Weird Translation Game

give a LITERAL translation of a word or sentence from your mother tongue/ a foreign language you know.
let the others guess what it means if you think it's easy enough, or just explain it yourself.

here's some examples:

"Well, I know yes not what this shall" = I don't know what this is supposed to mean (German: Also, ich weiss ja nicht was das soll)
[mean not as in the meaning of a word but as in why somebody is doing something etc]

"place-before-stander" (Ortsvorsteher), the mayor of a little town or village that is part of a bigger administrative unit...

"bag-animal"; "lazy-animal" ---> can you guess???

I've got another one, which Mark Twain mentions in "The Awful German Language" (the translation is mine though):

"Age-dom's-know-creations" well, yeah, that's something like Classics or Archeology....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

"bag-animal"; "lazy-animal" ---> can you guess???

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Let's see. Well, Sleepy, (believe it or not, that was my grandfather's nickname, Sleepy!), I'm guessing a possum since they have a pouch (bag) and tend to "play dead" (lazy). Just a guess.

Redneck-- in this country means someone who is very backwoods, living a simple life, unused to technology, unsophistocated.

With that in mind, what would a poleaxe be?

Adaab, Tumhara kiya haal hai? (Urdu in English letters)

Hello, How are you? (translation)

From the Hebrew Scriptures:

Wayyo`mer `ELOHIM, yehi `or; wayhi `or. [And_said ELOHIM be light and_was light.]
Often translated: "And GOD said, 'Let there be light', and there was light."

W`elleh, shemoth beney Yisra`el, haba`im, Mitsraymah: `eth Ya'aqov, `ish uveytho ba`u. [And_these, names (of)_sons (of)_Israel, the_going_ones, (into)_Egypt: with Jacob, each and_house went_he.]
Often translated: "Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt with Jacob; every man came with his household."

The word "aura", which has something to do with light, consists of a stem virtually identical to Hebrew "`or", with a feminine suffix appended on. The stem is "aur-". Conversely, in a feminine form, Hebrew "`or" becomes "`orah".

The Hebrew term "haba`im" consists of the definite article, "ha", plus the stem "ba" (derived from a verb in which, depending upon dialect, the /B/ can sound as /V/, and it has a similar function to Italian "va"), plus the plural, masculine substantive ending, "_im".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pendragon

Let's see. Well, Sleepy, (believe it or not, that was my grandfather's nickname, Sleepy!), I'm guessing a possum since they have a pouch (bag) and tend to "play dead" (lazy). Just a guess.

Redneck-- in this country means someone who is very backwoods, living a simple life, unused to technology, unsophistocated.

With that in mind, what would a poleaxe be?

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neat guess :)
er, it's two different words actually, sorry if it wasn't clear.
yep "bag-animal" is something like a possum... it's a literal translation of the German word for marsupial, we call marsupials "bag-animal" because they have a pouch

what about the "lazy-animal" then?

Tree-sloth we would guess, since tree-sloth in Estonian is "laiskloom" which means "lazy-animal".


Horse-fly instrument. Can you guess what it is?

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

Horse-fly instrument. Can you guess what it is?

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Might it be a riding whip, used to flick away the pesky flies from horses? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

Horse-fly instrument. Can you guess what it is?

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Oh, what a strange one. (I like this game!) Perhaps it has something to do with the vibrations, like the sound a horsefly makes? If, of course, it means "musical instrument..." um..

...a kazoo? :lol: Oh no, I've completely lost my train of thought now. I think Pen's guess was better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

Tree-sloth we would guess, since tree-sloth in Estonian is "laiskloom" which means "lazy-animal".


Horse-fly instrument. Can you guess what it is?

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yep, it's a sloth :) hehe, Estonian is just as funny a language as German :)


I've got another weird German word... I don't think anyone will be able to guess it (except people from the Netherlands maybe, coz i heard it's the same in Dutch)

"witch-shot" (it's a medical condition, German: Hexenschuss).

we've also got a funny expression that translates as "The oats are stinging me" which means you are in an exuberant and silly mood (possibly also up to manifold wickedness :) ), especially because it's spring...

Might a horse-fly instrument be a Jew's harp?

I dare anyone to figure out what a Swede means when he tells someone "You've crapped in the blue cupboard".

er, do you have blue crapper booths like this is Sweden?
http://www.argeurlaub.de/rolli-wc1.jpg

nope, that would be too obvious.... give us a clue? what is a blue cupboard? an actual cupboard, or does the phrase stand for something else? at any rate, it seams to mean that you do something nonsensical of one sort or another....
???

