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Zwiebel schwitzen

English translation: onion sweatum, nonexistum [mock Latin]

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Zwiebel schwitzen
English translation:onion sweatum, nonexistum [mock Latin]
Entered by: S.J

18:18 Jul 8, 2019
German to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
German term or phrase: Zwiebel schwitzen
Zwiebel schwitzen, nonexisten.

I know it is an idiom but I don't have any clue what is the meaning of it.

Thanks in advance,
S.J
Canada
Local time: 06:51
onion sweatum, nonexistum [mock Latin]
Explanation:
It has been noted that the phrase is not standard German — which might have been more like, "Zwiebel anschwitzen, nicht existieren".

"Zwiebel schwitzen, nonexisten" could potentially be rendered in faux Latin with
"onion sweatum, nonexistum"
which retains the general sense of each word and retains the rhyme.

'Dog Latin' (faux Latin) like this is the sort of nonsense that people might use in English either for humorous effect or to try to seem knowledgeable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin

The only disadvantage I can see is that there is no 'German' flavour to it. I don't know how important (or not) that would be for your source text.

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Note added at 10 hrs (2019-07-09 05:18:30 GMT)
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Amusingly, the German term Küchenlatein coincidentally gels well with the onion reference!
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Küchenlatein

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2019-07-09 05:27:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

BTW, the suggested dog Latin phrase above is how you could translate for a source text entirely written in German (with a sprinkling of nonsense-German) into an equivalent for a target text written entirely in English (with a little dog Latin).

On the other hand, if it's predominantly a text in English or Arabic or something else, and the characters just randomly "tell each other some German words [...] even if they have not any meaning", then I agree with the suggestion of philgoddard in the Discussion section, above, to leave the phrase unchanged.
Selected response from:

D. I. Verrelli
Australia
Local time: 20:51
Grading comment
Thank you, no need to analyze the reason beyond the question.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1sauté the onion until translucent
Cristina Moldovan do Amaral
4 +1onion sweatum, nonexistum [mock Latin]
D. I. Verrelli
5تعريق البصل / التسخين البطيئ للبصل
Ebrahim Mohammed
2Perspiration of onions doesn't exist
D. I. Verrelli
Summary of reference entries provided
Cooking references
D. I. Verrelli

Discussion entries: 10





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
sauté the onion until translucent


Explanation:
Cooking the onions by maintaining a high enough heat to get them going, but not so high that they begin to brown.

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-07-08 20:09:17 GMT)
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I heard it as ”Zwiebeln glasig schwitzen” a few times


    Reference: http://mikispantryblog.com/how-tos-making-translucent-onions...
Cristina Moldovan do Amaral
United States
Local time: 03:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian
Notes to answerer
Asker: I don't the guy who said that know the meaning of it, he just mentioned to show the people that he knows some German words.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ines R.
2 hrs
disagree  D. I. Verrelli: Too wordy for an idiom, and too literal for the (limited) context that was subsequently provided. Also, others have commented that normally in German it would be "anschwitzen". Ignores the "nonexisten" and desirability of rhyming with its translation.
11 hrs
agree  Eleanore Strauss: It's not an idiom as such... if you have ever cooked you know this is correct!
16 hrs
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Zwiebel schwitzen, nonexisten
onion sweatum, nonexistum [mock Latin]


Explanation:
It has been noted that the phrase is not standard German — which might have been more like, "Zwiebel anschwitzen, nicht existieren".

"Zwiebel schwitzen, nonexisten" could potentially be rendered in faux Latin with
"onion sweatum, nonexistum"
which retains the general sense of each word and retains the rhyme.

'Dog Latin' (faux Latin) like this is the sort of nonsense that people might use in English either for humorous effect or to try to seem knowledgeable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin

The only disadvantage I can see is that there is no 'German' flavour to it. I don't know how important (or not) that would be for your source text.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2019-07-09 05:18:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Amusingly, the German term Küchenlatein coincidentally gels well with the onion reference!
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Küchenlatein

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2019-07-09 05:27:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

BTW, the suggested dog Latin phrase above is how you could translate for a source text entirely written in German (with a sprinkling of nonsense-German) into an equivalent for a target text written entirely in English (with a little dog Latin).

On the other hand, if it's predominantly a text in English or Arabic or something else, and the characters just randomly "tell each other some German words [...] even if they have not any meaning", then I agree with the suggestion of philgoddard in the Discussion section, above, to leave the phrase unchanged.

