Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
Ich stelle nicht von mir aus das Ansinnen
English translation:
to demand/request something of someone
Added to glossary by
Helen Shiner
Feb 1, 2009 13:04
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
Ich stelle nicht von mir aus das Ansinnen
German to English
Art/Literary
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
This is from a letter written by a Jewish refugee in an internship camp in the UK in 1941. The meaning is broadly clear, I am interested in the function of 'von mir aus' and how best to render this in conjunction with the noun+verb construction into English.
"Der Juengere war mit in Onchan Camp. Ich stelle nicht von mir aus das Ansinner an Sie mit Fischbein zu sprechen, falls Sie das nicht wollem, auch moechte ich nicht, dass diese geistig armseligen Menschen allzuhart angefasst werden..."
"Der Juengere war mit in Onchan Camp. Ich stelle nicht von mir aus das Ansinner an Sie mit Fischbein zu sprechen, falls Sie das nicht wollem, auch moechte ich nicht, dass diese geistig armseligen Menschen allzuhart angefasst werden..."
Proposed translations
(English)
3 +5 | to demand something of someone |
Helen Shiner
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2 +3 | not on my account / not for myself |
Jutta Wappel
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3 | I wouldn't expect you to speak with Fishbein |
Martin Wenzel
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Change log
Feb 2, 2009 23:39: Marcus Malabad changed "Term asked" from "das Ansinnen stellen" to "Ich stelle nicht von mir aus das Ansinnen" , "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO" , "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Feb 15, 2009 11:37: Helen Shiner Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+5
13 mins
German term (edited):
das Ansinnen stellen
Selected
to demand something of someone
As far as I am concerned, I am not going to demand that you speak to Fischbein, if you don't want to...
This is approximately how I would translate it - as a first stab
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Note added at 20 mins (2009-02-01 13:24:47 GMT)
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I think 'von mir aus' is one of those slightly unnecessary phrases said for emphasis in speech - or as here - in a letter.
This is approximately how I would translate it - as a first stab
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Note added at 20 mins (2009-02-01 13:24:47 GMT)
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I think 'von mir aus' is one of those slightly unnecessary phrases said for emphasis in speech - or as here - in a letter.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Edith Kelly
0 min
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Thanks, EdithK
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agree |
Ulrike Kraemer
: Fully agree with your suggestion except that I wouldn't use "demand" here because it's too strong. "As far as I am concerned, I am not going to ask/request that you speak with Fishleg ..."
2 hrs
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Thanks, LittleBalu - the use of 'demand' might be too strong in the context - certainly there are a number of you who feel so, so I take it on board, though am I right in thinking it can mean that (my Langenscheidt has 'demand' as well as 'request'?
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agree |
Inge Meinzer
: with LittleBalu regarding "demand"
5 hrs
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Thanks, Inge - I am fully persuaded that 'request' is probably the way to go.
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agree |
LP Schumacher
: I also agree with your thoughts about "von mir aus." I regularly translate correspondence for an older gentleman whose style of writing uses this expression in a way that seems entirely unnecessary in English. It basically comes down to an emphasized "I"
18 hrs
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Thanks, Liesel - as part of my research I also read a great deal of correspondence from this period; it hadn't dawned on me that my understanding of this phrase comes from that, but highly probable.
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agree |
Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
19 hrs
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Thanks, Harald
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+3
11 mins
German term (edited):
das Ansinnen stellen
not on my account / not for myself
I'm not asking you to speak with Fischbein for myself / you don't need to talk to him on my account.
This sentence isn't entirely clear to me, hence the low confidence level.
It sounds as if someone else has asked him to request of the person he's speaking to to talk to Fischbein.
"ein Ansinnen stellen" means : to request or to ask
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Note added at 42 mins (2009-02-01 13:47:11 GMT)
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Taking Simon's clarification into account, I'd say the meaning is something to the effect of "I am not DEMANDING that you speak to Fischbein, but if you did, you'd be doing me a big favour."
Or, psychologically speaking, the author does want the recipient to talk to Fischbein, but he wants him to think it was his own idea (the recipient's).
This sentence isn't entirely clear to me, hence the low confidence level.
It sounds as if someone else has asked him to request of the person he's speaking to to talk to Fischbein.
"ein Ansinnen stellen" means : to request or to ask
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Note added at 42 mins (2009-02-01 13:47:11 GMT)
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Taking Simon's clarification into account, I'd say the meaning is something to the effect of "I am not DEMANDING that you speak to Fischbein, but if you did, you'd be doing me a big favour."
Or, psychologically speaking, the author does want the recipient to talk to Fischbein, but he wants him to think it was his own idea (the recipient's).
Peer comment(s):
disagree |
Edith Kelly
: see Helen's answer below ... you unfortunately got the meaning wrong.
3 mins
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If I did, I apologize, but I'm not so sure that I actually have got it wrong!
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agree |
Veronika McLaren
: in the sense that he is suggesting that it was not his idea to request "mit F. zu sprechen"
11 hrs
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Thanks Veronika!
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agree |
LP Schumacher
: with your definition of the source term "ein Ansinnen stellen"
18 hrs
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Thanks Liesl!
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agree |
Bernhard Sulzer
: don't tell Fischbein I asked you to ask (him) if you should decide to ask him - or: don't tell him it was my idea to talk to him about it.
1 day 27 mins
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Danke Bernhard!
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agree |
Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
5 days
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1 hr
German term (edited):
das Ansinnen stellen
I wouldn't expect you to speak with Fishbein
if you [really] don't want to do it
Discussion
In my opinion it means something like "the idea to talk to Fischbein isn't mine".