Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
Kaffeekasse
English translation:
Thank-You Box
Added to glossary by
Stephen Sadie
Oct 21, 2005 08:41
18 yrs ago
German term
Kaffeekasse
German to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I am looking for this term in a hospital ward surroundings:
may ideas so far:
kitty (i am a bit uncertain)
tip box (i feel better for restaurants, hairdressers etc.)
TYFYHIA
may ideas so far:
kitty (i am a bit uncertain)
tip box (i feel better for restaurants, hairdressers etc.)
TYFYHIA
Proposed translations
(English)
4 +4 | Thank-You Box | Hilary Davies Shelby |
4 +9 | Coffee Fund | Hilary Davies Shelby |
4 +7 | kitty | James Johnson |
4 +2 | Support for JJ's anwser | TonyTK |
4 +1 | gratuities | Norbert Hermann |
3 +1 | Rephrase it | IanW (X) |
3 | petty cash (box) | Terence Ajbro |
3 | coffee and cake pot | Francis Lee (X) |
3 -1 | petty cash | Nicole Schnell |
2 | Don't translate | Lancashireman |
Proposed translations
+4
3 hrs
Selected
Thank-You Box
Adding another answer since it's too different to be an addendum to my previous one. This might be a better "tips" alternative.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Gillian Scheibelein
: I sat staring at a thank-you box for over an hour while waiting for my sister to finish her chemotherapy. Whilst waiting, I decided I would come back and give a donation if it worked. It didn't.
4 hrs
|
I'm very sorry to hear that, Gillian. Thank you for the Agree.
|
|
agree |
Lancashireman
8 hrs
|
agree |
Nicole Schnell
: The most charming solution and doesn't touch highly political matters
20 hrs
|
agree |
conny
3 days 4 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "This proved a tough question & there were good thought-provoking proposals. Hilary's answer is succint & conveys the meaning so that it is universally understood. Thanks a lot to all contributors."
2 mins
petty cash (box)
--
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
IanW (X)
: Would the public be able to put donations in the "petty cash box"? / No, what I mean is that the "petty cash" would be kept in a cupboard or drawer somewhere, rather than where visitors can see it and put money into it
6 mins
|
maybe "small" cash then?
|
|
neutral |
Louise Mawbey
: agree with Ian, petty cash is not for donations etc./ because of Stephen mentioning "tip box"/ Its for grateful patients who want to donate a small amount for the staff to stock up with coffee and biscuits etc. - just a gesture of thanks
8 mins
|
Why would there be a "tip box" in a hospital? Are they underfunded in Germany?
|
|
agree |
Nicole Schnell
: This is going to be interesting. I agree with you anyway.
17 mins
|
neutral |
Francis Lee (X)
: oh yes, I can assure you that nurses are far from well-paid in Germany; you don't see lawyers peering hopefully into a Kaffeekasse
3 hrs
|
disagree |
Steven Sidore
: have to agree with the dissenters, petty cash is something else (small cash amounts accounted for in the bookkeeping for sundry, immediate tasks. In all cases it comes from the business itself, not from the visitors).
3 hrs
|
-1
3 mins
petty cash
How I would call it.
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Terence Ajbro
: nicht "schnell" genug! :-)
2 mins
|
two o'clock in the morning... :-))
|
|
disagree |
Steven Sidore
: same as above.
3 hrs
|
neutral |
Francis Lee (X)
: So can you tell us exactly why you would call it this?
4 hrs
|
+7
7 mins
kitty
well, when i worked in england, we had a "kitty" in the department for beer and coffee money.
petty cash is quite official and goes through the accounts like anything else.
petty cash is quite official and goes through the accounts like anything else.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
BirgitBerlin
3 mins
|
agree |
Louise Mawbey
4 mins
|
agree |
Languageman
: This is used widely in BE, not just poker by any means. I think "tea kitty" is actually the best equivalent for the UK, since thats what most folk drink here.
4 mins
|
neutral |
Terence Ajbro
: not a word we use in the Black Country
7 mins
|
agree |
Hilary Davies Shelby
: i'd use "kitty" - definitely common among students, house-sharers, interest groups, etc.
10 mins
|
agree |
BrigitteHilgner
: When I worked in London, "kitty" as the term used.
15 mins
|
neutral |
IanW (X)
: Yes, but the money is put into a "kitty" by the staff themselves, isn't it? This is not the case here and I feel "kitty" would be misleading.
19 mins
|
we used to get a few golden handshakes from suppliers, very naughty of course, but the money went into the kitty :)
|
|
neutral |
Steven Sidore
: kitty strikes me as more of a collegial, shared thing, not an enforced coffee fund.
3 hrs
|
agree |
Francis Lee (X)
: If, as Stepehen has said, this is all about the label on the thing (no explanations as to contributors etc.), then this has to be it
4 hrs
|
agree |
TonyTK
: Tea kitty - natch.
5 hrs
|
+1
52 mins
gratuities
Used also in restaurants and one could imagine in such places as hospitals. I am not very familiar with the tea / coffee solution.
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Note added at 1 hr 45 mins (2005-10-21 10:27:06 GMT)
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Otherwise I could imagine
money tin / pot / jar / ...
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Note added at 1 hr 45 mins (2005-10-21 10:27:06 GMT)
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Otherwise I could imagine
money tin / pot / jar / ...
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Nick Somers (X)
: Might work if it's a label on the box that's required. Possibly a bit in your face.
