seem to remember zerzausten.)

“her face twisted in agony” = mit qualvoll verzerrtem Gesicht (“with excruciating distorted face”)

“scab-covered slug” = Schorf bedeckte Schnecke

“murderous fire” = mörderischen Feuers

Ooh! Here’s a good one:
“cold jelly” = kalter Glibber

“brick wall” = Ziegelwand

“groaned” = ächzte

“veils” = Schleiern

“guilty silence” = schuldbewusstem Schweigen

“doorknob” = Türknauf

“weird angles of the beams” = die merkwürdigen Winkel der Dachbalken

“to get through” = hindurchzuzwängen

“shakily” = zittrig

“a last spasm of curiosity” = ein letztes Aufflackern der Neugier

“a great hairy pudding” = ein gro?er, bebender Pudding (“a big trembling pudding”)

“limbs” = Gliedma?en

Here’s a good long word:
“cleaning” = Säuberungsaktionen

“evil yellow grin” = boshafte, zähnefletschende Grinsen (“evil, teeth-baring grin”)

And finally:
“The Belgian Prankster may have something terrible planned.”
= Der Belgische Scherzkeks hat möglicherweise etwas Schreckliches geplant.

So, as I said, there are interesting bits to translate in every possible section of Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge. Now I can go through my week knowing how to describe ein gro?er, bebender Pudding and kalter Glibber.

In only two weeks, I’ll be moving into the first home I’ve ever purchased. This will require lots of Säuberungsaktionen, so I’m not sure if I’ll get to take a Pause and indulge ein letztes Aufflackern der Neugier for more Sonderling Sundays for awhile. Until then, stay away from Schorf bedeckten Schnecken!

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Welcome to Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translations of children’s books. The idea is to look at things a little differently, while gaining Useful Translations of things you might need to say in German some day!

This week, I’m back to the book that started it all, James Kennedy‘s Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, The Order of Odd-Fish. We left off on page 152, which is Seite 192 in the German edition.

I’ll look at some interesting phrases:

“Aunt Lily swung over” = Tante Lily tauchte auf (“dipped up”)

“You did yourself proud this morning, Jo.” = Du hast dir heute Morgen sehr viel Respekt verschafft, Jo.
(“You have for yourself this morning very much respect procured, Jo.”)

“She was stunned” = Verblüfft sah sie

“face fell” = Miene verändert (“mien changed”)

“ferociously” = eindringlich

“warily” = argwöhnisch

“this would all explode in our faces” = würden sie uns übelst beschimpfen

“hanging around the edges of conversations” = lauschte den Gesprächen der anderen Partygäste
(“listened to the conversation of the other party guests”)

“I’m off” = Ich verschwinde (“I’m disappearing”)

This is a bit clunkier:
“Okay, but it had better be good.”
= Also gut, aber ich kann nur hoffen, dass es spannend ist.
(“Okay, but I can only hope that it is exciting.”)

This has a fun sound in German:
“the thump of the dancing” = das dumpfe Stampfen der Tänzer

“trapdoor” = Falltür

“dim” = dämmrigen

“lit” = entzündete (“inflamed”)

“as the room became brighter” = als das Licht aufflammte (“as the light blazed”)

“tapestry” = Wandteppich (“wall carpet”)

“fire-scorched, blood-spurting battles” = von Pulverdampf und Feuer durchsetzte blutrünstige Schlachten
(“of gunpowder and fire throughout bloodthirsty battles”)

I have to list this one because of the lovely English phrase I’ve never seen in a book before:
“an army of glitteringly armored spiders” = eine Armee von glitzernden bewaffneten Spinnen

Not so lovely, but still intriguing:
“queer-shaped people with sickly smiles and dead eyes cutting open their stomachs and pouring forth floods of centipedes and beetles and snakes”
= misgestaltete Leute mit widerlichem Lächeln und toten Augen, die Bäuche aufgeschnitten, aus denen sich Fluten von Tausendfü?lern, Käfern und Schlangen ergossen

“with a capering tiger, convoluted flower, or snickering face”
= mit einem springenden Tiger, einer prachtvollen Blume oder einem höhnischen Gesicht

“creaking, clunking, and squealing” = Quietschen, Klappern und Knarren (funny that “creaking” is Quietschen. But it sounds creaky in German.)

