Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Pfaffendumpf

English translation:

Parish Priest's Pond

Added to glossary by Rowan Morrell
Mar 15, 2007 10:22
17 yrs ago
German term

Pfaffendumpf

German to English Other Tourism & Travel Historical Trail Audio
"Der Pfaffendumpf

Früher musste alles zu Fuß in das X-tal hinein und heraus getragen werden. Der Weg durch die [town] war sehr schmal und gefährlich. Gleich nach dem Tunnel erinnert eine besondere Stelle, der ***Pfaffendumpf***, an eine Geschichte. Herr X erzählt sie uns:

'Unser Pfarrer hatte auch eine Landwirtschaft. Die Pfarrersköchin ging auf die Alm, um Butter und Käse zu holen. Dabei musste sie den schweren Buckelkorb tragen. Der Weg ging oben über die XYZ-Alm. An einer ausgesetzten Stelle waren Stangen montiert, damit die Kühe nicht abstürzen. Dort hat die Pfarrersköchin sich hingesetzt mitsamt dem Buckelkorb am Rücken. Die Stange brach und die Köchin stürzte mit dem schweren Korb in die Schlucht. Da blieb sie unten liegen, natürlich war sie tot. Die Stelle in der [town] heißt heute noch „Pfaffendumpf“. Du findest sie gleich nach dem Tunnelausgang nach etwa 40 Metern. Da ist ein Materl [Gedenktafel], dann kommt ein scharfes Eck. Und da ist der ***Pfaffendumpf*** unten."

This rather tragic little tale in the historical trail audio concerns the origin of a site called "Pfaffendumpf" in the Austrian Alps. Should I leave it untranslated or attempt a translation? If a translation is required (even as just an explanation for the German term), how on earth should I render this? Dead Priest's Gulch, or some such? (I wasn't being very serious with that, sorry.) TIA for your assistance.
Proposed translations (English)
1 +2 Friar's Fall
3 cleric's dent

Discussion

Rowan Morrell (asker) Apr 18, 2007:
Change to Glossary Entry I'm returning to this belatedly to change the glossary entry, as the agency I did this job for (based in Austria, fairly near to the region the text was about), informed me that "Dumpf" actually means "pond" in the local dialect, and that the "Pfaffendumpf" should thus correctly be termed a "Parish Priest's Pond" (rather nice alliteration there, as indeed there was in Rebecca's suggestion). So I have now changed the glossary accordingly, and added this explanation to assist anyone who may be confronted by this term in the future. It will save any puzzlement about why the glossary entry differs from the winning answer. But Rebecca's original suggestion was still a very nice one.
Manuela Junghans Mar 15, 2007:
...I´ve just learnt, are apparently called "Bildstock". But where I am from at least :-) the spelling would be "MaRterl" with an r. Not that this would solve the actual dilemma... (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marterl)
Manuela Junghans Mar 15, 2007:
Hi Rowan. I don´t dare contributing much to the actual problem. It´s a difficult decision to make whether to attempt a translation or not. But since I am from one of those southern regions of Germany where we also have a lot of "Gedenktafeln" which...

Proposed translations

+2
3 hrs
Selected

Friar's Fall

Not exactly a literal translation, but it does match the irreverance of the original.
Peer comment(s):

agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : depending on the whole tone of this little story, this might work; it's a tricky one for sure...
3 hrs
Danke Ingeborg! :)
agree Jim Tucker (X) : too good!
4 hrs
Thanks Jim! :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "This is rather nice - many thanks Rebecca, and thanks also to the other contributors. Appreciate everyone's assistance"
16 mins

cleric's dent

A "Dumpf" is a dent, at least according to:
http://www.fazenedle.de/dialekt.htm#D
A "Pfaffe" is a cleric (today a derogatory term)

I would leave the Pfaffendumpf and add cleric's dent as an explanatory translation.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2007-03-15 10:41:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Jedenfalls scheint es in diesem etwas makabren Zusammenhang zu passen.
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