English to German translation challenge

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Question for OTF's fluent Germanists. How would you translate the phrase "by no stretch of the imagination..."?

[pebblethefish]

Well, I'd go for "BY!.....NO!.....STRETCH!....OF!.....THE!....IMAGI NATION!" and I suspect that most of my countrymen would follow suit.

[ad hoc]

You wouldn't try to do a mock German accent? BY NO STRETCH OF ZE IMAGINATION!?

[sw2borshch]

Something like "klar nichts zu glauben", which I am thinking is more "obviously beyond belief", but gets your sense across? Or 'voll unglaublich', maybe? I would be happy with either getting my meaning across in conversation, but perhaps not in a legal document or literary translation. But then I probably haven't spent a month in the Teutosphere in total in my life, so let's wait and see!

[sw2borshch]

Or is it more that you are trying to express your extreme reluctance to attend the Scorpions concert?

[Nocturnal Submission]

"By nein stretchen auf der imaginanenen"

[Duncan Gardner]

"By nein stretchen auf der imaginanenen"

I believe Herr Nocto sits in front of a prominent German speaking journalist at Stamford Bridge

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

The bastard blocking software that my employer has loaded on to my work laptop not only removes many images, videos etc but often fails to indicate that there was anything there in the first place. So it’s only now, as I revisit this thread from my mobile, that I can see NS’s video to give context to the text of his post.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I believe Herr Nocto sits in front of a prominent German speaking journalist at Stamford Bridge

Actually, I'm not sure if he hasn't moved elsewhere, not that I tend to look behind me very much at games, so he might still be there.

[tee rex]

Wembley-Tor

[Alderman Barnes]

First thing that comes to mind is "nicht anhaltsweise" or "bei weitem nicht", but I'm sure there's something better that, ahem, captures the imagination.

[Alderman Barnes]

OK, how about "beim besten Willen nicht"? That would do it.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

beim besten Willen nicht"

I like that, thanks AB.

[G-Man]

I'd opt for "gänzlich unvorstellbar", which would also be a fairly direct translation.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Thanks G-Man, great to have a view from a native speaker! Would that work in the context of "By no stretch of the imagination does he look like George Clooney"?

[treibeis]

Thanks G-Man, great to have a view from a native speaker! Would that work in the context of "By no stretch of the imagination does he look like George Clooney"?

"Einen Scheiß sieht er aus wie George Clooney."

[G-Man]

Contextually, treibeis' colloquallism catches the spirit well. More formally, I'd suggest Alderman's "beim besten Willen sieht er nicht wie Clooney aus". My translation would work for, "By no stretch of the imagination will Man Utd win the league this season" = "Es ist gänzlich unvorstellbar, dass Man Utd diese Saison Meister wird".

[treibeis]

Contextually, treibeis' colloquallism catches the spirit well. More formally, I'd suggest Alderman's "beim besten Willen sieht er nicht wie Clooney aus". My translation would work for, "By no stretch of the imagination will Man Utd win the league this season" = "Es ist gänzlich unvorstellbar, dass Man Utd diese Saison Meister wird".

If anybody said "gänzlich unvorstellbar" at the hut, they'd get their head kicked in for being a boffin.

[G-Man]

If the Astraschlürfer you are surrounded by are in a physical state to execute such manouevres, or equipped to understand words with more than one syllable other than Moinmoin, then that's probably true.

[treibeis]

If the Astraschlürfer you are surrounded by are in a physical state to execute such manouevres, or equipped to understand words with more than one syllable other than Moinmoin, then that's probably true.

They're equipped to understand words with more than one syllable, they just don't use such words themselves. It's all "Jop", "Nö", "Kann sein", "Wenn du meinst", "Am Dupps", that sort of thing. An exception is made when addressing somebody by their name, as most forenames are polysyllabic.

None of them say, "Moin Moin", as people who say that are considered to be "Schnacker". It's always just "Moin".

And most of them drink Dithmarscher, not Astra (although, due to the syllables rule, it's referred to as "Dith").