July 6, 2020
A little piece of wisdom
"If you want to get very old, you have to start in time."
This is an aphorism by Karl Kraus, an Austrian satirist, journalist, and creator of many wise sayings. I admire his ability to put into a few words for what I would need many sentences.
I don't know whether the sentence works in English, as the German phrase is a bit ambiguous. Maybe one of the learners of German can comment about this.
One could also translate it as "If you want to live till a very high age, you have to start leading a healthy life when you are young."
Wer sehr alt werden will, muss beizeiten damit anfangen.
I admire his ability to put into a few words for what I would need many sentences. for.
One could also translate it as "If you want to live till a very higho an old age, you have to start leading a healthy life when you are young."
Feedback
I think your translation is pretty accurate.
July 7, 2020
It is not easy to translate things so that they convey not only the same meaning, but also sound just as good as the original. I admire literary translators. If you've ever tried to read more than one translation of the same work, you'll see what variety there can be.
In the case of your quote here, it also needs to convey the snappiness of the original. How about this: "If you want to live a long time, you have to start early."
I had not heard of Karl Kraus. After googling him, I found some quotes about women I did not care for, but I also found this gem that I'm going to add to my collection: "Technology is a servant who makes so much noise cleaning up in the next room that his master cannot make music."
July 7, 2020
You are absolutely right, translating literature is a job that demands very high skills on the language side and on the culture side.
And poorly translated books are usually a waste of time.
Your translation is brilliant!
I will dig up some more gems to present here. =)
A little piece of wisdom
"If you want to get very old, you have to start in time.
This is an aphorism by Karl Kraus, an Austrian satirist, journalist, and creator of many wise sayings.
I admire his ability to put into a few words that for whatich I would need many sentences.
This correction is very formal, only suitable for academic papers and the like. Less formally:
I admire his ability to put into a few words what I would need many sentences to say.*
I admire his ability to put into a few words things that I would need many sentences for.
* This one is my preference, but it's a matter of taste. Hopefully other native speakers can chime in with their opinion
I don't know whether the sentence works in English, as the German phrase is a bit ambiguous.
Maybe one of the learners of German can comment about this.
One could also translate it as "If you want to live tillo a very highold age, you have to start leading a healthy life when you are young."
"high" isn't used to describe "age". You can use "great" or "old".
(discussion on this issue: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/349562/higher-age-or-older-age)
Again, "till" isn't wrong here, but I think "to" sounds better, perhaps because "to" refers to a destination and "till" refers to a cut off point.
"I want to live till I'm 90" carries the implication of "not past 90". "I want to live to 90" doesn't have any implication that you do or don't want to keep living after you reach that age.
Feedback
My German isn't good enough to comment on how close the translation is, but as English speaker, it seems great! Makes perfect sense and is quite clever.
It's really cool that you write your English journals about German language and German-speaking culture. It means I get help with my own learning when I correct your entries, so thank you!
July 7, 2020
One could also translate it as "If you want to live tillo a very highold age, you have to start leading a healthy life when you are young."
Oh yes, I remember having seen "an old age" many times.
In German, the age is always "high". "An old age" would translate as "ein altes Alter" and this sounds really clumsy.
Thank you for your feedback + encouragement!
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A little piece of wisdom This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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"If you want to get very old, you have to start in time. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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This is an aphorism by Karl Kraus, an Austrian satirist, journalist, and creator of many wise sayings. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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I admire his ability to put into a few words for what I would need many sentences. I admire his ability to put into a few words that for wh This correction is very formal, only suitable for academic papers and the like. Less formally: I admire his ability to put into a few words what I would need many sentences to say.* I admire his ability to put into a few words things that I would need many sentences for. * This one is my preference, but it's a matter of taste. Hopefully other native speakers can chime in with their opinion I admire his ability to put into a few words |
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I don't know whether the sentence works in English, as the German phrase is a bit ambiguous. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Maybe one of the learners of German can comment about this. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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One could also translate it as "If you want to live till a very high age, you have to start leading a healthy life when you are young." One could also translate it as "If you want to live t "high" isn't used to describe "age". You can use "great" or "old". (discussion on this issue: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/349562/higher-age-or-older-age) Again, "till" isn't wrong here, but I think "to" sounds better, perhaps because "to" refers to a destination and "till" refers to a cut off point. "I want to live till I'm 90" carries the implication of "not past 90". "I want to live to 90" doesn't have any implication that you do or don't want to keep living after you reach that age. One could also translate it as "If you want to live t |
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