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Stubentiger

English translation: couch cat

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Stubentiger
English translation:couch cat

05:15 Dec 28, 2007
German to English translations [PRO]
Science - Zoology / pet cats
German term or phrase: Stubentiger
...this is widely-used, colloquial (German) term for a typical indoor (apartment / house) kitten or cat that does not have access to the outside. I am looking for something 'imaginative' other than ....the obvious. Your help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Erich Friese
Australia
Local time: 15:42
couch cat
Explanation:
Or sofa cat.

Good question. I am a cat owner myself but I haven't encountered any very imaginative names for indoor cats (which is the most common term).
Selected response from:

Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 22:42
Grading comment
...much appreciated...yours was the most imaginative term, but in the end (using my editorial discretion) .....I played it 'straight' and used ....indoor kitten/cat. Thanks for your help.....><))))):>...
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2couch cat
Nicole Schnell
3 +1lounge tiger
Alan Johnson
3 +1parlour cat
casper (X)
4 -1tabby
John Speese
3Couch potatoe
Friederike2


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


31 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
couch cat


Explanation:
Or sofa cat.

Good question. I am a cat owner myself but I haven't encountered any very imaginative names for indoor cats (which is the most common term).


Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 22:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
...much appreciated...yours was the most imaginative term, but in the end (using my editorial discretion) .....I played it 'straight' and used ....indoor kitten/cat. Thanks for your help.....><))))):>...
Notes to answerer
Asker: .....couch cat...I like it....this is part of a translation and it has to fit in to the style and tone of the original


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rebecca Garber: couch kitty/couch kitten perhaps? I also never thought of anything to call them besides indoor cats (or pests, depending upon behavior)
12 hrs
  -> :-))) Thanks, Rebecca!
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X): that would work for me/ our cat, however, was pretty feisty and won every fight ?I must say she simply died of old age of natural causes, with ears and eyes intact. I do miss her some time; but a grandson is more fun!
15 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ingeborg! Did he/she still have some ears left? I had one of those, he ended up ear-less, blind on one eye and with a face consisting of scar tissue.. :-(
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
lounge tiger


Explanation:
A suggestion for variety.

Alan Johnson
Germany
Local time: 07:42
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anglo-German (X): Ha! Ein kleiner Spielgefährte für den Salonlöwen ...
11 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
parlour cat


Explanation:
She went cautiously and delicately to work, advancing as stealthily as a **parlour cat** who meditates an attack upon the cream-jug, and drawing back as demurely as the aforesaid sagacious quadruped, when she perceives that the treasure is too well guarded, and that her attempts will end in detection and discomfiture.
Source: The Works of Mary Russell Mitford: Prose and Verse


casper (X)
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rebecca Garber: nice quote
9 hrs
  -> Thank you, Rebecca
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
tabby


Explanation:
Tabby is a common term refering to cats with a variety of striped or spotted coat patterns, having many of the markings common to the wild ancesters of domestic cats, and I think it would be equivalent to the German Haustiger.


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_cat
John Speese
United States
Local time: 01:42
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Olaf (X): tabby just refers to the race, but Stubentiger is meant ironically
2 hrs
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Couch potatoe


Explanation:
Not specific to a cat, can be dog, person or anything alive that lounges arround the house . The term refers to a lifestyle of limited physical activity, sitting or lying on the couch.
Do not know if it is applicable in this case. Pls check it out. It depends on what you are trying to say.

Friederike2
Local time: 22:42
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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