What is the English word for undersættelse (or undersætte)?
donald remero
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English does have "understate" and "overstate" as words that can come close to the same thing. I couldn't follow the Danish very precisely, but my basic guess is that in Danish these words are literally closer to the issue of "translation" as opposed to the generically rhetorical context that "understate" and "overstate" imply.
For example, I have the impression that "undersættelse" has mainly to do with representing an original statement in 'softer' terms that are ultimately more ambiguous than the original, and actually fail to communicate the spirit of the intended meaning.
If I'm right about that (and I could be perfectly wrong), then I am not aware of any single-word equivalents in English. You would have to resort to a phrase of some sort to capture the essence of it. It is a brilliant and precise concept, but I don't think a single-word substitute in English exists.
...I'll ponder on it a bit more.
NN comments
donald remero
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Mortensen: Ah, I see. Kind of like the potential trouble with web browser vs. net reader? Just for curiosity’s sake, what is oversættelse?
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: not ‘softer’ terms, but a sort of mistranslation where a word is split in two parts, translated separately, and put back together. This can sometimes work, but often the result does not make sense or means something completely different. I will find some examples and them to the question.
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: no, “net reader” is an example of finding/constructing a native word instead of the English word. As in the French “Ordinateur” for “computer” or the Icelandic “Flyvefreja” for “stewardess” (Flying Freyja; Freyja being the goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death…). I thought the word “sparring” from the boxing term question was an example of an “undersættelse”, but it turned out not to be. Otherwise it would have been an example of first using an English term
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: no, “net reader” is an example of finding/constructing a native word instead of the English word. As in the French “Ordinateur” for “computer” or the Icelandic “flyvefreja” for “stewardess” (literally flying Freyja; Freyja being the goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death…). I thought the word “sparring” from the boxing term question was an example of an “undersættelse”, but it turned out not to be. Otherwise it would have been an example of first using an English term
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: no, “net reader” is an example of finding/constructing a native word instead of the English word. As in the French “Ordinateur” for “computer” or the Icelandic “flyvefreja” for “stewardess” (literally flying Freyja; Freyja being the goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death…). I thought the word “sparring” from the boxing term question was an example of an “undersættelse”, but it turned out not to be.
Peter Mortensen
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@Donald Remero: “oversættelse” is translation. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/overs%C3%A6ttelse
Peter Mortensen
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“flyvefreja” is of course good material for the last page of newspapers (backside?) which, not surprisingly, is where I learned about this Icelandic word.
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: “flyvefreja” is of course good material for the last page of newspapers (backside?) which, not surprisingly, is where I learned about this Icelandic word.
Peter Mortensen
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Remero: I am not so sure any longer about my “word is split in two parts” statement. The original Wikipedia article with the statement about phonetic mixups may have nailed it. I will look for more evidence for my statement.
Peter Mortensen
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@Donald Remero. Actually spelled “flugfreyja”, http://is.wiktionary.org/wiki/flugfreyja
Peter Mortensen
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@Donald Remero. Actually it is spelled “flugfreyja”, http://is.wiktionary.org/wiki/flugfreyja.
donald remero
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Mortensen: Yes, I didn’t pick good examples for what was on my mind. I understand what you are saying. Also, that would be a good name for a cocktail: The Flying Freyja. =)
(Submit to http://www.logolalia.com/untranslatable/?)