“a raucous parade” = eine üppige Parade

“enormous walrus-like demons” = gewaltige walrossartige Dämonen

“kicking down buildings” = zertrümmerten Gebäude

And I’ll finish up with this distinctive sentence:

“Her bones turned to ice.” = Ihr wurde kalt bis auf die Knochen. (“She was cold to the bone.”)

There you have it! I dare you to use gewaltige walrossartige Dämonen or einem höhnischen Gesicht in a sentence this week! Hmm. The way our heat’s been in the library lately, I may well have an opportunity to say, Ich war kalt bis auf die Knochen.

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Welcome to Sonderling Sunday, that time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books. Tonight I’m eagerly looking forward to tomorrow’s announcement of ALA’s Youth Media Awards. (Any of my readers who live in Northern Virginia, come to City of Fairfax Regional Library to watch it with me at 11:00 am! I’m also bringing as many potential winners as I could get my hands on, so those who come can get first dibs. I’m looking forward to seeing how many I guessed right.)

Of course, my interest is most absorbed by the Newbery Medal. I thought it would be fitting to choose a Newbery winner to look at tonight. But what do you know? The only Newbery winning book for which I have the German translation is that same book I come back to every other week. What’s that you say? You didn’t know that James Kennedy’s The Order of Odd-Fish was a Newbery winner? Well, it’s only a winner in the unorthodox sense. Be sure to read how James Kennedy won it fair and square from Neil Gaiman in a battle of physical and mental challenges (such as Rock, Paper, Scissors).

So, that makes it appropriate to look at The Order of Odd-Fish tonight, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, which I was going to do anyway. I have to admit, though I find gems in every book I approach, I can be absolutely sure I will find bizarre phrases to translate in every one of James Kennedy’s chapters. You can count on it.

Last time, we left off at the start of Chapter 13.

We’ll start with some interesting phrases:

“with brooms, mops, and buckets of soapy water” = bewaffnet mit Besen, Wischmopps und Eimern mit Seifenwasser

“passionate” = leidenschaftlichen

“cleaner, tidier, tighter-run establishment” = saubereres, aufgeräumteres, und straffer geführtes Haus

Didn’t I tell you? Get a load of these phrases you always wanted to know how to say in German:
“grimy, seething muckpot” = schmierigen, brodelnden Drecksloch (Google translates that back as “greasy, bubbling mudhole”)

“feculent, slime-soaked, filth-dripping crapshack” = stinkenden, schleimigen, schmutzigen Absteige
(Google translates that back as “stinking, slimy, filthy flophouse.” Is it just me, or is that lacking some of the imaginative flourishes of the original?)

“putridity” = Fäulnis (“foulness”)

“pristine splendor” = makelloser Pracht

Ah, here’s a word that doesn’t appear in the original except as a pronoun — because English doesn’t put it so nicely in one (long) word: Reinigungswerkzeuge = “cleaning-work-things” (i.e., mops and brooms and such)

Oh, so many things you must want to say! (These gems just don’t occur in the non-Award-winning books!) Like this:
“full of rotting fish slime” = mit verfaulendem Fischschleim verseucht

“was waist deep in milky, chunky sludge” = jetzt reicht der milchige, zähe Schleim Jo bis zur Hüfte
(“now reached the milky, viscous slime to Jo’s hip”)

“sour air” = stechende Geruch

“wheelbarrows” = Schubkarren (“push-cars”)

“as wrung out as an old rag” = so ausgewrungen wie ein alter Lappen

“a pink furry bear suit” = einen flauschigen rosa Bärenanzug

“mad as a mutton” = vollkommen durchgeknallt (“completely through-cracked”)

“blankly” = verständnislos (“understanding-less”)

I like this one:
“a pinball machine” = einen Flipper

“mashed together” = zusammengebastelt

I’m going to stop there, on page 152 in English, Seite 192 auf Deutsch. I’d better stop before I’m so ausgewrungen wie ein alter Lappen. But next time you want to talk about verfoulendem Fischschleim or schmierigen, brodelnden Drecksloch, you’re going to have options you didn’t have before.

