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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Verschiebebahnhof wird nur gespielt

English translation:

(The government is) rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

Added to glossary by philgoddard
Jul 21, 2009 09:51
15 yrs ago
German term

Verschiebebahnhof wird nur gespielt

German to English Social Sciences Economics
Full sentence: Verschiebebahnhof wird nur gespielt, um der Bevölkerung den Eindruck eines aktiven Krisenmanagements vorzugaukeln.

I know that a Verschiebebahnhof is a shunting station, but that doesn't really seem to fit with the context, particularly in relation to 'spielen' - am hoping someone can help me. Thanks.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 (The government is) rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic
2 shifted to and fro like in a marshalling yard / switchyard (see full sentence below)
2 ...playing musical chairs
Change log

Jul 22, 2009 15:15: philgoddard Created KOG entry

Discussion

Kate McCane (asker) Jul 21, 2009:
Context It's a structural analysis of the current economic crisis, and he is talking about treating only the symptoms and not the causes of the crisis... this sentence is describing the government response. No, it is nothing to do with railways, but I think shifting back and forth is on the right track... hope that helps, and thanks for the answers so far :)
polyglot45 Jul 21, 2009:
a thought that comes to mind.. in the US one can talk of a "classification yard" - is some kind of sorting operation in progress?
polyglot45 Jul 21, 2009:
Mit Steffen einverstanden Is this anything to do with railways or nothing at all? And that's just my first question....
Steffen Walter Jul 21, 2009:
Worum geht es? Worum geht es hier genau? Der nicht vorhandene Kontext lässt nur vage Vermutungen zu.

Proposed translations

+1
3 hrs
Selected

(The government is) rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic

This might be what you're looking for. It means making minor cosmetic changes in the middle of a major crisis.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-07-21 13:26:56 GMT)
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The whole sentence could be "The government is trying to give the impression of active crisis management, but is simply rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic".
Peer comment(s):
agree Inge Meinzer
14 mins
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, definitely helpful."
50 mins

shifted to and fro like in a marshalling yard / switchyard (see full sentence below)

This is a figurative meaning, suggesting that something is done repeatedly back and forth to create the illusion of something actually happening.. More context would be needed for an accurate translation, but I would suggest something like:
"Responsibilities are just shifted to and fro like in a marshalling yard to delude the people into believing [...]". Depending on context replace 'responsibilities' with a more appropriate word.
Marshalling yard is AmE and switchyard is BrE.
Peer comment(s):
neutral polyglot45 : marshalling yard is UK, classification yard is US and "switchyard" is.... nonsense - you said it was BrE - and that is untrue
3 mins
"switchyard" is in Pons, Langenscheidt, Routledge, Ernst Wörterbuch der industriellen Technik (well known for not containing nonsense), and many more... and if you google "switchyard trains" you will get lots of American sites that use it this way.
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

...playing musical chairs

...changes without really changing anything....

........just a guess....
Something went wrong...
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