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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

belämmert aus der Wäsche

English translation:

befuddled/addled/dumbfounded/dazed

Added to glossary by Ramey Rieger (X)
Jul 10, 2013 09:25
10 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

belämmert aus der Wäsche

German to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Can anyone tell me what this terms means in English in relation to how a woman looks?? I am sorry but I don't have any more context.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +7 befuddled/addled/dumbfounded/dazed
3 +2 look/feel/stand around like an idiot - depending on context
3 Looking on with a dorky expression (on her face)
1 +1 speechless
3 -5 dragged through a hedge backwards
References
Reference
Change log

Jul 10, 2013 09:33: Steffen Walter changed "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"

Jul 20, 2013 16:42: Ramey Rieger (X) Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Cilian O'Tuama

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Discussion

Ramey Rieger (X) Jul 18, 2013:
@ Kathy and this one, too, please!
Ramey Rieger (X) Jul 12, 2013:
@Michael It would be the direct translation. I don't share your vision of sheepish or belämmert. Both are temporary conditions caused by a usually sudden event where one is not only at a loss for words, but at a loss for brains, as well. It could be comic or sarcastic, sometimes mean, but I don't see it as blunt or crude, but apt for this given situation. Dumbstruck would be another for the list. Be well!
Michael Martin, MA Jul 12, 2013:
Not sure about sheepish... Seems a bit mild next to belämmert which is blunt and crude. To me, belämmert is more typical of sarcastic comments whereas sheepish often pertains to the self-conscious feelings of the person at the receiving end..
Ramey Rieger (X) Jul 11, 2013:
Save the Earth it's our only source of chocolate.
franglish Jul 11, 2013:
Here is a joke for you Ein hübsches Mädchen kommt in den Laden. "Wie viel kostet eine Tafel Schokolade?" "Einen Kuss", sagt der Verkäufer grinsend. "Gut, ich nehme sieben", sagt das Mädchen, dreht sich um und ruft "Grosi, kommst du mal zahlen?"
gangels (X) Jul 11, 2013:
Yeah ...sheepish look on her face is best.

Didn't think of it!
Ramey Rieger (X) Jul 11, 2013:
Hi gangels Well, that is an interesting interpretation! Look at this:
http://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/belämmert

And look at this people: SHEEPISH - the most obvious and least hit upon!
Nicole Schnell Jul 11, 2013:
@Gangels "really means "being a day late and a dollar short/having not all buttons on/having a screw loose/vapid-eyed" suggestive of being slow on the uptake. Not quite the same as being dazed/dumbfounded/addle-brained etc."

Sorry, wrong.
I also don't think that the native speakers have to write up a novel to prove it.
Susanne Rindlisbacher Jul 10, 2013:
@gangles Sehe ich nicht so. Auch jemand, der nicht schwer von Begriff ist, kann gelegentlich belämmert gucken. Und wer eine Schraube locker hat, muss nicht unbedingt belämmert aus der Wäsche gucken.
gangels (X) Jul 10, 2013:
Belämmert aus der Wäsche gucken really means "being a day late and a dollar short/having not all buttons on/having a screw loose/vapid-eyed" suggestive of being slow on the uptake.
Not quite the same as being dazed/dumbfounded/addle-brained etc
franglish Jul 10, 2013:
@asker It would help to know what the advert for.
Ramey Rieger (X) Jul 10, 2013:
Sweet Alison My apologies, I seem to be overreacting to everything today - my family has fled to the lake! Maybe it's the heat? Maybe I'm entitled, who knows? If I do take something personally, it lasts about five minutes, so we're cool. Okay?
Yes, idioms are the cross we all have to bear, and most internet renderings are not native-oriented. There are some very good slang dictionaries, all monolingual. Thank goodness for kudoz!

@Kathy
Okay, I understand now. Why not use the word that describes us best - STUMPED!
Alison MacG Jul 10, 2013:
Oh dear, Ramey Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I was referring to the fact that the 2 alternative renderings I had found (1. woebegone and 2. amazed) seemed to be rather rare and that I couldn't find anything else to back them up.

Your suggestions of course required no extra back-up.

I added what I had found in view of the lack of context and the asker's comment : "My first instinct was dragged through a hedge backwards I must say".
Kathy Freeman (asker) Jul 10, 2013:
There is no context in the sense that this is a survey and people have been asked to give their spontaneous response to an advertisement. The woman on the picture could fit any of the suggestions so far! I can't include the picture because it's confidential.
Ramey Rieger (X) Jul 10, 2013:
Hi Kathy Freeman Excuse me for insisting, but how can the sentence stand alone? Could you at least tell us in which context you are working on?