I’d still love to hear how to say “pink furry bear suit” or “pinball machine” in Japanese or Spanish or Korean or any other language, just for fun. Fill up the comments!

And Happy Newbery Eve! I dare you to use these phrases in everyday conversation this week. People may think you vollkommen durchgeknallt, or look at you verständnislos, but that’s the fun of it, after all.

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It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! When I play with language by looking at the German translations of interesting phrases found in children’s books. This week, it’s back to the book that started it all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, that is, The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, we finished Chapter 11, so now we’re ready to tackle Chapter 12, on page 136 in the original English, and Seite 173 auf Deutsch. I will endeavor to give no spoilers, but merely tantalizing phrases that will lure my readers into reading the book itself, if you have resisted so far. I don’t think you have to know German to enjoy this series, and I’d love to get some comments about how some of these phrases might be said in other languages. (I enjoyed Reads for Keeps‘ recent post on children’s book titles in Chinese. I’m not the ONLY one who thinks about this!)

I still say German makes bureaucracy sound even worse. In fact, maybe this is where we got the term “bureaucracy”?
“The Municipal Squires Authority’s offices” = Die Büros der Städtischen Knappenbehörde

Here’s a nice long word:
“fallen into disrepair” = vollkommen heruntergekommen

“twisty trees” = krumme Bäume

“roots oozed over tumbled blocks like melted cheese” =
Wurzeln überzogen zertrümmerte Quader wie geschmolzener Käse

“with a crazy quilt” =
mit einem seltsamen Flickenteppich (There’s the word seltsamen again!)

I like the sound of this phrase:
“dimly lit” = schlecht erleuchtet

Now this one we simply must find out how to say in German:
“sweaty civil servants in ill-fitting suits” =
verschwitzten Beamten in schlecht sitzenden Anzügen

“confidence” = Selbstvertrauen (“self-trust”)

“punched Ian’s arm” = knuffte Ians Arm (I’m pretty sure it would have been a different word for punching with intent to hurt. I like knuffte – the ‘K’ is pronounced – for a playful punch on the arm.)

“the nastiest, stalest lumps of crud” = die widerlichsten und muffigsten Teigklumpen
(Google translates muffigsten as “mustiest”)

“crumpled” = zusammengesunkener (“together-sunken”)

“wretch” = Schuft

“eyepatch” = Augenklappe

“Milquetoasts” = Duckmäuser

“This whole week has been a waste.” =
Die ganze Woche war reine Zeitverschwendung
(“The whole week was pure Time-disappearance.”)

And you must want to know how to say this:
“pancreas” = Bauchspeicheldrüse (“belly-saliva-gland”)

“pleasantries” = Schmeicheleien

“Excuses!” = Ausflüchte!

“rasped” = knarzte

Oops! The translator accidentally said that Korsakov knarzte, when it was Olvershaw, and assigned the entire speech that follows to the wrong person. This is the first actual mistake I’ve found.

“Ignominious!” = Absolut erbärmlich!

“You insects!” = Ihr Ungeziefer! (Google translates it “vermin.”)

“satisfaction” = Genugtuung

“her stomach felt full of bees” = sie Bienen im Bauch zu haben schien

“Lint” = Leinsamen (translates as “linseed” — not sure that’s the right idea)

“bashful” = schüchternes

“one obnoxious remark” = einer aufsässigen Bemerkung (She did give him some sass.)

“impertinence” = Unverschämtheit

That finishes up Jo’s initial meeting with Olvershaw. Next time, we’ll find out about quests….

