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Erwartungspotenzial

English translation: the considerable promise

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Erwartungspotenzial
English translation:the considerable promise
Entered by: Rowan Morrell

08:13 Oct 27, 2004
German to English translations [PRO]
Linguistics / New Word?
German term or phrase: Erwartungspotenzial
"Anhand der Vielzahl von Studien, Literaturangaben und Forschungsprojekten zum Thema Laser in der Endodontie lassen sich das große Interesse und das hohe ***Erwartungspotenzial*** das dem monochromatischen Licht beim Einsatz im Kanalsystem eines marktoten Zahnes entgegengebracht wird, ablesen."

From a text about laser use in dentistry, and in particular endodontics. I can't find a translation for "Erwartungspotenzial" anywhere, and there aren't all that many Google hits for either the German word or my best guess, "expectation potential". Does the word just mean "expectations", perhaps? TIA for your help.
Rowan Morrell
New Zealand
Local time: 17:57
the enormous promise
Explanation:
of a given technique

you could use all sorts of adjectives but I think the word "promise" (noun) sums it up best in English
Selected response from:

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 07:57
Grading comment
Ian may have got more "agrees", and his answer was certainly a pretty good one, but in the end, I felt CMJ_Trans' suggestion fit better for how I wanted to translate the sentence. However, I felt "enormous" might be a bit much and downgraded it slightly to "considerable". My final rendition of the sentence:

"The great interest in and considerable promise of monochromatic light for application in the canal system of a devitalized tooth can be gauged in the multitude of studies, literature data and research projects that deal with lasers in endodontics."

If you replace "considerable promise" with "high levels of expectation", it doesn't quite work the same, at least to my way of thinking. So the points in the end to Chris. But thanks and commiserations Ian, and thanks also to Cilian for a quite useful answer. Appreciate everyone's help.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4high levels of expectation
IanW (X)
4 +1the enormous promise
CMJ_Trans (X)
4promising expectations / promising potential
Cilian O'Tuama


  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
high levels of expectation


Explanation:
I would simply say "high levels of expectation".

(By the way, the German language simply lends itself to inventing new words - there's nothing new there. Worse luck for us translators!)

IanW (X)
Local time: 07:57
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sabine Griebler: yes, German loves its compounds :-)
2 mins
agree  writeaway: definitely one of the joys of translation-off the cuff words-dictionaries are only guides not bibles
6 mins
agree  Ian M-H (X)
56 mins
agree  gangels (X)
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
promising expectations / promising potential


Explanation:
oder so, though I'd prefer the second one (and in both cases I'd leave out the 'hohe')

Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 07:57
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 36
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

31 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
the enormous promise


Explanation:
of a given technique

you could use all sorts of adjectives but I think the word "promise" (noun) sums it up best in English

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 07:57
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
Grading comment
Ian may have got more "agrees", and his answer was certainly a pretty good one, but in the end, I felt CMJ_Trans' suggestion fit better for how I wanted to translate the sentence. However, I felt "enormous" might be a bit much and downgraded it slightly to "considerable". My final rendition of the sentence:

"The great interest in and considerable promise of monochromatic light for application in the canal system of a devitalized tooth can be gauged in the multitude of studies, literature data and research projects that deal with lasers in endodontics."

If you replace "considerable promise" with "high levels of expectation", it doesn't quite work the same, at least to my way of thinking. So the points in the end to Chris. But thanks and commiserations Ian, and thanks also to Cilian for a quite useful answer. Appreciate everyone's help.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  davidgreen: sounds "am schlichtesten" to me
5 hrs
  -> thanks
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