weber , and other american authors and the german language

I always thought that em was an elongated dash

George J. Smith wrote:I always thought that em was an elongated dash

American English is an elongated dash... If you don't believe me, ask the Brits.

Don

n7axw wrote:

George J. Smith wrote:I always thought that em was an elongated dash

American English is an elongated dash... If you don't believe me, ask the Brits.

Don

I am British, but having worked with Avco in KSA for many years I suppose I have been corrupted

As a native German speaker who's been reading (and watching) stuff in English language for a long time, I second that proposition.

I've yet to come across even a single instance of an English author using German words, phrases or sentences which don't sound strange in the best and outright ridiculous in the worst. Not even a single one!

Each time I read another botched attempt of an English author at German, the same thought flashes through my head again: "Why... oh why DIDN'T you have someone who actually has a clue about German proofreading this bullshit? WHY? WHYYYYYYYY?"

To all native English speakers who have no clue about German:

Imagine you're reading a serious book with a superb plotline. And after maybe half of the book, the hero comes face to face with the evil overlord. So far, said overlord only has been stuff of legends, a being so evil that you literally shiver each time a character in the book talks about him. And now he's on screen for the first time! It's an awesome scene, you're glued to the pages, reading madly - and then, suddenly, the menace of all humankind speaks at last.

"All your base are belong to us."

It's so ridiculous that you start laughing. But only for a short moment. Because swiftly your laughter dies down and is replaced by outrage. This ridiculous sentence has transformed the evil overlord into some kind of clumsy clown.

And now imagine that happening EVERY time an evil overlord appears.

clancy688 wrote:As a native German speaker who's been reading (and watching) stuff in English language for a long time, I second that proposition.

I've yet to come across even a single instance of an English author using German words, phrases or sentences which don't sound strange in the best and outright ridiculous in the worst. Not even a single one!

Each time I read another botched attempt of an English author at German, the same thought flashes through my head again: "Why... oh why DIDN'T you have someone who actually has a clue about German proofreading this bullshit? WHY? WHYYYYYYYY?"

To all native English speakers who have no clue about German:

Imagine you're reading a serious book with a superb plotline. And after maybe half of the book, the hero comes face to face with the evil overlord. So far, said overlord only has been stuff of legends, a being so evil that you literally shiver each time a character in the book talks about him. And now he's on screen for the first time! It's an awesome scene, you're glued to the pages, reading madly - and then, suddenly, the menace of all humankind speaks at last.

"All your base are belong to us."

It's so ridiculous that you start laughing. But only for a short moment. Because swiftly your laughter dies down and is replaced by outrage. This ridiculous sentence has transformed the evil overlord into some kind of clumsy clown.

And now imagine that happening EVERY time an evil overlord appears.

Clancy, even we native English speakers can't get it right some of the time.

How many expressions can we think of that are just wrong but seem to be accepted as normal usage:

I aint done nothing! (I did do something)
I aint seen nobody! (I did see somebody)
The data is inconclusive (are).

Not being fluent in any language other that English I am unable to say whether or not there are parallels in other languages.

Guys, as far as I know, David has made one--just 1!--error in the German terms he has used in the books. Given the rather larger number of other kinds of errors that exist in the books, I hope we can move on.

SWM wrote:Guys, as far as I know, David has made one--just 1!--error in the German terms he has used in the books. Given the rather larger number of other kinds of errors that exist in the books, I hope we can move on.

Um, this isn't about grammar... ^^

Most "German" names (for ships, characters, whatever) English speaking authors use for their German heroes sound ridiculous to any native speaker. I have no idea where they get these idea, but by now I'm more than convinced that there simply has to be a "cheesy German names" dictionary in circulation which offers all these names. Because you sure as hell won't find 'em in any German phone book.

But you're actually right, David is doing a way better job at this than most authors. And given the fact that the Andermanii empire was created by a maniac who simply hat a foible for German, I can accept that their names may sound ridiculous. First, they are 2000 years in the future, and second, he probably didn't have native speakers to help him creating his empire, so he took aforementioned book for help.

(What's this grammar mistake you've been mentioning, btw?)

clancy688 wrote:

SWM wrote:Guys, as far as I know, David has made one--just 1!--error in the German terms he has used in the books. Given the rather larger number of other kinds of errors that exist in the books, I hope we can move on.

Um, this isn't about grammar... ^^

Most "German" names (for ships, characters, whatever) English speaking authors use for their German heroes sound ridiculous to any native speaker. I have no idea where they get these idea, but by now I'm more than convinced that there simply has to be a "cheesy German names" dictionary in circulation which offers all these names. Because you sure as hell won't find 'em in any German phone book.

But you're actually right, David is doing a way better job at this than most authors. And given the fact that the Andermanii empire was created by a maniac who simply hat a foible for German, I can accept that their names may sound ridiculous. First, they are 2000 years in the future, and second, he probably didn't have native speakers to help him creating his empire, so he took aforementioned book for help.

(What's this grammar mistake you've been mentioning, btw?)

What's in a name? My last name is a very common German last name, but my family from that branch is Russian-Ukrainian in origin. Now tell me how did that happen. For those who speak German my last name means curly.

This thread is reminding me of the 'fun' I have when I get to edit the 'English' translation of a military equipment book. German - usually pretty good but needing tweaking for grammar and sometimes for correct technical terms (luckily I recognise most of them in German and the books are usually bilingual so I can cross-check with the German side). Czech or Polish - eek. I've spent a lot of time wondering 'what is that supposed to mean' and checking back with the authors to find out. French - well, I don't have to edit those but I do buy bilingual French/English reference books and often find myself reading the French text in preference to the English. I think the problems largely arise from differing grammar (some languages seem to use the same word for English 'a', an' and 'the' which can create confusion) and ambiguous terms that can mean several different things in English though they're clear in the original language. And grammar and usage do seem to be what upset our German friends here.
Cheers
John

clancy688 wrote:[



Most "German" names (for ships, characters, whatever) English speaking authors use for their German heroes sound ridiculous to any native speaker. I have no idea where they get these idea, but by now I'm more than convinced that there simply has to be a "cheesy German names" dictionary in circulation which offers all these names. Because you sure as hell won't find 'em in any German phone book.

I won't speak for any of the personal names (other than to say that the Andermanni royalty are ethnically Chinese, even though they have the Prussian overlay. IIRC, the first planet incorporated into the Andermanni Empire was of Chinese origin). Most of the IAN ship names I recognize are the names of Kriegsmarine ships of the First War to End All Wars (tm).