Main Page | Report this Page
 
   
Science Forum Index  »  Language Translation Forum  »  Ger > Engl 'sich eine Existenz aufbauen'...
Page 1 of 1    
Author Message
Pete...
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:57 am
Guest
Hello everybody!

Can anybody come up with an idiomatic translation of the German phrase "sich
eine Existenz aufbauen"?

Context could be like this:
Er kam Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts in die Vereinigten Staaten und konnte
sich dort in kürzester Zeit eine Existenz aufbauen.

Thanks for your help!
Pete
Ekkehard Dengler...
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:39 am
Guest
Pete wrote:
Quote:
Hello everybody!

Can anybody come up with an idiomatic translation of the German
phrase "sich eine Existenz aufbauen"?

"Make a (new) life for oneself" or "set up a business".

Regards,
Ekkehard
Edward Hennessey...
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 12:47 pm
Guest
Ekkehard Dengler wrote:
Quote:
Pete wrote:
Hello everybody!

Can anybody come up with an idiomatic translation of the German
phrase "sich eine Existenz aufbauen"?

"Make a (new) life for oneself" or "set up a business".

Regards,
Ekkehard

ED:

And what think you of working "start" into both of those
formulations?

By the way, maybe you can help a local partner who has a yen for a
wolpertinger
to accompany his jackalope?

Regards,

Edward Hennessey
Ekkehard Dengler...
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:44 pm
Guest
Edward Hennessey wrote:
Quote:
Ekkehard Dengler wrote:
Pete wrote:
Hello everybody!

Can anybody come up with an idiomatic translation of the German
phrase "sich eine Existenz aufbauen"?

"Make a (new) life for oneself" or "set up a business".

Regards,
Ekkehard

ED:

And what think you of working "start" into both of those
formulations?

I think not. It's true that "aufbauen" usually implies an ongoing process,
but not in this particular case, I think, which is probably why "sich in
kürzester Zeit eine Existenz aufbauen" does not seem a contradiction in
terms. I suppose you can replace "make" with "build" if the context
justifies it, though.

Quote:
By the way, maybe you can help a local partner who has a yen for a
wolpertinger
to accompany his jackalope?

Not sure what you want done, but probably not, I'm afraid. I mean I might be
able to help, but not if what he or she needs is a wolpertinger.

Regards,
Ekkehard
Edward Hennessey...
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 8:20 pm
Guest
Ekkehard Dengler wrote:
Quote:
Edward Hennessey wrote:
Ekkehard Dengler wrote:
Pete wrote:
Hello everybody!

Can anybody come up with an idiomatic translation of the
German
phrase "sich eine Existenz aufbauen"?

"Make a (new) life for oneself" or "set up a business".

Regards,
Ekkehard

ED:

And what think you of working "start" into both of those
formulations?

I think not. It's true that "aufbauen" usually implies an
ongoing
process, but not in this particular case, I think, which is
probably
why "sich in kürzester Zeit eine Existenz aufbauen" does not
seem a
contradiction in terms. I suppose you can replace "make" with
"build"
if the context justifies it, though.

By the way, maybe you can help a local partner who has a yen
for a
wolpertinger
to accompany his jackalope?

Not sure what you want done, but probably not, I'm afraid. I
mean I
might be able to help, but not if what he or she needs is a
wolpertinger.

ED:

It may amuse you to know that taxidermists actually sell stuffed
jackalopes, grafting the horns from a pronghorn antelope or deer
antlers unto a jackrabbit. Ah, I now learn similar things occur in
Germany with
the wolpertinger.

For those unaware of these marvelous creatures, there are some
pages worth a humorous peek:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope

http://www.google.com/search?q=jackalope&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/may/hpv
Note the 1932 reference in the above, the picture of a deformed
rabbit and the interesting
connection with papilloma viruses which are behind HPV and may
explain the folkloric origin of both the wolpertinger and
the jackalope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolpertinger

Somewhere I have a picture of Bettina rodeoing with a wolpertinger
but when I find it, she will pay a pretty penny
for the negative.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey
Edward Hennessey...
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:18 pm
Guest
Edward Hennessey wrote:
Quote:
Ekkehard Dengler wrote:
Edward Hennessey wrote:
Ekkehard Dengler wrote:


ED:

It may amuse you to know that taxidermists actually sell stuffed
jackalopes, grafting the horns from a pronghorn antelope or deer
antlers unto a jackrabbit. Ah, I now learn similar things occur
in
Germany with
the wolpertinger.

For those unaware of these marvelous creatures, there are some
pages worth a humorous peek:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope

http://www.google.com/search?q=jackalope&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/may/hpv
Note the 1932 reference in the above, the picture of a deformed
rabbit and the interesting
connection with papilloma viruses which are behind HPV and may
explain the folkloric origin of both the wolpertinger and
the jackalope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolpertinger

Somewhere I have a picture of Bettina rodeoing with a
wolpertinger
but when I find it, she will pay a pretty penny
for the negative.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

In supplement there is an article read today on the compostition
of the playtpus
also commended by ED's earlier look.

History tells that the first examples of the platypus were
closely examined
by European scientists for glue lines and stichery; this article
informs just what
a genetic quilt the animal is. See:

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-fg-platypus8-2008may08,0,6804354.story

This URL may expire at any time.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey
 
Page 1 of 1       All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Sat Sep 06, 2008 12:49 pm