{"id":30487,"date":"2016-06-12T23:44:51","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T03:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=30487"},"modified":"2016-06-12T23:46:22","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T03:46:22","slug":"sonderling-sunday-to-outwit-the-belgian-prankster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=30487","title":{"rendered":"Sonderling Sunday – To Outwit the Belgian Prankster"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"Sonderlinge3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This week, it’s back to The Order of Odd-Fish<\/a><\/em>, by James Kennedy<\/a>, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge<\/a><\/em>. We are ready to begin Chapter 20!<\/p>\n

This sentence seems good to know:
\n“Ken Kiang was quite pleased with himself.”
\n= Ken Kiang war ziemlich zufrieden mit sich.<\/em><\/p>\n

“to outwit the Belgian Prankster”
\n= den Belgischen Scherzkeks zu \u00fcbert\u00f6lpeln<\/em><\/p>\n

“to disrupt his plans”
\n= seine Pl\u00e4ne zu vereiteln<\/em><\/p>\n

“to overthrow his infernal machinations”
\n= seine teuflischen Machenschaften zu durchkreuzen<\/em><\/p>\n

Try to think of a reason to say this!
\n“Municipal Squires Authority”
\n= St\u00e4dtischen Knappenbeh\u00f6rde<\/em><\/p>\n

“a small army of clerks”
\n= eine kleine Armee von Sachbearbeitern<\/em><\/p>\n

“shamelessly groveled”
\n= krochen<\/em> (“crawled”)<\/p>\n

“moment of idleness”
\n= Moment des M\u00fc\u00dfiggangs<\/em><\/p>\n

“devil-may-care”
\n= tollk\u00fchne<\/em> (“foolhardy”)<\/p>\n

“dingy dormitory”
\n= schmuddelige Schlafsaal<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s always interesting how names are translated.
\n“Bimblebridge” = Pimperbr\u00fcck<\/em><\/p>\n

“partition” = Trennwand<\/em> (“divide-wall”)<\/p>\n

“simplified” = vereinfacht<\/em><\/p>\n

“distractions” = Ablenkungen<\/em><\/p>\n

“moth-eaten” = mottenzerfressene<\/em><\/p>\n

“bolt” = Schraube<\/em><\/p>\n

“a wire cut” = ein durchgeschnittener Draht<\/em><\/p>\n

“file” = Aktenordner<\/em><\/p>\n

“ever greater sophistication” = immer raffinierterer Durchtriebenheit<\/em><\/p>\n

“deployed, canceled, reversed, appropriated, adapted, and foiled”
\n= ersonnen, widerrufen, ins Gegenteil gekehrt, angepasst, zweckdienlich gemacht und vereitelt<\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s a nice long word:
\n“treaties”
\n= Waffenstillstandsvertr\u00e4ge<\/em><\/p>\n

“decoys” = K\u00f6der<\/em><\/p>\n

“red herrings” = Ablenkungsman\u00f6ver<\/em>
\n(“distraction-maneuver”)<\/p>\n

“Ken Kiang’s mind reeled.” = Ken Kiang schwindelte.<\/em> (“Ken Kiang was made dizzy.”)<\/p>\n

“excruciating subtlety” = qu\u00e4lenden Subtilit\u00e4t<\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s a phrase you should know if you travel in Germany!
\n“pie damnation” = Kuchen-Verdammnis<\/em><\/p>\n

“slouched” = schlurfte<\/em><\/p>\n

This sounds better in German:
\n“a distant smile on his lips”
\n= ein abwesendes L\u00e4cheln auf den Lippen<\/em><\/p>\n

And the last sentence for tonight, at the end of a section:
\n“He had the most wonderful idea.”
\n= Er hatte soeben die wundervollste Eingebung von allen gehabt.<\/em><\/p>\n

Good night! May wundervollste Eingebungen<\/em> be yours until next time!<\/p>\n

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