Meanwhile, I always find the insults more interesting than the Schmeicheleien, with the exception of Schmeicheleien itself.

Sometimes, I think that looking at all these translations is reine Zeitverschwendung, but I must admit it gives me great Genugtuung.

Bis nächste Woche!

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It’s Sonderling Sunday! When I play with language by looking at the German translation of odd phrases from children’s books. This is the week I’m back with the book that started it all – Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge by James Kennedy, the translation of The Order of Odd-Fish.

We left off last time on page 131 in English, which is Seite 167 in the German edition. Jo and Ian are about to ride elephants through the city.

In the very first paragraph, we’ve got some phrases you must have always wanted to hear translated (without knowing it):

“The elephants were painted with colorful, swirling designs.” =
Die Elefanten wurden mit bunten, blumigen Mustern bemalt.

“brass necklaces” = Messingshalsketten (“brass neck chains”)

“jewel-studded bracelets” = juwelenbesetzten Fu?kettchen (“jewel-beset foot-chainlets” – these are bracelets on elephants, so it would be around their feet, after all.)

“a lush garden” = ein üppiger Garten

“huge bulbous trees” = riesiger, knolliger Bäume

“flimsy shacks” = baufälligen Baracken

“smoky” = verqualmt

“shuffling heaps of rags” = wandelnden Lumpenbündeln

“seething” = brodelnde

“crushing, surging throngs of people” = wogenden Menschenmassen (“surging mass of mankind”)

“iguanas” = Eidechsen

“clanking and clattering” = klappernd und scheppernd

“wispy mustache” = flaumigen Schnurrbart

“Municipal Squires Authority” = Städtischen Knappenbehörde

“gnarled trees” = knorrigen Bäumen

I dare you to pronounce this one! Maybe just spit:
“spliced” = gepfropft

“change the subject” = das Thema wechseln

That’s it for chapter 11!

Hmm. This week’s wasn’t too terribly exciting, only I know now how to describe certain flaumigen Schnurrbart I’ve seen lately. (November was No Shave November at the College of William and Mary. Are those two things related? Maybe.) And now I can say not just that I don’t like crowds, but that I don’t like Menschenmassen. But bottomline, I will probably spend the next week trying to pronounce gepfropft.

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It’s Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books. Today, I’m back to the book that started this mad passion — Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy. I fondly hope that you do not have to understand German or have read the book in order to enjoy this series. I simply use the book to find utterly bizarre phrases to translate. Please see if you can find ways to use these phrases, as James Kennedy has so deftly done! Or perhaps you can give readers insight as to interesting ways they might be translated into yet another language? There are many possibilities.

Last time I was in Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, I left off on page 128 in English, which is Seite 164 auf Deutsch. Let’s look for some interesting sentences. Here’s one that is fun to say:

“These gossip-mongers have gone too far!” = Diese Klatschmäuler sind einfach zu weit gegangen! (“These gossip-mouths are simply too far gone!”)

“a reckless disregard” = eine rücksichtslose Missachtung (“a hindsight-less mis-attention”)

“Chatterbox” = Plaudertasche

“headline” = Schlagzeile (“hitting line”)

Oh! They did a marvelous job of translating the alliterative headlines. Let me write out them all for our enjoyment:

“SIMPERING SEFINO SUNK IN SKY-HIGH SKIRMISH” = SCHLUCHZENDER SEFINO STÜRTZT IN SCHARMÜTZEL SCHLUNDWÄRTS (Never mind that it would never fit in a headline, it’s alliterative! It translates, roughly, as “Sobbing Sefino crashes in skirmish gullet-ward.”)

“KORSAKOV’S COWARDLY COCKROACH CALLOWLY CRINGES, CRIES, IN CATASTROPHIC COMBAT” becomes:
KORSAKOVS KLÄGLICHE KAKERLAKE
KRÜMMT KÖRPER KECKERND,
KREISCHT KATASTROPHALEM KAMPF
This translates back to something like: “Korsakov’s pathetic cockroach curves body brazenly, yells in catastrophic war.” (I guess it was harder to keep it alliterative.)

