{"id":21459,"date":"2013-08-11T22:27:32","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T02:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=21459"},"modified":"2013-08-11T23:10:49","modified_gmt":"2013-08-12T03:10:49","slug":"sonderling-sunday-unusual-musical-instruments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=21459","title":{"rendered":"Sonderling Sunday – Unusual Musical Instruments"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It’s time for Sonderling Sunday<\/a>! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translations of children’s books. Sort of a handy phrase book of things you never knew you wanted to know how to say!<\/p>\n

This week, it’s back to the book that started it all, James Kennedy<\/a>‘s The Order of Odd-Fish<\/a><\/em>, otherwise known as Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge<\/em>. I left off<\/a> right at the start of a short section about an extremely unusual musical instrument, which is on page 175 in English, Seite 221 auf Deutsch.<\/p>\n

Jumping in to some fun phrases and interesting words:<\/p>\n

“specialties” = Fachgebiete<\/em> (“practice areas”)<\/p>\n

“expertise” = Fachwissen<\/em> (“specialist knowledge”)<\/p>\n

“odd musical instruments” = seltsamer Musikinstrumente<\/em><\/p>\n

“strange animals” = sonderbare Tiere<\/em><\/p>\n

“milling around” = str\u00f6mten<\/em> (“flowed”)<\/p>\n

“at the top of the stairs” = auf dem oberen Treppenabsatz<\/em> (“at the top stairs-section”)<\/p>\n

“blubbery thing” = blubberndes Ding<\/em>
\n(Hmm. A little disappointing, that. Who knew it was almost the same in German?)<\/p>\n

“dark yellow” = ockerfarben<\/em><\/p>\n

“wriggling tubes” = windenden R\u00f6hrchen<\/em><\/p>\n

“a single bored-looking red eye” = einem einzelnen, gelangweilt blickenden roten Auge<\/em><\/p>\n

“as it cascaded down the stairs” = als es die Treppen hinabglitt<\/em><\/p>\n

“shocking enough” = schockierend genug<\/em><\/p>\n

“most shocking thing” = das Erschreckendste<\/em><\/p>\n

“huge jaws” = gewaltiges Maul<\/em><\/p>\n

“orifices” = K\u00f6rper\u00f6ffnungen<\/em> (“body-openings”)<\/p>\n

“can emit sounds” = Kl\u00e4nge erzeugen k\u00f6nnen<\/em><\/p>\n

“a full-grown man may fit comfortably in its esophagus!”
\n= In seiner Speiser\u00f6hre findet ein ausgewachsener Mann bequem Platz!<\/em>
\n(“in its meal-eyelets finds a grown man easily place!”)<\/p>\n

“climbing” = geklettert<\/em><\/p>\n

“most unusual music” = ungew\u00f6hnlichste Musik<\/em><\/p>\n

“Out of the question” = Das kommt \u00fcberhaupt nicht infrage<\/em>
\n(“That comes at all not in-question”)<\/p>\n

“squeeze or pinch” = dr\u00fccken oder kneifen<\/em><\/p>\n

“couldn’t hurt” = Das kann ja nicht schaden.<\/em><\/p>\n

“most horrible noises” = der schrecklichsten Ger\u00e4usche<\/em><\/p>\n

And as a climax to this section:<\/p>\n

“a howling, farting crescendo of gurgling belches and groans”
\n= ein heulendes, furzendes Crescendo von gurgelnden R\u00fclpsern und Gest\u00f6hne<\/em><\/p>\n

“Of course, it needs a little work.”
\n= Selbstverst\u00e4ndlich bedarf es noch einiger \u00dcbung.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lovely! Won’t it be handy, the next time you visit Germany, to be able to describe ein heulendes, furzendes Crescendo von gurgelnden R\u00fclpsern und Gest\u00f6hne<\/em>? Or at least to say it’s ungew\u00f6hnlichste Musik<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I feel like I’m developing Fachgebiete<\/em> nearly as useful as that of der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Be sure to mention in the comments your abundant opportunities to use these phrases this week!<\/p>\n

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