push back

German translation: Widerstand leisten

23:31 May 31, 2010
English to German translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism
English term or phrase: push back
From the same Economist article I asked a question about earlier (http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story...

I am not quite sure how to understand "pushed back" in this context. Strike back or rather something like melt/soften?

Any ideas anyone? Thanks to all!

"Since reunification in 1990, Germany has pushed back. A Neue Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft was founded in 2007. Mr Krämer’s Verein, with 31,000 members, publishes an index of 7,200 anglicisms, four-fifths of which, it claims, crowd out good German words. A pet hate is “blockbuster”, originally a 1942 coinage for city-destroying bombs."
Hewhotranslates
Local time: 17:19
German translation:Widerstand leisten
Explanation:
To resist. It's less aggressive than "strike back" (zurückschlagen).
Also evokes the ad-speak use of the idiom (see below).

So your translation would be:
"Seit ... leistet Deutschland Widerstand."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2010-06-01 08:12:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Back", of course, implies that the effort in question is in response to an offensive action from the other side.
Selected response from:

Lonnie Legg
Germany
Local time: 01:19
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2verhält sich Deutschland offensiver
Christian Weber
4 +1Widerstand leisten
Lonnie Legg
2 +2schägt zurück
Nicole Backhaus
3 +1sich wehren
Jutta Scherer
3zurückdrängen
Klaus Urban
3versucht verlorenen Boden zurückzugewinnen
transcreator


  

Answers


5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
zurückdrängen


Explanation:
dafür gibt es mehrere Google Hits, scheint mir hier zu passen

Klaus Urban
Local time: 01:19
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
verhält sich Deutschland offensiver


Explanation:
legt Deutschland ein selbstbewussteres Verhalten an den Tag.

Etwas in der Richtung...ich würde es so frei übersetzen. Ich denke also, dass der Begriff hier eher den Sinn von "strike back" wiedergibt. Dafür sprechen die Aktivform, der historische Kontext (Wiedervereinigung) sowie der darauf folgende Satz.

Christian Weber
Local time: 01:19
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Steffen Walter
1 hr

agree  OK-Trans
2 days 7 hrs
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +2
schägt zurück


Explanation:
Ich verstehe den Inhalt so, dass der verein sichd er Pflöege deutscher Wörter gewidmet hat und Anglizismen zurückdrängen möchte...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2010-06-01 07:12:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ARG..sorry für die Typos

Nicole Backhaus
Local time: 17:19
Native speaker of: German

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Annett Hieber: Scheint mir hier auch das Passendste zu sein!
50 mins

agree  British Diana: ja, es ist etwas Aktives damit gemeint
58 mins
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
versucht verlorenen Boden zurückzugewinnen


Explanation:
zwischen schlagen und offensiv sein - fände ich hier am passendsten

transcreator
Germany
Local time: 01:19
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 31
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Widerstand leisten


Explanation:
To resist. It's less aggressive than "strike back" (zurückschlagen).
Also evokes the ad-speak use of the idiom (see below).

So your translation would be:
"Seit ... leistet Deutschland Widerstand."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2010-06-01 08:12:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Back", of course, implies that the effort in question is in response to an offensive action from the other side.

Example sentence(s):
  • "push back" (Urban Word of the Day): "There was some push back from the client regarding the new creative. We'll have to re-do it."

    Reference: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=push+back
Lonnie Legg
Germany
Local time: 01:19
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andrea Martínez: leistet Deutschland vermehrt Widerstand
11 hrs
  -> thanks, Andrea.
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
sich wehren


Explanation:
IMHO, that's the basic meaning here.

I would translate the sentence rather loosely, along the lines of

Seit 1990 aber wehren sich die Deutschen or
Seit 1990 aber machen die Deutschen nicht mehr mit or
Seit 1990 aber regt sich in Deutschland Widerstand.

Something like that.

So, basically, my reading of the sentence is similar to what Lonnie Legg suggested - the difference being that I would prefer a translation which is a bit less aggressive/martial than "Widerstand leisten".

Jutta Scherer
Germany
Local time: 01:19
Works in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 7

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  mill2
1 hr
  -> Thank you!
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