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. Strictly speaking, I probably shouldn’t do Sonderling Sunday this week. I’m moving in less than a week, and I need to get packed. But who’s being strict? Sonderling Sunday is fun, doggone it, and I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to do it again after I move, since I haven’t worked out my internet service provider yet. What’s more, instead of alternating with other books, tonight I’m going back to good ol’ Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, because I know I’ll find some delightful phrases I always wanted to hear translated into German, but just didn’t know it.
Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge is the German version of James Kennedy‘s The Order of Odd-fish, which is full of Odd-fish indeed, making it so much fun to explore in German.
Last time, we left off on page 161, Seite 204. You do not have to have read The Order of Odd-Fish to enjoy this series, though I keep hoping that the interesting phrases we find will intrigue people into picking up this book. I’m not even halfway, so I guess it’s too early to start being sad about the day when I finish the book. Tonight, I’m trying to limit my fun, so let’s dip right in and see what we can find:
“immediately knew” = wusste augenblicklich (“knew eyeblinkly”)
“below the floor” = unter den Bodenbrettern (“under the floorboards”)
This sounds better in German:
“Squires’ meeting” = Knappenkonferenz
“sheets” = Laken
“a tiny germ” = eine winzige Bakterie
“rotting wood” = verfaultem Holz
“mothballs” = Mottenkugeln
“bric-a-brac” = Nippes
“mildewed garbage” = schimmeligem Müll
“cobwebs” = Staubflocken (“dust flakes”)
“pile of pillows” = Kissenhaufen (“cushion heaps”)
“gavel” = Richterhammer
“gulp” = Schluck
“cough it up” = auszuspucken
“obvious” = offenkundig (“open knowledge”)
“behind Jo’s eyes” = hinter Jos Augäpfel (“behind Jo’s eye-apples”)
“A horrible tingle crawled up Jo’s body.” = Ein schreckliches Prickeln überlief Jos Körper.
“overgrown” = überdimensionierten (“over-dimensioned”)
“pile of pillows” (version two) = Kissenberge (“cushion mountains”)
“Advance copy” = Vorausexemplar
This makes me laugh because of how it sounds to English ears:
“jolted awake” = plötzlich hellwach (“suddenly bright-awake”)
“conspiracy theories” = Verschwörungstheorien
“the next episode” = der darauffolgenden Episode
That’s it for tonight! I don’t know when my darauffolgenden Episode will happen, but until then, may you avoid schimmeligem Müll and schreckliches Prickeln!