15 mins
|
Maybe the added suggestion does the trick :-)
|
+1
6 mins
Rephrase it
I'd forget "kitty" (used primarily for poker) or
tip box (inappropriate) here, Stephen. If possible - and if it's in a sentence - I'd rephrase it, e.g. "I put a coin in the piggy bank which is used to buy coffee, tea, milk etc."
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Note added at 14 mins (2005-10-21 08:56:01 GMT)
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Maybe I'm wrong about "kitty" but I still don't think it's appropriate here
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Note added at 2 hrs 48 mins (2005-10-21 11:30:34 GMT)
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As it's just something written on the box, I'd just say "Coffee and supplies" and leave it at that. If you need to add a cultural explanation, then do so, but if not, that should do the trick.
tip box (inappropriate) here, Stephen. If possible - and if it's in a sentence - I'd rephrase it, e.g. "I put a coin in the piggy bank which is used to buy coffee, tea, milk etc."
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Note added at 14 mins (2005-10-21 08:56:01 GMT)
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Maybe I'm wrong about "kitty" but I still don't think it's appropriate here
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 48 mins (2005-10-21 11:30:34 GMT)
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As it's just something written on the box, I'd just say "Coffee and supplies" and leave it at that. If you need to add a cultural explanation, then do so, but if not, that should do the trick.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Francis Lee (X)
: yup - rephrase and mention e.g. a "piggy bank"
1 hr
|
+9
20 mins
Coffee Fund
If it's just a jar/box where patients, visitors, etc, put money to buy coffee, it might have a label on it that says something like this. I'd use "kitty" myself, but I'm putting this out there since there seems to be mixed feeling about it.
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Note added at 3 hrs 40 mins (2005-10-21 12:22:24 GMT)
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Post-clarification from Stephen: - "Nurses' Coffee Fund"
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Note added at 3 hrs 40 mins (2005-10-21 12:22:24 GMT)
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Post-clarification from Stephen: - "Nurses' Coffee Fund"
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Louise Mawbey
: good idea
3 mins
|
agree |
IanW (X)
: I think "coffee fund jar" or "coffee fund box" might do the trick
7 mins
|
agree |
Nick Somers (X)
: Might work, depending on context. Not kitty.
43 mins
|
agree |
E Perret
1 hr
|
agree |
Ian M-H (X)
: not "kitty"
1 hr
|
agree |
Jonathan MacKerron
1 hr
|
agree |
franglish
2 hrs
|
neutral |
Francis Lee (X)
: but it's not really about coffee; could be misleading for non-Germanics
2 hrs
|
agree |
Steven Sidore
: This is exactly what we called it in our office (Scrooge of an office manager we had, too...)
3 hrs
|
agree |
Rebecca Garber
3 hrs
|
3 hrs
coffee and cake pot
MORE CONTEXT regards the term within the particular sentence would no doubt help, i.e. that it comprises tips/contributions from patients/visitors. There is no equivalent in the English-speaking world, as far as I know.
Anyway, in itself it amounts to cash spent jointly by staff, in many cases indeed for trips to the local coffee shop. And I can assure you (as can my partner/nurse!) that it's more about the cake than the coffee (which they can drink while at work anyway).
But a vaguer term might be more applicable, depending on your readership.
Anyway, in itself it amounts to cash spent jointly by staff, in many cases indeed for trips to the local coffee shop. And I can assure you (as can my partner/nurse!) that it's more about the cake than the coffee (which they can drink while at work anyway).
But a vaguer term might be more applicable, depending on your readership.
+2
5 hrs
Support for JJ's anwser
Sorry, it has to be teat kitty - if it's in the UK.
Next time you visit someone in a hospital ward in the UK, ask the sister if they've got a tea kitty - she'll know what you mean right away.
Try asking her if they've got a "coffee fund" or a "piggy bank". It'd be worth at least a bloody nose in a Glasgow hospital ...
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Note added at 2005-10-21 13:59:13 (GMT)
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Ooops! Make that \"tea kitty\". Talk about a Freudian slip.
Next time you visit someone in a hospital ward in the UK, ask the sister if they've got a tea kitty - she'll know what you mean right away.
Try asking her if they've got a "coffee fund" or a "piggy bank". It'd be worth at least a bloody nose in a Glasgow hospital ...
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Note added at 2005-10-21 13:59:13 (GMT)
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Ooops! Make that \"tea kitty\". Talk about a Freudian slip.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Francis Lee (X)
: or worse (re: Glasgow) ... http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1596079,00.html
1 hr
|
Ah, the great Irvine Welsh - but how frightening (and I'm off to Scotland to see the All Blacks in November ...)
|
|
agree |
James Johnson
: hehe, it's a shame you can't edit those answers isn't it :P Thanks for the heads up mate
1 hr
|
It's just as well I'm proud of my fixations, I suppose.
|
11 hrs
Don't translate
(It never ceases to amaze me how often this answer seems to walk off with the four points)
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Note added at 3 days 6 hrs 37 mins (2005-10-24 15:19:21 GMT)
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While 'Ruhrpott' = 'Ruhrpott' there is hope for this answer yet!
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Note added at 3 days 6 hrs 37 mins (2005-10-24 15:19:21 GMT)
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While 'Ruhrpott' = 'Ruhrpott' there is hope for this answer yet!
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Hilary Davies Shelby
: I must try that next time I can't think of anything ;-P
2 mins
|
Here we go again! http://www.proz.com/kudoz/1174635
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Discussion
(Rather ironic in view of the current favourite answer to your next question http://www.proz.com/kudoz/1165601 )