Eine fremde Stadt, sommers, es ist heiß, man hat sich den ganzen Vormittag lang die Füße wundspaziert, die Beine brennen auch, es quält einen der Durst und vor allem: der Hunger. ... Jenes [Restaurant], das Freunde so dringlich empfohlen haben, sucht man schon seit einer guten Stunde vergebens. Ungläubig starrt man auf den vom Handschweiß schon ganz labberigen Stadtplan — und wird dann: hungerböse.
From Lufthansa exclusive, no. 7, 2017
Translation offered by the translation software:
A strange city, summer, it is hot, one the whole morning long the feet wundspaziert themselves, the legs burns also, it torments one the thirst and above all: hunger. ... That one restaurant, which friends so urgently recommended, looks for one already since a good hour in vain. One stares disbelievingly at already the city plan completely labberigen of the hand sweat — and becomes then: hunger-badly.
(translation software: worldlingo.com)
Spotlight translation:
A strange city, summer, it’s hot, your feet are sore from walking all morning, your legs are burning, you are tormented by thirst and, above all, hunger. ... For more than an hour, you have been searching in vain for the restaurant friends so warmly recommended. You stare in disbelief at your city map, which has already gone limp in your sweaty hands — and then you get: hangry.
Analysis
- The quality of a computer translation often to hinge on sth.von etw. abhängenhinges on whether the original text limits itself to standard words or whether it uses words not contained in the software’s dictionary. Wundspaziert is a good example. Even though the word can’t be found in Duden, native speakers easily understand its meaning. A good translation of wund is “sore”. You can be “saddle-sore” from riding a horse or bike, for example, or “footsore” from walking.
- The program’s translation of die Beine brennen contains several mistakes: in English, you usually use a possessive determiner with parts of the body; the plural noun “legs” does, of course, require a plural verb; and (because the German text describes a situation in the present, as if you were watching it to unfoldsich abspielenunfold) you need to use the present continuous rather than the present simple.
- The program failed to recognize the impersonal construction es quält einen der Durst, which led to a nonsensical word-for-word translation. We used a passive construction (“you are tormented by thirst”) to put a similar focus on the subject, Durst.
- Instead of saying “you’re tormented by hunger”, you could also use the idiomatic phrase “you’re starving”.
- In the computer translation, the restaurant is actually looking for you rather than the other way round.
- There’s also a problem with the tenseZeitformtense: an action that started in the past, continues into the present and will probably extend into the future requires the present perfect progressive. Man sucht seit einer Stunde, therefore, can be translated as “one has been searching for an hour”.
- In order to indicate the length of time, you need the preposition “for”, not “since”. “Since” is used to indicate a specific point in time. (“I have been looking since two o’clock.”)
- Plan can often be a false friend. In this context, we’re talking about a street “map”.
- Personal experience might help you understand the meaning of the word hungerböse. In fact, this phenomenon is so well known that the English language has created a word for it. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the informal word “hangry” as “bad-temperedgereizt, schlecht gelauntbad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger”.
Neugierig auf mehr?
Dann nutzen Sie die Möglichkeit und stellen Sie sich Ihr optimales Abo ganz nach Ihren Wünschen zusammen.