And finally:
“INFAMOUS INSECT INDIGNANTLY IRKED IN INSIPID IMBROGLIO”
This becomes:
INFAMES INSEKT IRRITIERT INDISPONIERT IN INFERNALISCHEM INTERMEZZO
That means pretty much what it sounds like (“Infamous insect irritated indisposed in infernal intermezzo”), but hey, they found “I” words that were also German words.

Oh, this paragraph is good! I’ll take it in bits:
“ceaseless slanderous scribblings” = unaufhörlichen schmutzigen Schmierereien

“mischievous muckrakers” = schändlichen Schlammwühler (Oh, that is just too fun to say! I may not be correct, but it comes out phonetically (in English phonetics) something like “schendlischen schlahmvooler.”)

“ruthless rabble” = rücksichtlosen Rabauken

“no libel… too licentious” = keine Schmähung zu schimpflich

All that great alliteration, then they kind of fall flat with this one:
“no hearsay too hurtful” = kein Gerücht zu vage

And this doesn’t quite match the original either:
“to perniciously print in their poppycock periodicals” = um nicht derberweise in ihren dümmlichen Druckerzeugnissen dargestellt zu werden

With this one, they don’t even try:
“sneaking slander” = frechen Verleumdungen

This one’s pretty good:
“ink-inebriated idlers” = Tinte trunkenen Taugenichtse (“ink-drunken rascals”)

I have to say, I wouldn’t like to try to translate this stuff. (And I’m curious — Anyone know how to translate this into Spanish? French? Italian? Japanese?)
“a billion-headed beast of babblement” = die milliarden köpfige Bestie der Plappereien

Here we’ve got a useful word:
“slain” = neidergemetzelt (“massacred”)

And here’s one of the longest words yet:
“constitutional” = Gesundheitsspaziergänge (“health-pleasure-walk”) (23 letters)

Well, that’s it for tonight. I didn’t get far, but I did finish a section, and there’s only one section left in chapter 11. I hope this week I won’t encounter any schändlichen Schlammwühler, but if I do, at least I know what to call them!

Next week, I’ll be driving my son back to the dorm on Sunday, so I’m not sure I’ll get around to Sonderling Sunday, but meanwhile have a herrlich holiday!

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It’s Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when we play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books. You do not have to speak German to enjoy these, and you do not have to read the books. In fact, not having done these things might well make the chosen phrases more bizarre, and thus more fun for those of us with a Sonderling sense of humor.

As I’m writing this, I’m about to experience my very first hurricane, and I find it frightfully funny that it is named Sandy. No wonder she is raging — she ALMOST got a really great name! Now, it didn’t happen that Sandy struck Sondy on Sunday, but I do have Monday off. Here’s hoping that the only way Sandy will affect me is to get some extra time off work to read. But we shall see. Anyway, I can stay up late tonight writing Sonderling Sunday and tomorrow sleep late!

This week, we’re back to the original Sonderbook that started Sonderling Sunday, James Kennedy‘s The Order of Odd-Fish, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge. We left off on page 124 in English, Seite 158 auf Deutsch.

Some truly useful phrases:

“still in a state of numb shock” = noch immer wie betäubt von dem Schock

“studded with chrome spigots” = mit Chromzapfen gespickt war

“breezed through the room” = fegten aufgescheucht durch den Raum (Hmm. Google translates that translation as “swept scared through the room”)

“a lavishly costumed elephant” = einen prachtvoll kostümierten Elefanten

“stables” = Stallungen

“dazed envy” = gedämpften Neid (“dampened envy”)

Ah! Shorter in German:
“overstuffed chairs” = Plüschsessel

“The Prancing Gobbler!” = Der Stolzierende Schlinghals!

