Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
flat face
German translation:
flaches Gesicht
Added to glossary by
interpr8er
Sep 1, 2008 16:42
15 yrs ago
English term
Germany
Culture and politics - precise & fluent
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, Spanish to German, Italian to German, and 1 more.
flat face
English to German
Art/Literary
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Situation: Jemand guckt sehr verwundert wegen einem unerwarteten Fund.
"David sits inside his car; besides him there is the small green military box with a trademark of the IDF. He looks at it with nervous eyes. After a few seconds he hesitatingly opens it.
Inside it he finds a Pentax Camera . A look of astonishment rises up on his *flat face* and he closes the box immediately."
Das "flat" sagt mir gar nichts und ich habe es zunächst mal unter den Teppich gekehrt und geschrieben: "Erstaunen breitet sich auf seinen Zügen aus …".
"David sits inside his car; besides him there is the small green military box with a trademark of the IDF. He looks at it with nervous eyes. After a few seconds he hesitatingly opens it.
Inside it he finds a Pentax Camera . A look of astonishment rises up on his *flat face* and he closes the box immediately."
Das "flat" sagt mir gar nichts und ich habe es zunächst mal unter den Teppich gekehrt und geschrieben: "Erstaunen breitet sich auf seinen Zügen aus …".
Proposed translations
(German)
| 3 +4 | flaches Gesicht |
interpr8er
|
| 5 +1 | ausdrucksloses Gesicht |
Elitsa Ch
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Change log
Sep 1, 2008 16:47: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Sep 1, 2008 16:47: Steffen Walter changed "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"
Sep 3, 2008 18:50: interpr8er Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+4
1 hr
interpr8er
Native in English
&
German
bilingual, bi-cultural, thorough
Native in: English 
, German
Works in: German to English, English to German
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
flaches Gesicht
wortwörtlich... im Sinne von menschlich. Menschen im Vergleich zu Affen haben flache Gesichter...
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Note added at 1 hr (2008-09-01 18:05:03 GMT)
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correction: confidence 4 (high) and this second reference
http://www.der-unbekannte-gorki.de/index.php?e=14
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Note added at 1 hr (2008-09-01 18:05:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
correction: confidence 4 (high) and this second reference
http://www.der-unbekannte-gorki.de/index.php?e=14
Example sentence:
"er strich sich erstaunt über sein flaches Gesicht
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Die Szene gibt die Bedeutung "ausdrucksloses Gesicht" nicht her. Drum lieber flaches Gesicht. Nur: idiomatisch finde ich das nicht, auch wenn ein Übersetzer das bei Tolstoi so gelöst hat. Besser kommt die Bedeutung rüber, wenn man das "flach" stets weglässt. Sonst denkt der Leser "äh...häh, ein flaches Gesicht ... warum?""
+1
6 mins
ausdrucksloses Gesicht
"flat" ist hier im Sinne von "ausdruckslos".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
André Höchemer
7 mins
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Anja C.
: figurative meaning of "flat" according to Chambers Dict.: 7 bored; depressed. 8 dull; not lively. 9 toneless and expressionless.
26 mins
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Thank you.
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| disagree |
Helen Shiner
: It just means that his face is flat - physically, not in any sense emotionally or expressively. Sorry to disagree, but thought I had better./As a native speaker, I can only tell you that an EN speaker would be unlikely to read it that way.
32 mins
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Sorry but I can not agree with you. Thе meaning of "flat" in this case is entirely figurative.
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| neutral |
mill2
: agree with Helen!
22 hrs
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| neutral |
hazmatgerman (X)
: Wegen der vorangehenden Sätze glaube ich nicht, daß hier ein bildhafter Gebrauch gewollt ist.
22 hrs
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