Does it need any reason for teatime? (English OT - the first chapter)

[Ianus]

This being an OT-Thread anyway, may I insert some completely unrelated questions? I'm currently in the process of translating a text into her majesties english and I find that I can not make neihter head nore tails of two sentences loaded with figurative speech. The first one is:

"Der Kerl schwimmt auf der Welle oben."

and the other one would be:

"Einer wie der andere, Idioten, eure Pfeiffenköpfe sind wohl zu Erbsen zusammengeschrupft!"

Could anybody of you gentleman suggest an appropriate english equivalent for these rather coarse exclamations?

[CT]

I do not even understand the German version of these expressions. @_@

[Ianus]

I wonder how you came to post in a german forum then.

[CT]

Well, obviously, I do understand the individual words (even those which you misspelled) but I just do not get the meaning of those expressions, you know. They just do not make sense, actually; at least the second one. So it is basically impossible for me to translate them properly.

[Ianus]

Well, if it's of any help to you: The first one means that the speaker considers the status of the person he is talking about to be gained by a stroke of luck and hints that his fortune will change very soon resulting in "everything coming down upon him" at the most unexpected time.

The second sentence is just a string of swearwords, "Pfeiffenkopf" being a close equivalent to "Airhead". What I can't make sense of is the "Erbsen" part. I think these were meant to attack their sexuality before they got translated into german as "Pfeiffenkopf" includes a hint at air flowing through something along with the hollowness and a shrinkage happening because of the change in temperature.

[Virginie]

Huh? Why sexuality? I thought it means something like "your brains shrank to/on (don't know the preposition here) the size of a pea." But unfortunately I don't know any English idiom for that.

[Ianus]

Huh? Why sexuality? I thought it means something like "your brains shrank to/on (don't know the preposition here) the size of a pea." But unfortunately I don't know any English idiom for that.

...

I think I'll go with:

IDIOTS, ONE LIKE THE OTHER. YOUR BRAINS OBVIOUSLY SHRANK TO THE SIZE OF PEAS.

then. It's not perfect but I think it will work well enough, thank you.

[vanillaKitten]

well, as this seems to be settled I'd like to introduce some other matter I'm really curious about:

what kind of english do you [try to] speak?
I mean, every non-native speaker sooner or later just has to adopt a certain pronounciation - like american, australian, british or something yet different [I especially like listening to the jamaican slang, patois ^^]

personally, my english is as british as it could be~ well of course it's not perfect, but still it's quite distinctive. I'd really love to spend some months in south-east england to perfect my pronounciation ^^

so what about you?

[Gonzo]

I try to use mostly american english because it doesn't sound so cocky.
Well, I would like to speak more canadian english but I don't know any source where I could learn or hear this kind of english. If you find any source, please let me know that.

[Kima]

Uh, this thread seems to be one of the few (for me) new things that are actually interesting. It's a delight to read it.

So, uhm, yeah. Just to contribute something else:

what kind of english do you [try to] speak?

...

Mostly American, simply due to media influence.

[Krelian]

so what about you?

...

I guess my pronunciation is very much American. Of course I know it's not 100% pure American, and I'm not sure it'll ever be either. I tried once to adopt British pronuncation, but due to the increased influence of American English, some AE-speaking people I know and the fact that (to me) it's easier to adopt, I decided to go for AE instead. My spelling and some words or phrases are still BE, though. Perhaps I'll change that too in the future...

Well, I would like to speak more canadian english but I don't know any source where I could learn or hear this kind of english. If you find any source, please let me know that.

...

Try looking for some CE speaking people and simply talk to them. It shouldn't be that hard to find someone who's willing to talk to you via Skype or something similar. Maybe you can find someone who wants to improve their German or something

[Virginie]

what kind of english do you [try to] speak?

...

[try to] is really the right expression.
Actually I prefer BE since it sounds much better (IMO) than AE - which is so often mumbled and... brrr. Well, I don't like it. Unfortunately I am far from being good at TEH REAL Oxford English. Sometimes I am watching BBC so that I can listen to it

But as I am working at an international society with headquaters in the US I often switch over to AE (e. g. while being on the phone) or even mix both up.

[Ianus]

what kind of english do you [try to] speak?

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None, I've been using the language exclusively for writing and reading for years now, and I don't see that changing in the near future.

[garak]

even though i consider british english to be the oral climax among all english verbalizations, i have to admit that it does prove quite difficult to utilize it in most scenarios - unless you are fortunate enough to be able to communicate with either british citizens or british talking people on a regular basis.
consequently, i automatically use american english in most situations for i most certainly am talking to an american friend of mine, since i dont know any british people i can actually converse with.
on the other hand, i have to constate that i couldnt imagine not using american slang when engaging mere small talk.
so basically, i prefer the kind of english that is most appropiate at that very moment.

[Schatteп]

Well, there is a thread for writing english; but were is the thread to write Black-Metal-English? xD
[Growl]Rah I wanted just to you know let where I come from.. Hailing from Grimmm norway![/Growl]

on the other hand, i have to constate that i couldnt imagine not using american slang when engaging mere small talk.

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Could be my words.

Is there any topic at the moment?
I'm just too lazy to read all the posts.. Right? o.O

[Phoenix]

I remember doing the time warp.

[Ianus]

I remember doing the time warp.

...

Was that before or after darkness had hit you and you entered another dimension?