Ambiancen, die sich mit Schönheiten aus der Vergangenheit schmücken

English translation: creating ambiences with beautiful objects from the past

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Ambiancen, die sich mit Schönheiten aus der Vergangenheit schmücken
English translation:creating ambiences with beautiful objects from the past
Entered by: Helen Shiner

10:00 Nov 14, 2008
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Tourism & Travel
German term or phrase: Ambiancen, die sich mit Schönheiten aus der Vergangenheit schmücken
This is taken from a text describing a luxury hotel.
"Überall in den Gebäuden gibt es Ambiancen, die sich mit Schönheiten aus der Vergangenheit schmücken..."
Lesley Robertson MA, Dip Trans IoLET
Austria
Local time: 02:12
rewrite
Explanation:
Clearly you cannot decorate an ambience! So I would suggest refashioning the sentence altogether, which I am sure is what you plan!

How about something like:

By furnishing/decorating our rooms with beautiful objects from the past we have created ambiences of varying kinds throughout the hotel (or whatever it is)

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Note added at 5 days (2008-11-19 10:05:05 GMT) Post-grading
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Thank you, Lesley, for the points and the kind comment - that picks me up amid the packing cases surrounding me!!
Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:12
Grading comment
You have a gift!! Thankyou!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +7rewrite
Helen Shiner
4 +1atmospheric spaces adorned/furnished with beautiful objects/treasures from the past
Lonnie Legg
4the ambiance inspired by the ...
Alex Khanin


  

Answers


28 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Ambiancen die sich mit ... schmücken
the ambiance inspired by the ...


Explanation:
...

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Note added at 2 hrs (2008-11-14 12:22:37 GMT)
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I'd use it in singular

Alex Khanin
Germany
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
Notes to answerer
Asker: but can I use "ambience" in English in the plural? What do you think?


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Lonnie Legg: ambiance (ambience) is a quality--to improve the German (see Helen), I'd talk about the concrete spaces/places and their qualities/adornments.
29 mins
  -> IMO the ambiance can be created and therefore inspired but I would rewrite the sentence.
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54 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
atmospheric spaces adorned/furnished with beautiful objects/treasures from the past


Explanation:
ambiance: "the character and atmosphere of a place" (Amer.Oxf.Dict.)

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Note added at 2 hrs (2008-11-14 12:28:11 GMT)
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or (avoiding the potentially "ethereal") perhaps:
spaces with a special atmosphere created by choice furnishings/beautiful objects/treasures from the past

Lonnie Legg
Germany
Local time: 02:12
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Helen Shiner: Clearly you are on to the same thing as me, so agree with that, of course, but to me 'atmospheric spaces' sounds a bit too ethereal.
8 mins
  -> Thanks, Helen.

neutral  Ken Cox: With Helen -- a space can have an atmosphere in the figurative sense, but 'atmospheric spaces' sounds like something in the sky or New Age mysticism
30 mins
  -> Thanks, Ken.

agree  interpr8er: gorgeous facilities/architectural works of art furnished with treasures from the past
1 day 3 hrs
  -> Thanks, C.H.
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +7
Ambiancen die sich mit ... schmücken
rewrite


Explanation:
Clearly you cannot decorate an ambience! So I would suggest refashioning the sentence altogether, which I am sure is what you plan!

How about something like:

By furnishing/decorating our rooms with beautiful objects from the past we have created ambiences of varying kinds throughout the hotel (or whatever it is)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2008-11-19 10:05:05 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Lesley, for the points and the kind comment - that picks me up amid the packing cases surrounding me!!

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 50
Grading comment
You have a gift!! Thankyou!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Steffen Walter: ... although I'd be tempted to translate "Ambiancen" as "settings" or "environments". / Yes, you do have a point here.
7 mins
  -> Thank you, Steffen; though 'settings' sounds rather too much like 'stage settings' or 'place settings', ie too rigid; and 'environments' is rather reminiscent of contemporary art installations. Ambience is often used in descriptions of chic venues.

neutral  Lonnie Legg: You're right, Helen, about the problem in the German text ("you cannot decorate an ambience")
25 mins
  -> Thanks, Lonnie

agree  casper (X)
35 mins
  -> Thank you, Chetan

agree  Nandini Vivek
51 mins
  -> Thank you, Nandini

agree  Ken Cox: There are various ways to word this, but I agree that the poetic fiction of the ambiences decorating themselves won't fly in English, and 'using objects to create ambiences' (or special moods) is a good approach.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Ken

agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X): very elegantly put; it gets my vote!
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Ingeborg!

agree  franglish
5 hrs
  -> Thank you, franglish

agree  Rebecca Garber: elegant
7 hrs
  -> Thank you, Rebecca
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