Category: Sonderling Sunday

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.

Today, we’re continuing in the most Sonder Book of them all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, otherwise known as The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, we left off on page 284, Seite 360, in the middle of Chapter Twenty-One. Jo had been exploring in the library and found an interesting manuscript.

“Her heart bolted.” = Ihr Herz hämmerte.

Who knows when you might need to know how to say this sentence?
“It was crazy, impossible.”
= Das war verrückt, schier unmöglich.

“quickly scrawled” = hastig hingeworfen

“burning and blooming like a fiery garden”
= glühten und blühten wie ein wilder Garten.
(“glowed and bloomed like a wild garden”)

“Jo got down to it.”
= Jo stürzte sich in die Arbeit.

“Hours passed.”
= Stunden vergingen

“percolating coffeepot” = brodelnde Kaffeemaschine

“dense” = begriffsstutzig

I like this word:
“jewelry box” = Schmuckkassette

“translation”
= entschlüsselten Text
(“decrypted text”)

“translating rapidly and wildly”
= dekodierte den Text schnell und wie im Fieber
(“decoded the text quickly and like in a fever”)

“dishonor” = Schande

“invincible” = unbesiegbar

“positively angry” = eindeutig wütend

“doorstep” = Türschwelle

“traditional insults” = traditionelle Beleidigungen

I dare you to think of a use for this sentence:
“When I leave, may a thousand wild pigs overrun it and defile it with enthusiastic snorts.”
= Wenn ich es verlasse, warden tausend Wildschweine es überrennen und mit ihrem lauten Schnauben schänden

“defilement” = Schändung

“trampled into gruel” = zu Brei zertrampelt warden

A good phrase to know:
“hearty slurps” = lautem Schmatzen

And the translator missed a line here! In English, Fiona says “So be it,” and Jo answers “So be it.” In German, only Fiona says So sei es and the line with Jo’s response is left out completely.

And here’s a sentence with a Sonderword:
“It was clear she wasn’t impressed.”
= Sie war ganz offensichtlich nicht sonderlich beeindruckt.
(“She was completely obviously not especially impressed.”)

So, I fondly hope I leave your thoughts glühten und blühten wie ein wilder Garten. Please, enjoy some lautem Schmatzen tonight in honor of Sonderling Sunday!

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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.

Today it’s back to the book that prompted the creation of Sonderling Sunday, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, known in English as The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, we left off on page 280, Seite 355 auf Deutsch, with Jo working in the library.

I like beginning with the first sentence of a section. Here’s a good one:

“The archives of the Order of Odd-Fish had just recently reopened to the public.”
= Die Archive des Ordens der Seltsamen Sonderlinge waren erst kürzlich der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht worden.

“the Appendix” = den Anhang

“the very reason for the order’s existence”
= die Grundlage für die Existenz des Ordens

Have to list this phrase:
“disorderly library” = ungeordnete Bibliothek

“on the dubious, the improbable, and the bizarre”
= über das Dubiose, das Unwahrscheinliche, und das Bizarre

“blueprints of ludicrous weaponry”
= Blaupausen von lächerlichen Waffen

“sketchbooks of strange plants”
= Skizzenbücher von merkwürdigen Pflanzen

“periodic table of smells”
= Periodentafel der Gerüche

“infamous dissertation on dithering”
= berüchtigte Dissertation über das Tändeln

Such a lovely long phrase:
“accumulated research”
= angesammelten Forschungsergebnisse

Sounds even more complicated in German:
“complicated filing system”
= höchst komplizierte Ablagesystem

“unwieldy collection”
= unhandliche Sammlung

“questions from the public”
= Fragen der Öffentlichkeit

“reading room” = Lesesaal

“portly” = korpulenten

“for some reason” = aus unerfindlichen Gründen

“life’s goal” = Lebenziel

“sharpening his pencils”
= seine Bleistifte spitzte

“File cabinets” = Aktenschränke

“papers, folders, and note cards”
= Papieren, Ordnern und Karteikarten

“teetering stacks” = wacklige Stapel

“composition books” = Aufsatzheften

“crumpled documents” = zerknitterte Dokumente

“climb over” = darüberklettern

“reference works” = Nachschlagewerke

“rough drafts” = erste Entwürfe

“scribbled” = gekritzelt

“browsed” = schmökerte

“tasting patterns” = Geschmacksmuster

Of course:
“hauled” = schleppte

“circular chain” = kreisförmigen Kette

I’m going to stop with the words “FOR MY DAUGHTER” = FÜR MEINE TOCHTER

I think my favorite phrase today was seine Bleistifte spitzte. I’ll remember it when I answer Fragen der Öffentlichkeit.

