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This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other
Dutch to English translations [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Dutch term or phrase:zweverig
De zin is: 'niet om nu al te zweverig te doen, want dat ben ik helemaal niet' Het komt uit een verzoek voor financiering voor een film. De regisseur beschrijft haar visie voor het verhaal.
Taalvariant: Nederlands (Nederland)
Woolly en sentimental dekken naar mijn idee niet echt de lading... Suggesties?
Definition: (Of a person) out of touch with reality; daydreaming
Usage examples:
he’s always got his head in the clouds After all, a man with responsibilities can't walk around with his head in the clouds all the time. You've been wandering around with your head in the clouds for almost a month, you look like you're sleepwalking most of the time. Jane ignored him, ‘You're always wandering around with your head in the clouds, aren't you Peter? Claudette gave an impatient sigh. ‘You spend too much time with your head in the clouds. But they are labeled ‘slackers’ or ‘skylarkers,’ people with their head in the clouds and their belongings in their parents' basement. He spends too much time with his head in the clouds. He can't continue going around with his head in the clouds. Regardless, it doesn't matter really; I'm just a stupid insignificant girl with her head in the clouds. She's a woman with her head in the clouds and her feet firmly planted on the ground. The other inmates looked at him in wonder: What was this innocent redhead with his head in the clouds doing here?
Thank you so much for your input on this discussion. In the end I think I will go with the omkeren en omschrijven suggestion, which may produce a more audience-appropriate result.
Since I will not use any of the translations I will just close the topic without grading it. Thanks again for your time and effort!
I agree with telraam, who said ‘Wishy-washy suggests something negligent’. See also my entry above/below titled ‘wishy-washy’, which contains two definitions of wishy-washy:
– ‘Feeble or insipid in quality or character’ (Oxford) – ‘not having or showing strong ideas or beliefs about something’ (merriam-webster.com)
you say it yourself: Iemand die zweeft (bijv. een ‘zweefkees*’), is meer dan een vaag iemand/type. Hij of zij heeft vaak allerlei zweverige ideeën, enz.
@ Michael - no problem, One can get carried away... ;-) Abstract would be suitable in a "philosophical" context. "I don't want to get all philosophical" may be a good translation, in fact.
I agree, ‘zweverig’ can mean ‘woolly’ or ‘vague’. However, the asker said:
Connotation: spiritual/psychic … I'm looking to explore the connotation of faith healers, psychics, etc. The word often expresses disapproval of such practices and views. It's a tricky one!
In my opinion, the meaning is therefore more/different than merely vague or woolly. There is an extra element because of the ‘faith healers/psychics/spiritual’ aspect, which woolly/vague doesn't cover.
‘Ook het medium Jomanda wordt op internetforums wel eens een zweefteef genoemd. Het woord zweefkezerij vonden we nog terug bij Wim de Bie (De Boekcorner van … Goos Verhoef, 1988). Een ietwat neutralere term is alto*.’
Sorry, I might have gotten carried away by my own rhetoric (it wouldn't be the first time). I didn't mean to offend you.
You can blame it on my Dutch half; in the Netherlands it is perfectly acceptable to say ‘Onzin!’ in a conversation like this. Often, my American half looks on in horror at the things my Dutch half says.
Is *nobody* interested in the full context - what she says before and after this? We have no idea what this is about or why she's saying it, which may be part of the reason why we have so many different answers.
@ Michael: I take objection to your use of the word Nonsense. I expect civility from my colleagues. I am simply trying to give alternatives. Please show a little more respect for the opinion of others even if they disagree.
‘"It was all film," he says. "No video. Budgets were much higher: what they spend on a whole movie now was the lunch budget back then. And it was a renegade, hippy-dippy, peace-loving business, part of the counterculture.’ (http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/nov/30/artsfeatures.... )
‘The new bishop is in for a treat There’s excitement in traditional Catholic circles at the appointment of Mgr Philip Egan as bishop of the hippy-dippy diocese of Portsmouth. Mgr Egan is a Ratzinger loyalist who takes a firm line on dissent. He doesn’t waffle in the “bishopese” favoured by other prelates (eg, “today we cherish our gathered-ness as a community”). And he will be the only English Catholic bishop with a PhD – a real one, as opposed to the Dolly Parton/Richard Chartres honorary variety.’ (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100171076/c... )
‘Just wondering how much hippy dippy stuff you are interested in? You know the kinds of things crystals, chakras, free flowing electrons or do you think it is all a pile of hippy dippy rubbish?