@Alison
Here's something to back my suggestions up:
http://www.wordsmyth.net/?level=3&ent=daze

As a native speaker of English, well versed in German idioms (I taught English to German teens for 20 years), the expression asked for is known to me (ad nauseum!).

So now that I have made myself thoroughly obnoxious, back to work!
Alison MacG Jul 10, 2013:
2 isolated references with little else to back them up

look like a dying duck (in a thunderstorm) - dumm aus der Wäsche schauen (coll)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:nKTPgdV...

Possibly something like woebegone or dejected

Muret-Sanders entry:
da hat er vielleicht dumm aus der Wäsche geguckt (od. geschaut) fig. colloq. you should have seen his face, his jaw (simply) dropped
Kathy Freeman (asker) Jul 10, 2013:
The entire sentence, and why I know it is a woman, is:

die Frau schaut etwas belämmert aus der Wäsche

My first instinct was dragged through a hedge backwards I must say. I will await further suggestions before grading
Steffen Walter Jul 10, 2013:
Incomplete German phrase The complete phrase would be "belämmert aus der Wäsche gucken/schauen".
Kathy Freeman (asker) Jul 10, 2013:
Sadly really no context at all!
BrigitteHilgner Jul 10, 2013:
Context? She looked dumbfounded / stupefied / silly / helpless ...

Proposed translations

+7
1 hr
Selected

befuddled/addled/dumbfounded/dazed

There MUST be more context, otherwise how do you know it is a woman? Or are you writing something yourself?

bewildered
discombobulated
muddled
flustered
stupefied
bedazzled
disoriented
staggered
baffled

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2013-07-11 07:10:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

SHEEPISH!!!!!!
Peer comment(s):
agree Susanne Rindlisbacher
4 mins
Thank you Susanne Rindlisbacher - which would you prefer? Be well!
agree Erik Freitag
19 mins
Thanks, my friend, another baffling bout of kudoz!
agree Heike Holthaus : My preferences (without context): dumbfounded, befuddled, bewildered, baffled
1 hr
Thanks TranslatorHeike, I love discombobulated, it is quite onomatopoeic.
agree Usch Pilz : Befuddled does for me...
2 hrs
I'm feeling rather bewildered at the moment! Hi there!
agree Wendy Streitparth : Delightful selection - thought you'd invented discombobulated!
2 hrs
Nope, it's a real, true, wonderful word. Hope all's well with you, Wendy!
agree Edith Kelly : will never forget the comment : you look like something that the cat dragged out of the garden .... might be an option.
10 hrs
Hi EdithK. the expression "look what the cat dragged in" refers more to bedraggled/half-dead/tortured or to a negative surprize. Thanks for your agreement and enjoy your day!
agree Nicole Schnell
1 day 15 hrs
Hi Nicole, much obliged! Do have a favorite?
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I opted for bewildered"
-5
5 mins

dragged through a hedge backwards

It means, untidy, unironed clothing just thrown on with no thought; as if she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards;
Peer comment(s):
disagree Erik Freitag : Well, we have no context, but still I'm having trouble to imagine that this is the intended meaning.
4 mins
disagree BrigitteHilgner : I want to see some proof for this interpretion before I believe it.
1 hr
disagree Wendy Streitparth : Has nothing to do with the clothing.
3 hrs
disagree Edith Kelly : with all
11 hrs
disagree Susanne Rindlisbacher : with all
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
11 mins

look/feel/stand around like an idiot - depending on context

or something along those lines
Peer comment(s):
agree Erik Freitag
2 mins
agree Susanne Rindlisbacher
57 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
9 hrs

speechless

Perhaps, but who can know without seeing the image...
Peer comment(s):
agree Susanne Rindlisbacher : Perhaps... A picture is worth a thousand words.
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
17 hrs

Looking on with a dorky expression (on her face)

As Susanne noted from a slightly different angle, what is needed here is an expression that describes this woman's response to a given situation rather than describes a general trait of hers.
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

4 mins
Reference:

Reference

...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2013-07-10 09:32:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

dumbfounded, puzzled (...)
Reference:

http://redensarten-index.de/suche.php?suchbegriff=bel%C3%A4mmert+dreinschauen&suchspalte[]=rart_ou&suchspalte[]=bsp_ou

Something went wrong...
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