“engaging in rampant Schwenkery” = in schwenkischen Eskapaden ergangen

“as I tossed and turned” = während ich mich in meinen Bett gewältzt (“as I in my bed waltzed”)

“all due respect” = bei allem gebotenen Respekt

“Municipal Squires Authority” = Städtischen Knappenbehörde

“trailed by a group of curious squires” = eine Gruppe von neugierigen Knappen im Kielwasser (“a group of curious squires in her wake” — her “keel-water”)

“snorted” = schnaubte (That’s a good one.)

“frowning at Nora” = schaute Nora missbilligend an (“looked at Nora disapprovingly”)

“earshot” = Hörweite (“hear-far”)

“You look sick.” = Du bist plötzlich so grün im Gesicht (“You are suddenly so green in the face.”)

Now, didn’t you want to know how to say this?
“bristling . . . with claws and spikes and goo-shooting tubes” = mit Klauen und Dornen und Drüsen besetzt ist, aus denen irgendeine Flüssigkeit spritzt

Well, I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop in the middle of a section. I’m feeling strangely dizzy tonight, and I’m guessing it’s a vestibular migraine starting from the extreme low pressure in the approaching hurricane. (Drat that Sandy!) Here’s hoping that I can sleep it off!

Meanwhile, can you use one of these phrases in a sentence? Maybe translate into a different language yet?

As for me, I guess I stopped because ich bin plötzlich so grün im Gesicht. I hope the sounds of the storm won’t have me waltzing in my bed tonight! I will try to sit out the storm tomorrow in Plüschsessel.

Stay safe!

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It’s Sonderling Sunday! Have you ever laughed at the odd phrases tourist books choose to translate? Have you ever wondered how these words could possibly be used? On Sonderling Sundays, I take phrases from books for children and young adults and give you the German translation. Obviously, these phrases are useful: They have been used! I also hope you will enjoy a different way of hearing them or looking at them.

I’d like to think that even if you don’t speak German, you can enjoy Sonderling Sunday. In fact, with that in mind, I offer two challenges for the comments:

1) Please attempt to use one of the phrases or words from today’s post in a sentence.
2) Please translate one of the phrases or words into another language for all of our edification.

This week, I’m back to The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy. We left off on Chapter 11.

I like this sentence at the beginning, and thought it would be fun to see how it translates:
“Gone was the vast jeweled egg she’d woken up in every other morning of her life.”
This becomes:
Das riesige juwelenbesitzte Ei, in dem sie bisher jeden Morgen ihres Lebens aufgewacht war, war verschwunden.

(A literal translation is something like this: “The giant jewel-possessing egg, in which she up to now each morning of her life woke up to, was disappeared.”)

Some more intriguing phrases you never knew could be useful:
“scruffy wooden desk” = zerkratzten Holztisch

I like this one:
“a little arched leaded-glass window” = ein kleines Bogenfenster mit Bleiglas herein

This doesn’t change a lot, but I like the sound in German:
“She couldn’t get out of the crusty, stinky thing fast enough.” = Sie konnte gar nicht schnell genug aus diesem schmutzigen, stinkenden Ding herauskommen.

“in an agony of relief” = mit einer beinahe qualvollen Erleichterung

“wrapped in a fluffy white towel” = eingewickelt in ein flauschiges wei?es Handtuch

Here’s a phrase I dare you to use in a sentence:
“cars and elephants moving in the boulevards” = Wagen und Elefanten bewegten sich über die Boulevards

“Jo nearly spit out her coffee.” = Jo hätte sich fast an ihrem Kaffee verschluckt.

“painful” = sehr schmerzlich

“It was as if the ground had reeled under her.” = Jo hatte das Gefühl, als würde der Boden unter ihr schwanken.

“Just hearing it made her skin prickle.” = Es kribbelte sie am ganzen Körper, als sie dieses Wort nur hörte.
(“It tingled her on her whole body, when she this word only heard.”)