Nonsense. If you look carefully at the quote from the text EmendoEditing is translating (‘niet om nu al te zweverig te doen, want dat ben ik helemaal niet’), you will see that this is not a ‘Serious document’ with a capital ‘S’ and that several of these suggestions would fit in just fine. Come on, the author used the word ‘zweverig’! How serious does that sound to you? Not exactly annual report lingo.
As to whether you have ever heard the term ‘hippy-dippy’ used, I suppose that will depend on your age, social background, etc. I've definitely heard it used.
@ Michael: I have seldom, if ever, heard people use the phrase hippy-dippy. Wishy-washy suggests something negligent. Airy-fairy is a bit twee. The main objections I have to all such suggestions is that they would, IMHO, be out of place in a serious document, the aim of which is to gain funding/subsidy.
Def.: Rejecting conventional practices or behaviour in a way perceived to be vague and unconsidered or foolishly idealistic:
Usage examples – hippy-dippy experiments in alternative births – Back in the hippy-dippy, pre-baby days, when I was full of high ideals and energy, I vowed, ‘No television!’ – This hippy-dippy, tie-dyed, rainbow-loving, granola-eating, unicorn-riding, flitting through the arugula garden look is just not working for you. – Their group, an almost perfect balance of attentive Euro-efficiency and hippy-dippy tree-hugging, just exuded low carbon emissions. – Nothing here builds, nothing has any drama, nothing assaults or moves or challenges, it just unapologetically sounds all hippy-dippy. – His philosophy is a peculiar and wholly subjective patchwork of frustrated sexual fantasies, zany misanthropy, and 1960s hippy-dippy iconoclasm. – They're like my hippy-dippy Vermont neighbours who drive around with ‘Free Tibet’ bumper stickers. – Flower is a hippy-dippy, would-be stand-up comic who has a problem with hecklers; the problem being that they make her cry. – And if you really want the hippy-dippy solution, try Madeleine in the Guardian.
The open subtitles corpus is very useful for stuff like this, where you just want to see how the man on the street would say it, warts and all. It is HUGE. Not sure exactly where all the material is from though: US or UK.
wordt wellicht het meest gebruikt in het VK maar een ieder die een beetje het Engels beheerst kan zich daar gemakkelijk een voorstelling bij bedenken. Waarschijnlijk makkelijker dan "woolly" en "wishy-washy" aangezien er het distinctieve woord "fairy" inzit...
Def.: ‘Feeble or insipid in quality or character’ (Oxford) ‘not having or showing strong ideas or beliefs about something’ (merriam-webster.com)
Usage examples: – ‘wishy-washy liberalism’ – ‘This is not the wishy-washy spiritualism that insists that it does not matter what you believe so long as you believe in something.’ – ‘So my resultant thinking is the usual liberal wishy-washy leftiness which tries to be fair to both sides.’ – ‘The average wishy-washy middle-class liberal like myself finds herself thrashing desperately between her worthy political world view of them as victims and sheer annoyance at their failure to seize their chances.’
I'm looking to explore the connotation of faith healers, psychics, etc. The word often expresses disapproval of such practices and views. It's a tricky one!
Meanwhile I've also come up with touchy-feely. Any thoughts?
Explanation: ‘woolly generalizations about economic growth’ ‘My latest academic post here is another one of my attacks on the woolly thinking that is so characteristic of academic psychology.’ ‘woolly thinking’ ‘To me, at least, the arguments have always seemed too woolly to be entirely convincing.’ ‘Lest that sound altogether woolly, I'll try and explain what I mean by this.’
(Oxforddictionaries.com)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 19 mins (2014-08-14 11:49:49 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
‘woolly’ is defined as ‘Vague or confused in expression or character’ (Oxforddictionaries.com)
Michael Beijer United Kingdom Local time: 09:00 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
or perhaps change the sentence and make it : "not to beat around the bush, I don't like to do that, but i got to mention that" or if you are moving in the direction of 'touchy" : i would do "not to be overly/too sensetive" but this, as well as "touchy" has a connotation of being offended
the context is extremely important here
katerina turevich Netherlands Local time: 10:00 Native speaker of: English
Explanation: To get away from a literal, word-for-word translation: 'I don't want to sound like I have my head in the clouds because I have my feet firmly on the ground.'
The language should not be too informal when you're making an application for funding.
Tina Vonhof (X) Canada Local time: 03:00 Native speaker of: Dutch, English