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intumeszierend vs. aufschäumend
Sep 3, 2006 19:36
18 yrs ago
German term

Räuchermännchen

German to English Marketing Marketing Ad campaign
Context is a marketing company (which has an automotive-related name) promoting its own range of services. Räuchermännchen are carved wooden figures (good luck charms?) made in the Erzgebirge, but the image this text is supposed to evoke escapes me. What am I missing here and does anyone know the English word for 'Räuchermännchen'? I looked for quite awhile. Found lots of references, but none in English

Title of ad: Nichtrauchen lässt das Design altern.
Auto-Design ist Energie in Bewegung visualisieren. Wer den Windkanal voll hat und rund um die Uhr *Räuchermännchen* machen lässt, der bekommt die fließende, emotionale Linienführung auf die der Markt fliegt... Das Ziel: Brand-Identity und Authentizität.
...and so forth.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Proposed translations (English)
1 +6 rewrite, maybe something with "smoking hot design"
3 +1 smokers or smoking men
3 man with the smoke

Discussion

Woodstock (X) (asker) Sep 4, 2006:
Hi Francis. You're right, of course, but I have no idea, I was only given the text. I assume an ad agency (not marketing, as it turns out) would know that, and that their English is good enough to figure out if the text should be re-done or not to suit any images, or if new images should be used to fit the text.
Francis Lee (X) Sep 4, 2006:
Will there be images behind or next to the text? If so, they might be crucial ...
Woodstock (X) (asker) Sep 4, 2006:
@Kenneth Luckily I'm not expected to translate this for an ad campaign in English, but only to convey the content in a fairly creative way. There are several texts written in the same vein, but the explanation Klaus gave here made the rest easier, once the technique (using juxtaposition) was more transparent. The biggest problem was figuring out what these 'Männchen' had to do with wind tunnels! Thanks to all of you. I'll close this shortly.
Ken Cox Sep 4, 2006:
I'll leave the Räuchermännchen to you, but about 'Smoke-free zones stifle design innovation' for the title? -- it's bound to get attention...
Woodstock (X) (asker) Sep 3, 2006:
Der Satz geht nicht weiter... aber der Text ...fliegt. Form und Funktion in sculptureller Expressivität. Das Ziel... Does that help? I didn't think it would add anything.
Johanna Timm, PhD Sep 3, 2006:
Kannst du uns verraten, wie der Satz weitergeht? ....der bekommt die...?

Proposed translations

+6
29 mins
Selected

rewrite, maybe something with "smoking hot design"

Not a suggestion, but some an explanation. Smoke is blown into wind tunnels to make turbulences visible. That's what all the smoke is about. Nichtrauchen/no smoke, no fire (?) means there are no new models being tested in the wind tunnel. By the same token, they cleverly reversed the meaning of "Kanal voll haben - we've had it" to something positive - den Windkanal voll haben = testing new models. Same with Räuchermännchen machen - transform "Männchen machen" (here: to obey, do silly boring stuff) to a positive image by adding "Räucher".
Note from asker:
Great explanation, Klaus. Being more of a marketing/ad specialist and not automotive, your answer was very helpful.
Peer comment(s):
agree Valeska Maier-Wörz : Exactly! A (not especially well done) pun on the word "smoke"
7 mins
agree Lori Dendy-Molz : Yes, a rewrite is definitely in order here.
22 mins
agree Textklick : Absolutely. Then, Woodstock, maybe play around with "making waves" or similar? Just a spontaneous thought in a hurry ;-)
2 hrs
agree Andrea Black : I think that is an excellent explanation! A picture is being conveyed that cannot be translated literally.
6 hrs
agree Maurite Fober : with Textklick: 'making and riding a/the wave(s)' sounds like the wordplay & imagery you need
7 hrs
agree Ken Cox : Nice explanation (especially of the nuances for us non-natives). The title must also refer to some warning about smoking reducing life expectancy or causing premature aging. A total rewrite is probably the best solution (copywriting, anyone?).
16 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks very much, everyone. All of the contributions added a piece of the whole, but the Räuchermänner themselves were pretty irrelevant!"
36 mins

man with the smoke

From your context, this might be another option. You probably want to shy away from 'smoker' as this has a VERY negative connotation in the USA. Even tho these things are dolls with pipes containing candles to remove smoke odor, you may wish to remove all references to tobacco, even a sideways reference.

Just another thought.
Something went wrong...
+1
26 mins

smokers or smoking men

Smoke is used in wind tunnels to show turbulence around cars. I guess the curvier the design, the more turbulence they make. Does that help?

Segmented Erz-gebirge, the name takes Erz- from the Tuscan city Arezzo, which produced such ... The Ore Mountains are famous for many Christmas traditions. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ore_Mountains

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2006-09-03 20:06:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Modern Car Wind Tunnel Testing. Traditionally, wind tunnel testing was a sizeable ... a stream of smoke travels over the vehicle in the wind tunnel as air ...
www.cardesignonline.com/design/aerodynamics/car-wind-tunnel...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 51 mins (2006-09-03 20:28:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Where there's smoke, there's red-hot design -- the kind of fluid, emotional lines blah blah blah
Peer comment(s):
agree Klaus Herrmann : Yep, the smoke is the key.
3 mins
Something went wrong...
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