Bis Bald!

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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 started it all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, otherwise known as The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, we finished up Chapter 20. We are really making progress in this book! Tonight I’m not planning to spend a lot of time — but we will tackle the beginning of Kapitel 21

The first sentence is a good one to know:
“Rainy season struck hard.”
= Die Regenzeit schlug diesmal hart zu.

“flying ocean” = fliegender Ozean

Ha! This one’s shorter in German:
“Thunder banged and growled at all hours”
= Es donnerte unaufhörlich
(“It thundered incessantly.” Hmmm. Seems like the translator got a little lazy there.)

But this one’s not shorter:
“fog wrapped the mountain in an unbreakable cloud”
= Nebel hüllte den Berg in eine undurchdringliche Wolke
(“Fog shrouded the mountain in an impenetrable cloud”)

We’ve seen this before, but it’s still fun to say:
“muddy rivers” = schleimige Flüsse

“droned” = prasselte (“pattered”)

“leaky ceilings” = löchrigen Decken

“don’t worry about that” = machen Sie sich deshalb keine Sorgen

“enough fight” = genug Mumm

“pulled her jacket closer” = schmiegte sich in ihre Jacke
(“snuggled herself in her jacket”)

That’s the first section of Chapter 21. It’s short, but I’m going to call it a night and do some schmiegen.

Bis bald!

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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 my stand-by, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, by James Kennedy, translated by Wolfgang Thon from the English found in The Order of Odd-Fish.

Last time, we left off at the very last section of Chapter Twenty, so that’s where we’ll pick up today.

That section begins with this interesting sentence:
“Ken Kiang felt he was winning the war against the Belgian Prankster.”
= Ken Kiang hatte das Gefühl, dass er dabei war, den Krieg gegen den Belgischen Scherzkeks zu gewinnen.

I like this word.
“return” = zurückzukehren (“back-to-sweep”)

“striking the blow” = den entscheidenden Schlag zu landen

“how to do it with style?”
= wie sollte er das stilvoll bewerkstelligen?

“the verve” = der Schmiss

“the showmanship” = die Effekthascherei

“the arrogant stunt”
= das überlegene Bravourstückchen

I like that there’s one word for this:
“cherry on top”
= Sahnehäubchen
(Hmmm. Google translates the word as “icing.” I like how it comes out when broken up: “Cream-bonnet.”)

“final, outrageous flourish”
= letzten verrückten Schlenker

This translation is kind of disappointing:
“A musical!”
= Ein Musical!

“nobody in Eldritch City properly appreciated him”
= niemand in Schauerstadt ihn gebührend zu schätzen wusste
(“nobody in Shiver City him duly to treasure knew”)

“audacious victory” = kühnen Sieg

“grand spectacle” = gewaltiges Spektakel

“a cast of hundreds”
= eine Besetzungsliste mit Hunderten von Darstellern
(“a cast-list with hundreds of performers”)

“too ambitious” = zu ehrgeizig
(“too glory-stingy”)

“Ken Kiang scorned the thought.”
= Ken Kiang schob den Gedanken verächtlich beiseite.
(“Ken Kiang shoved the thought contemptuously aside.”)

“in one fell swoop” = in einem Aufwasch
(“in one wash-out”)

“premiere his musical” = seine Musical uraufführen

“and thus the demands of both duty and style would be satisfied!”
= auf diese Weise würde er gleichzeitig den Erfordernissen der Pflicht und des Stils Genüge tun!
(“in this way would he at the same time the requirements of duty and of style Enough do!”)

