For Sonderling Sunday, I use Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge<\/em>, the German translation of James Kennedy’s<\/a> The Order of Odd-Fish<\/a><\/em> as a source for learning all the things you never knew you wanted to be able to say in German.<\/p>\n We’re on Chapter Five. This begins on page 48 of the English version, and Seite 65 auf Deutsch.<\/p>\n I’ll start with the opening (two) paragraphs:<\/p>\n But who is Ken Kiang?<\/p>\n Let us rewind to several years ago. Imagine a room — a large room, the size of a theater or cathedral. The room is almost empty, the walls bare, the floor nearly deserted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is translated as:<\/p>\n Wer ist nun Ken Kiang?<\/p>\n Gehen wir einige Jahre zur\u00fcck. Stellen wir uns einen Raum vor, einen gro?en Raum etwa von der Gr\u00f6?e eines Theaters oder einer Kathedrale. Der Raum is fast leer, die W\u00e4nde sind nackt und es steht so gut wie nichts auf dem Boden.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There aren’t really new words in that section for me. The only thing I find particularly interesting is that the word translated from “bare,” is nackt<\/em>, which I thought meant “naked.” And yes, that is the same meaning, but in English we tend to use naked more often for people and “bare” for things like walls. I would venture to guess that we got our English word “naked” from this source.<\/p>\n Going on, let’s look for some more interesting translations. In fact, a paragraph a little ways down the page has much more potential.<\/p>\n It is a small, wind-up brass donkey. Ken Kiang watches it trudge across his desk. The donkey is a medieval Arabic automaton he unearthed at a recent archaeological dig in Syria. He wants to be impressed by its unique workmanship. He longs to glory in its exquisite detail. He aches to be fascinated by its stunning ingenuity.<\/p>\n It bores him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Auf Deutsch:<\/p>\n Es ist ein kleiner Blechesel zum Aufziehen. Ken Kiang sieht zu, wie er \u00fcber seinen Schreibtisch hoppelt. Der Esel ist ein mittelalterlicher arabischer Automat, den er bei einer arch\u00e4ologischen Ausgrabung in Syrien k\u00fcrzlich gefunden hat. Er w\u00fcrde sich gerne von der einzigartigen Handwerkskunst beeindrucken lassen, sehnt sich danach, sich in den wundervollen Einzelheiten zu verlieren. Er w\u00fcnscht sich beinahe schmerzhaft, von der verbl\u00fcffenden Genialit\u00e4t dieses Apparates fasziniert zu sein.<\/p>\n Er langweilt ihn.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here we have:<\/p>\n “brass donkey” = Blechesel<\/em><\/p>\n “trudge” = hoppelt<\/em> (I suspect it’s really saying the brass donkey hopped across the desk.)<\/p>\n I still enjoy that “impressed” goes back to the same roots in German. I know this because on the computer printing out something in English is ausdrucken<\/em> in German. And the translation for “impressed” is beeindrucken<\/em>. I think that’s sort of like “imprinted,” which you have to admit is in the word “impressed” when you really look at it.<\/p>\n “stunning ingenuity” = verbl\u00fcffenden Genialit\u00e4t<\/em><\/p>\n Onward! Some more interesting words and phrases:<\/p>\n “weary” = \u00fcberdr\u00fcssig<\/em><\/p>\n “most rare” = seltensten<\/em> (This clearly has the same root as in the word “Odd” = seltsamen<\/em><\/p>\n “experiences” = Erfahrungen<\/em> (This has fahr<\/em>, the root for “travel” in it.)<\/p>\n “connoisseur’s instinct” = Genie?erinstinkte<\/em><\/p>\n “homeless shelter” = Obdachlosenunterkunft<\/em> (literally, something like “whether-roofless-accommodation” and “accommodation” is literally “under future.”)<\/p>\n “verve” = Schwung<\/em> (Google translates this “momentum.”)<\/p>\n “showmanship” = Publikumswirksamkeit<\/em> (I’m going to start looking for the longest word in each section. So far, Obdachlosenunterkunft<\/em> has it by one letter.)<\/p>\n “charities” = Mildt\u00e4tigkeit<\/em> (Hmm. Google just translates this as “mild activites”)<\/p>\n “more obscure crusades” = d\u00fcstereren Kreuzz\u00fcgen<\/em> (literally, “darker cross trains”)<\/p>\n “ambitious” = ehrgeiziges<\/em> (literally “honor stingy”)<\/p>\n “baffled needy” = verbl\u00fcfften Bed\u00fcrftigen<\/em><\/p>\n “laurels” = Lorbeeren<\/em><\/p>\n An even longer word!: “standard for excellence” = Ma?st\u00e4be<\/em> (The German is shorter than the English! Literally, this is “measure-bars”)<\/p>\n Here’s a good one! “clods” = Schwachk\u00f6pfe<\/em> (“weakheads”)<\/p>\n “dabbled” = dilettierte<\/em><\/p>\n “itched” = juckte<\/em><\/p>\n “use it to great effect” = wirkungsvoll in Szene zu setzen<\/em> (“effectively set the scene”)<\/p>\n That’s it for Chapter 5! <\/p>\n Longest word of the day: Wohlt\u00e4tigkeitsprogramme<\/em><\/p>\n Most fun figure of speech: als ihn die Muse k\u00fcsste<\/em><\/p>\n Best insult: Schwachk\u00f6pfe<\/em><\/p>\n Most fun to say: verbl\u00fcfften Bed\u00fcrftigen<\/em><\/p>\n Tune in next week, when Jo, Aunt Lily, Colonel Korsakov, and Sefino flee from the evil Ken Kiang!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sonderlinge-2.jpg\" "\\"Sonderlinge")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\ncharity programs = Wohlt\u00e4tigkeitsprogramme<\/em><\/p>\n
\n“when inspiration struck” = als ihn die Muse k\u00fcsste<\/em> (“when the muse kissed him.”)<\/p>\n