Here's a few I found when trying to learn Cantonese a few years back:

May-gwok (Beautiful country
Fa-gwok (Flower country)
Ying-gwok (Brave country)

In Urdu (Urdu languge but in English alphabets)

Khub-soorat Mo-olk (Beautiful Country)

Phuloon ka Mo-olk - (Flower Country)

Baha-dar Mo-olk (Brave Country)

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

er, do you have blue crapper booths like this is Sweden?

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We do, but that's not it. It's a complete non sequitur that really has nothing to do with cupboards. "You've crapped in the blue cupboard" (or, more exactly, "You've sh*t in the blue cupboard") means roughly "Alright, that's it, you've gone too far this time!" Example:

Woman: Remember when you told our son that he could under no circumstances borrow the car this weekend?
Man: Yeah?
Woman: Well, the good news is - seat belts really do save lives! The bad news is you need a new car.
Man: WHAT?!? Damnit, he's crapped in the blue cupboard now! Tomorrow he's getting a job!

Other favorite expressions are "there's no cow on the ice" meaning roughly "everything's OK, no need to worry", and "the boiled pork is fried" meaning "the sh*t has hit the fan".

(And any English speaker thinking this is silly is hereby asked to consider the phrase "It's raining cats and dogs".)

As for German, I remember when I was working in Germany and was told by my boss I didn't have to come in tomorrow since they were giving the computer system a complete overhaul. "Da kommt jemand um Ihre PCs upzudaten." I had no idea "updaten" was a German word - let alone a separable verb. "Ich date up, ich habe upgedatet"?

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Originally Posted by beer good

We do, but that's not it. It's a complete non sequitur that really has nothing to do with cupboards. "You've crapped in the blue cupboard" (or, more exactly, "You've sh*t in the blue cupboard") means roughly "Alright, that's it, you've gone too far this time!" Example:

Woman: Remember when you told our son that he could under no circumstances borrow the car this weekend?
Man: Yeah?
Woman: Well, the good news is - seat belts really do save lives! The bad news is you need a new car.
Man: WHAT?!? Damnit, he's crapped in the blue cupboard now! Tomorrow he's getting a job!

Other favorite expressions are "there's no cow on the ice" meaning roughly "everything's OK, no need to worry", and "the boiled pork is fried" meaning "the sh*t has hit the fan".

(And any English speaker thinking this is silly is hereby asked to consider the phrase "It's raining cats and dogs".)

As for German, I remember when I was working in Germany and was told by my boss I didn't have to come in tomorrow since they were giving the computer system a complete overhaul. "Da kommt jemand um Ihre PCs upzudaten." I had no idea "updaten" was a German word - let alone a separable verb. "Ich date up, ich habe upgedatet"?

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heheh, Swedish is really funny :)
yep, we've got some English words in German that we stick German endings to... downloaden is another one :) You say "Ich werde das Programm downloaden" but "Ich habe es downGEloadet"... i think there's also some confusion as to which part of the verb goes where but right now i can't remember what it was...
don't you get this kind of thing in Swedish? in German we've also got "chatten" but it only refers to chatting on the internet, like on ICQ or IRC, not chatting in real life...
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hum, nobody has tried to guess what a "which-shot" (medical condition) might be...
let me explain the rules of the game again: you give a LITERAL translation of an expression in your mother tongue/ a foreign language and the others have to guess what it could mean... it only makes sense if the translation will sound weird because the phrase actually used in English is NOT a literal translation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

hum, nobody has tried to guess what a "which-shot" (medical condition) might be...
.

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Hiccups? Possibly? My grasp of other languages is not good, French is my second language, and I know enough to make a first class fool out of myself! :lol:

Here's a few odd American words:

Bindlestiff
croaker (you'd be surprised...)
riding the porcelain pony

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pendragon

Hiccups? Possibly? My grasp of other languages is not good, French is my second language, and I know enough to make a first class fool out of myself! :lol:

Here's a few odd American words:

Bindlestiff
croaker (you'd be surprised...)
riding the porcelain pony

:D

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nope, it's not hiccups, it's something that affects the back.... I'm not even sure there's a single word for it in English... keep guessing?
hm, riding the porcelain pony... sounds like taking risks or doing something foolish...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

nope, it's not hiccups, it's something that affects the back.... I'm not even sure there's a single word for it in English... keep guessing?
hm, riding the porcelain pony... sounds like taking risks or doing something foolish...