“jewelry box” = Schmuckkassette

“lead the life of a normal Odd-Fish squire” = lebe wie ein ganz normaler Knappe eines Seltsamen Sonderlings

“incredulous” = ungläubig

Well, I’m tired, so I’m stopping there for tonight. How about you? Can you think of a reasonable way to work one of these phrases or words or sentences into normal conversation? Or can you give us a translation in yet another language? I’ll be watching the comments to see.

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It’s Sonderling Sunday, loosely translated Nerdy Sonntag. Have you ever wondered how phrasebooks decide which phrases to translate? I’ve decided to create a sort of blog phrasebook, using phrases pulled from children’s books. After all, if it’s been used in a children’s book, it must be good to know! I admit I’m going after the more bizarre phrases, but the point is having fun and being somewhat silly. And enjoying a close look at tändeltechnisch.

This week, I’ll be back in James Kennedy‘s The Order of Odd-Fish and its translation, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge. This is the book that inspired the series, since, after all, it is obviously a Sonderbook, with Sonderlinge in the actual title! As of last week, I decided to mix it up a little, coming back to Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge every other week, and looking at other children’s books from my German collection in alternating weeks.

We left off two weeks ago in the middle of Chapter Ten, on page 110 in English, Seite 140 auf Deutsch. We were in the middle of a confrontation between the Belgian Prankster, der Belgische Scherzkeks (“the Belgian Joke-Cookie”) and aspiring archvillain Ken Kiang.

Some fun phrases to know:

“The plot thickens” = Die Geschichte verdichtet sich (“The story compacts itself.”)

“But the worst was when she would just give him a strange smile.” = Doch das Schlimmste war, wenn sie ihn einfach nur höchst sonderbar anlächelte. (I go on about how sonder is a prefix meaning “special,” but, okay, yeah, sometimes it just means “strange.”)

Oh! The translator went with the cliche, instead of what was written:
“You couldn’t see your own feet.” = Man konnte nicht einmal die Hand vor Augen sehen. (“You couldn’t see your hand before your eyes.”)

“to seep in” = zu sickern

I like the sound of this:
“meanwhile” = in der Zwischenzeit (“in the between time”)

“Food was running out.” = Lebensmittel wurden knapp.

“blue veils” = blauen Schleiern

This is simply fun to say:
“Even the howling things that flew about in the fog became still.” = Selbst die heulenden Dinger, die in dem Nebel herumflogen, verstummten.

“midwives” = Hebammen

“locked themselves in their house” = sich in seinem Haus verbarrikadiert

“a strange and unbreakable siege” = einer fremdartigen und nicht zu durchbrechenden Belagerung

This one adds an image:
“said in private” = hinter vorgehaltener Hand getuschelt hatten (“painted behind reproached hand”)

“furious” = fuchsteufelswild (“fox-devil-wild”)

“ghostly image” = geisterhaftes Bild

“screen” = Leinwand (“flax wall”)

“chalky, smoking ash” = wei?licher qualmender Asche

Oh, this is a good phrase to know:
“armored ostriches” = gepanzerten Strau?envögeln

“The camera drew back.” = Die Kamera öffnete auf die Totale. (“The camera opened to the Total.”)

This one’s shorter in German, for once:
“surrounded in a circle” = umzingelten

This one’s longer:
“squeezing” = zusammenzuquetschen

“curling” = lodernde

“throbbing, groaning, pulsing in and out” = pulsierte, stöhnte, ächzte

“melting bricks” = schmelzenden Ziegelsteinen

“spraying out the chimney” = spritzte aus dem Schornstein

“The house strained at the seams, swelling, heaving, gurgling.” = Das Haus platzte regelrecht aus den Nähten, schwoll an, pulsierte, gurgelte.

“My favorite part” = Meine Lieblingsstelle

“Sir Nils was a whirl of limbs” = Sir Nils war ein wahrer Derwisch (“Sir Nils was a true dervish.”)

“doddering” = tatterigen

“terrifyingly fast and fierce” = in ihrer Schnelligkeit und Wildheit furchterregend

“blasting out slime” = Schleim quoll heraus

“armor” = Rüstungen

“Something in Dame Lily snapped.” = In diesem Moment schien Dame Lily auszurasten.

