Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Dutch term or phrase:
kankerbak
English translation:
bloody prison, damned prison
Added to glossary by
Charles Stanford
Aug 27, 2007 07:02
17 yrs ago
Dutch term
Czech Republic
Qualified, experienced EN native speaker
Native in: English 
Works in: Czech to English, Slovak to English, German to English, and 3 more.
kankerbak
May offend
Dutch to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Prisoner's letter
Sorry if this is offensive (which I think it might be) but in a prisoner's letter, he uses the term "kankerbak" and I cannot find an English translation anywhere. Any help very welcome.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +2 | bloody prison, damned prison |
Jack den Haan
|
| 4 +2 | hellhole |
Casey Dovale
|
Change log
Aug 27, 2007 15:58: Antoinette Verburg changed "Field (specific)" from "Other" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"
Proposed translations
+2
9 mins
Jack den Haan
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in Dutch
&
English
Netherlands
Qualified engineer, translator & teacher
Native in: Dutch 
, English (Variants: UK, US)
Works in: Dutch to English, English to Dutch
Related KudoZ points
:
26
Selected
bloody prison, damned prison
'Kanker' (literally meaning 'cancer', of course ) is often used to ascribe a negative quality to all kinds of things, in this case 'bak' (a colloquial term for prison). In this context that would amount to something like '(this) bloody prison' or '(this) damned prison'. Hope this helps!
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "brilliant - thank you Jack"
+2
1 hr
Casey Dovale
Native in Dutch
&
English
Specializes in field
Conscientious, prompt, and professional
Native in: English , Dutch
Works in: Dutch to English, English to Dutch, Papiamento to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
hellhole
This is the negative term typically used in the US for prisons.
Note from asker:
| thanks Casey - yours was actually the term I used and thank you for that, but I hope you won't mind me giving the points to Jack because I had to get it off in 2 mins flat and he got straight back to me... thank you though |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Adam Smith
33 mins
|
| agree |
Deborah do Carmo
: better of the two answers, although Jack's explanation of how he got to the answer will no doubt be very helpful for the asker
7 hrs
|
Discussion