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:lol: I really beg your pardon, Sleepy, dear, but that was a corker! To you I believe the letters WC might open the door to the "porcelain pony", and a pony sometimes "trots", which would be why you would have to ride this one. A corker is a good laugh, BTW. Affects the back..... Hummmm... Cricks in the back?

Pen, even I've never heard of "bindlestiff" before. :p You're sure you're not making up your own language? ;)

SleepyWitch~ "downloaden" and "chatten" made me laugh. Logical, but very funny for some reason. I guess it reminds me of someone trying to immitate German by sticking German endings onto English words. Like a tourist in a German restaurant: "I... would like... die potato-en. Ja? Die... potato-en?"

I think most languages these days borrow a lot of words wholesale from English - just like everyone borrowed from French 150 years ago, or from Latin before that. It doesn't get really ridiculous until we start trying to change the spelling so it can be written the way it's pronounced. For instance, we've got the now perfectly acceptable Swedish words jos, mejl, sajt, rejv, tejp, tuff, stajling, okej and tajming rather than the much more difficult English words juice, mail, site, rave, tape, tough, styling, OK and timing.

I really admire the Icelanders. They supposedly make up new words rather than borrow from other languages - for instance, their word for "electricity" translates to "amber power". Then again, there's only 300,000 of them, so I guess it's a luxury they can afford...

(Oh and the Swedish word for "hexenschuss" literally translates to "shot in the back" - which has caused some concern for doctors treating Swedish tourists abroad.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pendragon

:lol: I really beg your pardon, Sleepy, dear, but that was a corker! To you I believe the letters WC might open the door to the "porcelain pony", and a pony sometimes "trots", which would be why you would have to ride this one. A corker is a good laugh, BTW. Affects the back..... Hummmm... Cricks in the back?

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heheh :) I think i used up all my capacity for loo-related matters in my post to beer good when i posted that pick of a blue cr*pper booth :)

"cricks in the back" .. .yeah, I think the "witch-shot" (Hexenschuss) could be something like that... it's when you bend down and try to straigthen up again but can't because you strain your back while bending... then you have to hop around like a hunchback till you can find a doctor....
by the way, I disclaim any involvement in "witch-shots"

Vägivald - power-county

You will never get this one wothout a dictionary or unless the construction was loaned from another language. Honestly. It is very bizarre. It is a very, very old concept and a negative one.

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Originally Posted by Pensive

Adaab, Tumhara kiya haal hai? (Urdu in English letters)

Hello, How are you? (translation)

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I do not think that Urdu uses the word "tumhara". It is "aapka" in the chaste Urdu.

"Mane paani piwu chhe" in Gujarati literally means...."Me water drink-want is"....meaning "i want to drink water."

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

Vägivald - power-county

You will never get this one wothout a dictionary or unless the construction was loaned from another language. Honestly. It is very bizarre. It is a very, very old concept and a negative one.

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give us a hint? what's it got to do with?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

Vägivald - power-county

You will never get this one wothout a dictionary or unless the construction was loaned from another language. Honestly. It is very bizarre. It is a very, very old concept and a negative one.

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Does it have to do with feudalism? Or monarchy, where one person owns all the land?

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Originally Posted by beer good

I think most languages these days borrow a lot of words wholesale from English - just like everyone borrowed from French 150 years ago, or from Latin before that. It doesn't get really ridiculous until we start trying to change the spelling so it can be written the way it's pronounced. For instance, we've got the now perfectly acceptable Swedish words jos, mejl, sajt, rejv, tejp, tuff, stajling, okej and tajming rather than the much more difficult English words juice, mail, site, rave, tape, tough, styling, OK and timing.

I really admire the Icelanders. They supposedly make up new words rather than borrow from other languages - for instance, their word for "electricity" translates to "amber power". Then again, there's only 300,000 of them, so I guess it's a luxury they can afford...

(Oh and the Swedish word for "hexenschuss" literally translates to "shot in the back" - which has caused some concern for doctors treating Swedish tourists abroad.)

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Although svensk is quite similar to Norsk, there are a few ridiculous differences that can get confusing. I agree that there are too many words borrowed from english. Usually there's even a better word in our own tongue to start with. We stand a risk of losing our languages. In norway a lot of teenagers don't want to speak the dialects, causing many to be concerned. Islansk and færøyisk is great-gammel norsk-and I think they hold onto it well. The danes didn't do much. Then again, english has borrowed a lot of words from other languages...
Of course being norsk, I prefer it over svensk, but it's probably vice versa too. I think many nordmenn would rather that Finland win men's hockey in the olympics, just so the swedes wouldn't...

