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. Tonight it’s back with my stand-by, The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge.
Last time, we left off on page 185 in English, Seite 234 auf Deutsch. The squires are about to go in search of the Schwenk.
As usual, I’ll just look for fun phrases that I never before realized I really wanted to know how to say in multiple languages. As usual, I’ll find an abundance of these in The Order of Odd-Fish. (I won’t give any spoilers. If you haven’t read the book, I’m hoping these phrases will intrigue you.)
“East Squeamings” = Ost-Heikel (“East-Delicate”) (Like “squeamish,” I think.)
“shacks” = Scheunen
“a sprawling fish market” = einem ausgedehnten Fischmarkt (“an outstretched fish market”)
“stalls” = Buden
“dripping bunches” = tropfenden Bündeln
“wriggling white blobs” = zuckenden wei?en Klecksen
“shimmering fins” = schimmernden Flossen
“panting mouths” = Luft schnappenden Mäulern (“air snapping mouths”)
“bulging tubes” = aufgedunsene Röhren
“trussed up” = fest verschnürt
“bustling cacophony” = umtriebige Kakofonie
“booth” = Nische (“niche”)
“why settle for second best?” = warum sich mit dem Zweitbesten zufriedengeben?
(“why yourself with the second-best to-peace-give?”)
No surprise here:
“lugged” = schleppte
“smoke” = qualmte
“promising noises” = vielversprechende Geräusche
“passed around” = herumreichten
“floating in black-licorice broth” = in einer schwarzen Lakritzbrühe schwammen
“awed whisper” = ehrfürchtig flüsternd
“slouching” = herumlümmelte
“snorted” = schnaubte verächtlich (“snorted contemptuously”)
“casually” = unaufällig
“eavesdrop” = belauschen
“hang around” = herumgelungert
“devastating” = verheerend
And I’ll end with the final sentence in the section:
“Come on, let’s go find the Schwenk.” = Kommt, gehen wir los und suchen das Schwenk.
That’s it for tonight! As always, some fun words to say and fun things to imagine a situation where you could say them.