“surprised” = überrumpeln (“overpower”)

“stopper” = Stöpsel

Here’s a nice long one:
“opposite side” = gegenüberliegenden

“exiled” = schickte sie in die Verbannung

“legal issues” = juristischen Spitzfindigkeiten

“flimsy” = fadenscheinig

“laughing silently” = lautlos zu lacheln (“loudless to laugh”)

“ghastly merriment” = gruseliger Heiterkeit

“stitched back together” = zusammengeflickt

“a horrible jelly” = ein grauenvoller Wackelpudding

“with a sickening THUP” = mit einem ekelerregenden, satten Schmatzen (“with a disgusting, rich smack”)

Here’s a good word:
“deflate” = schrumpfen

“hissing squeal” = kreischendes Zischen

“spewing stale air” = stie?en abgestandene Luft aus

“spluttering into shreds” = in kleine Fetzen auflösten

“a shriveled empty skin” = eine schlaffe, geschrumpfte, leere Hülle

“deeply humiliated” = zutiefst gedemüdigt

There! That’s it for Chapter Ten. Doesn’t that just make you want to find out what all the gruseliger Heiterkeit is about? Meine Lieblingsstelle was probably ein grauenvoller Wackelpudding or perhaps eine schlaffe, geschrumpfte, leere Hülle.

In two weeks, we’ll start in on Chapter Eleven! Kapitel Elf! In der Zwischenzeit, next week I think I will take a look at Winnie der Pu. Enjoy the Heiterkeit!

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It’s time for Sonderling Sunday – That time when I let you know the German translation of various bizarre phrases using the book Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, the translation of The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

I left off at the start of Chapter Ten, 10. Kapitel, page 101 and Seite 129. The start of this chapter is a good way to start the blog post.

Das alles ist ja nun ganz gut und schön, aber was hat es eigentlich mit dem Belgischen Scherzkeks auf sich?

In English, that is:

This is all well and good, but what about the Belgian Prankster?

Now, I won’t answer the question, but I’ll give you some phrases that pop up:

“hottest controversy” = hitzigsten Diskussionen

“sprawling” = ausgedehntes

This one’s much longer in German:
“interlinked airborne platforms” = miteinander verbundener schwebender Plattformen (“with one another bound together floating platforms”)

“a terrifyingly scarred Icelandic assassin” = ein schrecklich vernarbter isländischer Meuchelmörder

“steel-toothed” = Stahlzähne

“a noseless Nigerian explosives expert” = einem nasenlosen nigerianischen Sprengstoffexperten

“massive-headed” = mit einem Wasserkopf (“with a water-head”)

Why did I never learn this? “men’s toilet” = Männerklo

Oh, I’m afraid I don’t think this line of translation is up to snuff:
“And you are a Boobly-Boobly-Boo-Boo” = Und du bist ein alter Schaumschläger

And here’s something of a tongue-twister:
»Ein Schaumschläger!«, schäumte der Chinese. = “‘A boobly-boobly-boo-boo?’ raged Ken Kiang.”

Based on Google, that’s something like “a foam-batter!” foamed the Chinese.

I like this one:
“corner booth” = Ecknische (“corner niche”)

“audacious” = abgebrühter (“hard-boiled”)

“vengeance” = Vergeltung (“payback”)

“fluorescent lights” = Neonlampen

“tiny paws” = winzigen Pfötchen

“fate’s plaything” = ein Spielball des Schicksals

“satanic roar” = satanischen Brausens

“jokester” = Witzbold

“inscrutable” = undurchdringlichen

“errand boy” = Laufbursche

Here’s a fun one:
“Well, la-dee-da.” = Na gut, heiliger Bimbam.

Well, that’s all for tonight!

My thought for today: If I’m in a special corner booth, then we must have:

Sondra Eklund in einer Sonderecknische.

Tune in next week for more handy-dandy things to know!

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