“evicted” = gekündigt

“Dazed but strangely unruffled”
= Ein wenig benommen, aber seltsam unerschrocken
(“a little dazed, but oddly undaunted”)

“belongings” = Habseligkeiten

This phrase is fun to say:
“stumbled down the hallway”
= schlurfte durch den Flur
(“shuffled through the hallway”)

“sigh with relief” = erleichtert aufseufzten

“crusty socks” = Schmutzige Socken

“scribbled-on paper” = vollgekritzelte Papiere

“he didn’t bother to pick them up.”
= Er machte sich nicht die Mühe, diese Dinge aufzuheben.
(“He made himself not the effort, these things to pick up.”)

I like the coincidence of finster aus einem Fenster:
“glared from an upstairs window”
= beobachtete ihn finster aus einem Fenster im Obergeschoss
(“watched him darkly out a window in the upper floor”)

“farewells” = Abschiedsworte

“Were they mocking him?”
Verspotteten sie ihn?

“Check and mate” = Schach und Matt

I like the last paragraph of the chapter, so it’s a fitting way to close. I’ll break it into pieces:

“Ken Kiang jumped up and down on the street corner,”
Ken Kiang hüpfte an der Straßenecke auf und ab,

“squawking and waving his arms.”
krächzte und fuchtelte mit den Armen herum.
(“croaked and waved with his arms around”)

“People discreetly crossed the street to avoid him.”
= Die anderen Passanten wechselten unauffällig die Straßenseite, um ihm aus dem Weg zu gehen.
(“The other passers exchanged unobtrusively the street-side, for him out of the way to go.”)

You’ve got to hand it to James Kennedy — He always writes with Schmiss und Effekthascherei!

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It’s time for Sonderling Sunday, that time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translations of children’s books.

This week, it’s back to The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge. We are ready to begin Chapter 20!

This sentence seems good to know:
“Ken Kiang was quite pleased with himself.”
= Ken Kiang war ziemlich zufrieden mit sich.

“to outwit the Belgian Prankster”
= den Belgischen Scherzkeks zu übertölpeln

“to disrupt his plans”
= seine Pläne zu vereiteln

“to overthrow his infernal machinations”
= seine teuflischen Machenschaften zu durchkreuzen

Try to think of a reason to say this!
“Municipal Squires Authority”
= Städtischen Knappenbehörde

“a small army of clerks”
= eine kleine Armee von Sachbearbeitern

“shamelessly groveled”
= krochen (“crawled”)

“moment of idleness”
= Moment des Müßiggangs

“devil-may-care”
= tollkühne (“foolhardy”)

“dingy dormitory”
= schmuddelige Schlafsaal

It’s always interesting how names are translated.
“Bimblebridge” = Pimperbrück

“partition” = Trennwand (“divide-wall”)

“simplified” = vereinfacht

“distractions” = Ablenkungen

“moth-eaten” = mottenzerfressene

“bolt” = Schraube

“a wire cut” = ein durchgeschnittener Draht

“file” = Aktenordner

“ever greater sophistication” = immer raffinierterer Durchtriebenheit

“deployed, canceled, reversed, appropriated, adapted, and foiled”
= ersonnen, widerrufen, ins Gegenteil gekehrt, angepasst, zweckdienlich gemacht und vereitelt

Here’s a nice long word:
“treaties”
= Waffenstillstandsverträge

“decoys” = Köder

“red herrings” = Ablenkungsmanöver
(“distraction-maneuver”)

“Ken Kiang’s mind reeled.” = Ken Kiang schwindelte. (“Ken Kiang was made dizzy.”)

“excruciating subtlety” = quälenden Subtilität

Here’s a phrase you should know if you travel in Germany!
“pie damnation” = Kuchen-Verdammnis

“slouched” = schlurfte

This sounds better in German:
“a distant smile on his lips”
= ein abwesendes Lächeln auf den Lippen

And the last sentence for tonight, at the end of a section:
“He had the most wonderful idea.”
= Er hatte soeben die wundervollste Eingebung von allen gehabt.

Good night! May wundervollste Eingebungen be yours until next time!

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