Here's a word: Rumpetroll- Directly translated it would mean rump troll.

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Originally Posted by hera-on-earth

I do not think that Urdu uses the word "tumhara". It is "aapka" in the chaste Urdu.

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Yes, you are right here. With "Adaab" there will certainly be "aap ka" but if there is no adaab and we are talking freely, then it is "tumhara"

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Originally Posted by RJbibliophil

Here's a word: Rumpetroll- Directly translated it would mean rump troll.

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A good example of English borrowing from other languages. :nod:

Haha. I hardly dare wager a guess on this one... too many fun possibilities. :p I think I know some, myself. :lol: Well... could it be a pig?

I'm curious-where is urdu spoken?

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Originally Posted by Emily655321

A good example of English borrowing from other languages.

Haha. I hardly dare wager a guess on this one... too many fun possibilities. I think I know some, myself. Well... could it be a pig?

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No, it is not a pig, but it is an animal.
Keep in mind that english, norwegian, and german(etc...) are all related.

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Originally Posted by RJbibliophil

I'm curious-where is urdu spoken?

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It's the official language of Pakistan. but I'm sure Pensive can tell you more about it...

hehe, I studied a bit of Norwegian :) it's a cool language :) it's like a funny mix of Old English and German :)
it's ages ago though and i don't remember much :( I'd love to take up norsk again some day...
Jeg snakker litt norsk.(spelling?) Hvor bur du? or something like that.. whatever.. i was trying to say "where (in Norway) do you live?"
our teacher told us this funny saying that means "It's better to have a "dram" an hour than to spend one hour in Drammen".. how do you say it in Norsk?

I've got no idea what a rumpentroll might be.. maybe a bear?


I've got another funny German expression:
it's literal translation would be "He/they/... can stay stolen to me!" (Der kann mir mal gestohlen bleiben).
any guesses?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RJbibliophil

I'm curious-where is urdu spoken?

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Urdu is spoken in Pakistan actually but it is a mixture of Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Hindi. So I think that people who know any of these languages, some of them will be able to understand Urdu to some extent. If not, then it is very easy for them to learn Urdu.

Urdu is a "lashkari zaban" Lashkari zaban means a language with a combination of other languages. When people from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Afghnaistan, etc came here, Urdu originated.

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Originally Posted by emily655321

Does it have to do with feudalism? Or monarchy, where one person owns all the land?

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It is a part of feudalism and monarchy, but not because of the land so don't think on the accounts of rulership.

It actually belongs to all forms of rulership and everything and we are absolutely certain that unfortunately all of you have experienced it.

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

It is a part of feudalism and monarchy, but not because of the land so don't think on the accounts of rulership.

It actually belongs to all forms of rulership and everything and we are absolutely certain that unfortunately all of you have experienced it.

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Taking a educated guess, based on your last clue, taxation? :confused:

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

I've got another funny German expression:
it's literal translation would be "He/they/... can stay stolen to me!" (Der kann mir mal gestohlen bleiben).
any guesses?

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Does it mean, "I don't mind if I never see them again"?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emily655321

Does it mean, "I don't mind if I never see them again"?

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not too bad, it's something along those lines but not in a literal sense... do you wanna guess again? I'll put the solution in orange below (highlight to read)

it's when someone gets on your nerves and you're angry with them and don't care about their opinion or wishes any longer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

hehe, I studied a bit of Norwegian :) it's a cool language :) it's like a funny mix of Old English and German :)
it's ages ago though and i don't remember much :( I'd love to take up norsk again some day...
Jeg snakker litt norsk.(spelling?) Hvor bur du? or something like that.. whatever.. i was trying to say "where (in Norway) do you live?"
our teacher told us this funny saying that means "It's better to have a "dram" an hour than to spend one hour in Drammen".. how do you say it in Norsk?

I've got no idea what a rumpentroll might be.. maybe a bear?

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Great spelling. Never heard that Drammen's horrible. I'm from Hallingdal, which is about half way between Oslo and Bergen and a little north. I actually don't live there most of the time, but I was there last Christmas. I live in the US (hint-land of 10,000 lakes).
No, it's not a bear, it's a lot smaller than a bear.