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!