Surprise! It’s time for Sonderling Sunday — That part of the week when I make a very silly German phrasebook from the Germany translations of children’s books.
Why is this a surprise? Because ever since I started meeting with a gaming group on Sunday afternoons (10 years ago now!), my Sonderling Sunday posts have gotten more sporadic.
Why am I doing a short one tonight anyway? BECAUSE I’M GOING TO GERMANY!!!!
That’s right, I just purchased tickets for June in Germany to celebrate my 60th birthday going back to the place where I left a big chunk of my heart. So to get ready — I need to do Sonderling Sunday posts again! I want to get my ear for German back, while learning some phrases I’ll almost certainly never use.
Today I’m going back to the book that started it all – Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, which is the German translation of The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.
Last time, which was sadly a year and a half ago, we left off on page 361 of the English edition, Seite 457 of the German translation. (Yes, German words are longer.) Let’s begin as the scene changes:
“Jo and Ian kept dancing.” = Jo und Ian tanzten weiter.
From there, I’ll just mention some interesting phrases:
“on thin ice” = auf dünnem Eis
“midnight feast” = Mitternachtsmahl
“they exchanged glances” = wechselten sie häufige Blicke
“felt something unfamiliar open up inside her”
= spürte etwas Fremdes in sich aufblühen
(“felt something strange in herself blossom”)
“unconscious” = bewusstlos (without knowing)
“take advantage of your generosity in the afterglow of victory”
= Ihre Großzügigkeit im Nachklang Ihres Sieges missbrauchen
“Always the naive crumpet.”
= Sie sind und bleiben ein naives Kätzchen!
“scandalous underclothes”
= skandalöse Unterwäsche
“unnatural vices”
= unnatürlichen Laster
“all-out onslaught of libel”
= vernichtenden Anschlag von Verleumdungen
(“devastating attack of slander”)
“inevitable” = unausweichlichen
“Further proof of my virtue”
= Ein weiterer Beweis meiner Tugend
“tireless charity work”
= unermüdliche Arbeit für wohltätige Zwecke
(“tireless work for charitable purposes”)
“shout of joy”
= Freudenschrei
This sounds serious to me:
“he’s not seriously injured”
= er hat keine ernsthaften Verletzungen davongetragen
“squawks” = quakte
Here’s a useful phrase:
“all the lizards and weeds he could eat” = so viel Echsen und Grünzeug, wie er fressen konnte
“impeccable table manners” = makellose Tischmanieren
Okay, I haven’t gotten very far, but let’s finish up on page 363, Seite 460 with this sentence:
“We are here to make an arrest!”
= Wir sind hier, um eine Verhaftung vorzunehmen!
I will take my diligence in finally getting back to this as ein weiterer Beweis meiner Tugend. May you never have reason to say, “so viel Echsen und Grünzeug, wie er fressen konnte,” but have many reasons to give a Freudenschrei!
Bis bald!