Help with German translations (slang)

Babel Fish
I find a very useful tool is Babel Fish. It's a great help with translation of major languages. It translates to and from most major languages. Here's the link:

http://babelfish.yahoo.com

Good luck and I hope it helps with your language questions.

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Re: Babel Fish

Ragman wrote:

I find a very useful tool is Babel Fish. It's a great help with translation of major languages. It translates to and from most major languages. Here's the link:

http://babelfish.yahoo.com

Good luck and I hope it helps with your language questions.

Hello ragman-can you suggest some German forums or message boards I should join?

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have you tried the link I posted?

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What would you like to know in German, JGoldman?

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I suppose, we've got enough Germans here on A2K who should know most slangs/dialects/regional languages from all over Germany.

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Reply to CalamityJane

CalamityJane wrote:

What would you like to know in German, JGoldman?

Hello CalamityJane-are you still there?

I was doing research on German youth, street and college slang and I'd like to know, what are German slangs for a:

tough guy
tough girl
tough woman?

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Personally I find babelfish very unhelpful!
At least if you want a full translation, not just some words thrown at you...

Let me think about words for you:

There is Macho (pronounced matchow), meaning a kind of touch guy who is also very convinced of himself. This word is often used in a negative way.

Hmmm... well, I suppose it's not all that easy.
Most colloquial words for people in German seem to be negative.

Check this out:

http://www.nthuleen.com/teach/misc/colloquial.html

But I will think some more!

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Re: Reply to CalamityJane

JGoldman10 wrote:

CalamityJane wrote:
What would you like to know in German, JGoldman?

Hello CalamityJane-are you still there?

I was doing research on German youth, street and college slang and I'd like to know, what are German slangs for a:

tough guy
tough girl
tough woman?

Sorry, I went to bed last night. This would be my slang translations:

tough guy = Schlaeger

tough girl = Halbstarke

tough woman = Zicke , Biest, or Miststueck (somehow there are more
bad names for women) Wink

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Well, those might have been the slang words used ..... some time ago :wink:

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Perhaps Walter, since I am no longer in college, things might have changed,
but I think not that much....

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At least in the 90's, from my own experiences as a youthworker, youth even didn't know what a "Halbstarker" was.

(I had a couple of books about slang in the 80's/90's [and Ruhr-district slang] - but gave them away a couple of years ago to a younger friend, who studied German language and literature Crying or Very sad

)

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Re: Reply to CalamityJane

CalamityJane wrote:

JGoldman10 wrote:
CalamityJane wrote:
What would you like to know in German, JGoldman?

Hello CalamityJane-are you still there?

I was doing research on German youth, street and college slang and I'd like to know, what are German slangs for a:

tough guy
tough girl
tough woman?

Sorry, I went to bed last night. This would be my slang translations:

tough guy = Schlaeger

tough girl = Halbstarke

tough woman = Zicke , Biest, or Miststueck (somehow there are more
bad names for women)

Thank you-do those terms have a positive connotation?

Do you know any German slang terms I can use for "tomboy" besides "wildfang"?

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No, none of them have a positive connotation.

Hm, for tomboy I only can think of an adjective "burschikos"
aside from "Wildfang" whereas Wildfang is not always geared towards
girls.

You also can ask your questions Here

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Reply to Calamity Jane

CalamityJane wrote:

No, none of them have a positive connotation.

Hm, for tomboy I only can think of an adjective "burschikos"
aside from "Wildfang" whereas Wildfang is not always geared towards
girls.

You also can ask your questions Here

Hi Calamity Jane-do you know any Germn slang temrs for "tough guy, tough girl, and tough woman" that have a positive connotation?

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Reply to Calamity Jane

CalamityJane wrote:

No, none of them have a positive connotation.

Hm, for tomboy I only can think of an adjective "burschikos"
aside from "Wildfang" whereas Wildfang is not always geared towards
girls.

You also can ask your questions Here

Hi Calamity Jane. I did Google searches on the following terms:

"taffes Mädel" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+M%C3%A4del%22+

"tuffes Mädel" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+M%C3%A4del%22+

"hartes Mädel" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+M%C3%A4del%22+

I've seen "haltbares Madchen" used here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...%C3%A4dchen%22+

"hartes Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...%C3%A4dchen%22+

"taffes Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...%C3%A4dchen%22+

"tuffes Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...%C3%A4dchen%22+

"haltbares Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...%C3%A4dchen%22+

Can you please confirm that these are German slang terms and if these terms are acceptable?

Can I use expressions like "taffes/tuffes/hartes/haltbares tussi/biene"?

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None of your links work, Goldman.

You can say "taffes Maedel" meaning that the girl is tough. She never
can be "haltbar" = long lasting, durable and only used for things.

"Tussi" could be translated into "broad" "bimbo" or "chick"

"Biene" is a term of endearment giving approval to the looks of a girl
"flotte Biene" = attractive girl

To answer your previous question: I don't know of a positive connotation
for "tough girl/woman/guy".

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Reply to Calamity Jane

CalamityJane wrote:

None of your links work, Goldman.

You can say "taffes Maedel" meaning that the girl is tough. She never
can be "haltbar" = long lasting, durable and only used for things.

"Tussi" could be translated into "broad" "bimbo" or "chick"

"Biene" is a term of endearment giving approval to the looks of a girl
"flotte Biene" = attractive girl

To answer your previous question: I don't know of a positive connotation
for "tough girl/woman/guy".

Hi-but you didn't answer my questions.

I posted the correted links and I saw the terms,

"hartes Madel" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22hartes++M%C3%A4del%22

"tuffes Mädel" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=taffes+M%C3%A4del

"hartes Mädel" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hartes+M%C3%A4del

I've seen "haltbares Madchen" used here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hartes+M%C3%A4del

"hartes Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22hartes+M%C3%A4dchen%22

"taffes Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22taffes++M%C3%A4dchen%22

"tuffes Mädchen" here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22tuffes++M%C3%A4dchen%22

You were saying I shouldn't use "haltbares to refer to a female"? In what context is the term being used in the links I provided?

Are all the other terms correct terms and are they considered slang?

Can I use expressions like "taffes/tuffes/hartes/haltbares tussi/biene" to refer to a "tough girl"?

Wouldn't "taffes/tuffes/hartes/haltbares tussi" translate to tough chick/broad?

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Reply to all
Hello. Are there any other German speakers here?

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Yes, there are more German speakers here, JGoldman.

I am thinking hard about your questions but can't really think of any expression I would use. I guess I would say 'taffes Mädel' for something like tough chick.

'Haltbar' really does not work for a person. You might have material, clothing or milk that is 'haltbar' - durable, long lasting as CJ already mentioned.

Nobody uses 'Biene' anymore.

I will see my nephews today (15 and 26). I'll try to remember to ask them. They seem to be closer to this kind of talk than me... :wink:

As for positive expressions - 'taff' is not negative in my view.

My favourite place for language questions is this: Leo

Go to 'Forum' for specific questions.

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Help with German translations (slang)

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