D. I. Verrelli
Australia
Local time: 20:51
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you, no need to analyze the reason beyond the question.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michael Confais (X)
5 hrs
  -> Thanks :-)
neutral  philgoddard: It's a shame the asker won't provide context, but I can't see how German could become Latin.
6 hrs
  -> Wenn es um 'Germanikus Texti' geht, zum Beispiel? If it's a German novel, with that purported idiom inserted, then the English translation should have an equivalent expression, for which no German characteristic would be needed. It's not real Latin BTW.
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
تعريق البصل / التسخين البطيئ للبصل


Explanation:

This guy is biginner in German; he said it io impress

schwitzen is wrong in this context ; it should ne ''anschwitzen''


''anschwitzen'' means:
طبخ للخضروات لمدة قصيرة في قليل من الدسم او الزيت في درجة حرارة منخفضة. يتم استخدام هذه الطريقة على سبيل المثال لتصبح قطع البصل شفافة و ناعمة

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGrVFlzsdcU


Sweating in cooking is the gentle heating of vegetables in a little oil or butter, with
frequent stirring and turning to ensure that any emitted liquid will evaporate. Sweating usually results in tender, sometimes translucent, pieces. Sweating is often a preliminary step to further cooking in liquid; onions, in particular, are often sweated before including in a stew. This differs from sautéing in that sweating is done over a much lower heat, sometimes with salt added to help draw moisture away, and making sure that little or no browning takes place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweating_(cooking)

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Note added at 12 hrs (2019-07-09 07:09:54 GMT)
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onions sweating

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Note added at 19 hrs (2019-07-09 14:06:02 GMT)
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For collegue translators, if I may allow myself to clarify it, the source text phrase ' Zwiebel schwitzen' ist ultimately to translate into ARABIC; the translation of the text is from English into Arabic. Stylistic issues in the English translation of the German source phrase is not the Focus of the question but meaning and purpose of it, so as to convey it again in Arabic.

Ebrahim Mohammed
Germany
Local time: 12:51
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: German to English translations
10 hrs
  -> English translation added
neutral  D. I. Verrelli: I have no idea what the Arabic text says, but why translate the German at all if that 'idiom' represents a (poor attempt at a) *foreign language* in the *source* text? And why not ask for advice at German to Arabic translations?
17 hrs
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
Zwiebel schwitzen, nonexisten
Perspiration of onions doesn't exist


Explanation:
It has been established now that the source text is predominantly English, with the purported 'idiom' "Zwiebel schwitzen, nonexisten" inserted in nonsense-German. Therefore the best option is to copy it verbatim in the (Arabic) target text.

Nevertheless, as it has been asked what ideas this nonsense might convey, for completeness — and to illustrate the fact that it doesn't have an unambiguous meaning — note that it could also be interpreted as an erroneous rendering of
"(Das) Zwiebelschwitzen existiert nicht"
or
"(Das) Zwiebelschwitzen: nicht existierend"
whence
"Perspiration of onions doesn't exist"
or
"Perspiration of onions: non-existent".

https://www.linguee.com/english-german/search?query=schwitze...
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantivierung#Substantivier...

Of course, this loses the rhyme. It also loses the ambiguity and ungrammatical character. And the characteristic of being German is also lost. It does retain some elements of being an inscrutable aphorism.

Some may ask how it is reasonable to modify the source text to get this meaning.
The only way to get any meaning here is to modify the source text, because the given phrase is not correct German: even if "schwitzen" is allowed instead of "anschwitzen", "nonexisten" is definitely not a word.

"in heißem Fett [hell]braun werden lassen" (Mehl)
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/schwitzen
PONS/Collins Globalwörterbuch (1993) likewise indicates that schwitzen collocates with "Mehl".

"in heißem Fett leicht gelb werden lassen" (Mehl, Zwiebeln)
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/anschwitzen

The same indication comes from counting 'hits' online.

P.S. If I may digress, "Onions don't cry" would be more poetic. Too bad it doesn't quite match the source text!

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Note added at 22 hrs (2019-07-09 16:46:28 GMT)
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Actually, I must correct one thing:

Online searches showed that Zwiebel collocates much more strongly with anschwitzen than schwitzen, in accordance with what I stated.

However, online searches show that Mehl also collocates more strongly with anschwitzen than schwitzen, opposite to what may have been inferred from my statement. On the other hand, there are quite a few hits for Mehlschwitze(n) and almost none for Mehlanschwitze(n).

D. I. Verrelli
Australia
Local time: 20:51
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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Reference comments


10 hrs
Reference: Cooking references

Reference information:
How do I sweat onions?
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/3613/how-do-i-sw...

Kitchen Essentials: How to properly sweat an onion
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/kitc...

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Note added at 13 hrs (2019-07-09 07:50:03 GMT)
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I suppose besides the cooking reference, it could be taken as a reference to perspiration (Schweiß), in the sense that onion-sweat doesn't exist, just as the proverbial hens' teeth are 'rare'.

D. I. Verrelli
Australia
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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