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Ertragsmiete
Dem Gehenden schiebt sich der Weg unter die Füße
Dec 15, 2009 17:15
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term

über die Zeit retten

German to English Social Sciences General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
From an intro to a book on the post-socialist city:

"Planer, Architekten, Künstler und Bewohner beteiligten sich an konfligierenden Versuchen, Altes aufzuwerten oder zu vernichten, neue Bezüge zu schaffen oder verschüttete wieder herzustellen, in frappierend vielen Fällen Abgelebtes und Bruchstellen mit Buntem und Kitschigem to cover – und ironischerweise so *über die Zeit zu retten*.

Save from the dustbin of history??
Proposed translations (English)
1 +11 preserve for posterity
3 +4 rescue/retrieve from the effects/ravages of time
References
Definition

Discussion

Jonathan MacKerron Dec 15, 2009:
the notion of "to preserve" is, I think, of importance here

Proposed translations

+11
2 mins
Selected

preserve for posterity

to get the ball rolling
Peer comment(s):
agree Antonio Tomás Lessa do Amaral : posterity is the key word
0 min
agree philgoddard
2 mins
agree Christiane Rösch
14 mins
agree BrigitteHilgner : Strangely enough, my spontaneous idea, too.
18 mins
agree Jasmina Djordjevic
26 mins
agree Maureen Millington-Brodie
29 mins
agree Rolf Keiser
35 mins
agree British Diana
1 hr
agree Barbara Wiebking
3 hrs
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : exactly!
5 hrs
agree Thayenga : My thoughts. :)
22 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "With many thanks also (and apologies to) Armorel for her close reading, I went with "preserve for the present". Much obliged!"
+4
33 mins

rescue/retrieve from the effects/ravages of time

To my mind, bringing "posterity" into this distorts the emphasis. This is about taking something that was abgelebt and broken in the past (point A) and making it bunt und kitschig in the present (point B) - it says nothing at all about the future or posterity (point C) - the focus is A-B, if I may put it that way, not B-C.

I'm not too happy with "preserve" either (sorry, Jonathan) - to me that doesn't convey the irony described in the text (the Abgelebtes/Bruchstellen have been transformed, not just preserved as they were).
Peer comment(s):
agree Lancashireman
3 mins
neutral Jonathan MacKerron : but surely the future is implied here, or did they rescue the stuff only to then throw it away??
37 mins
I see "über die Zeit" as covering the time from the past until now, not from now into the future - that's the emphasis, whatever the further implications are
agree Kim Metzger : Or salvage. Duden Redewendungen - etwas über die Zeit bringen/retten: etwas bis zum Ende des Spiels erfolgreich verteidigen
56 mins
agree TonyTK
3 hrs
agree Annett Kottek (X) : Agree that they retain derelict buildings so that they can make use of them in the present; they preserve them from destruction rather than for posterity.
13 hrs
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Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

Definition

etwas über die Zeit retten - einen Vorsprung bis zum Ende halten

"Einige gute Torchancen blieben jedoch ungenutzt und so konnten die Gäste den knappen, am Ende auch schmeichelhaften Sieg über die Zeit retten"; "Die SG Lossetal musste beim 2:1-Sieg gegen Witzenhausen bis zum Ende zittern und den knappen Vorsprung mit nur noch neun Spielern über die Zeit retten"

http://www.redensarten-index.de/suche.php?suchbegriff=~~etwa...[]=rart_ou
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