ging mir sehr ab

English translation: missed very much

14:54 Dec 15, 2015

German to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Viennese, post WW II

German term or phrase: ging mir sehr ab

Hi folks.

I've read the Kudoz but they do not seem to fit my context. This is from the memoirs of a friend's mother that I am translating.

The backstory: A woman has been away from home and her two small children for several months. She finds out as she is returning that her husband will not be there to welcome her home. He is in the military and has been transferred to another area. There has also been some marital strife in the past between these two but there does not seem to be any at this time. Here is the passage where she has just found out that he will not be there.

Das war einigermassen eine Enttaeuschung fuer mich! Das Nachhause Kommen war ein sehr gutes Gefuehl, vor allem meine Kinder umarmen zu koennen. Von meinem Mann willkommen zu werden ging mir sehr ab.

She then goes on to say that she was invited to a big dinner at friends and moves on with the story.

I just have no clue what that phrase is supposed to mean. I cannot even guess whether this is positive or negative.

Any Viennese out there who can help?

Thanks to all.

jccantrell KudoZ activity Questions: 193 (none open) (14 closed without grading) Answers: 5057 United States
Local time: 08:32

English translation:missed very much

Explanation:
Abgehen = fehlen

"Von meinem Mann willkommen zu werden ging mir sehr ab" is not a correct German sentence to start with. It should be "Von meinem Mann willkommen geheißen zu werden ging mir sehr ab" (fehlte mir sehr), because "willkommen" is not a verb in German.
The literal translation of the correct sentence would be "I missed very much being welcomed by my husband" or "I missed a welcome from my husband very much" etc., according to the context.

Selected response from:

Dr. Mara Huber
Germany
Local time: 17:32

Grading comment

Hi folks.
I really would like to split the points among a lot of you but you will have to make do with my thanks.

I appreciate the time it took to find all this material about this phrase. I have NEVER come across it (which is why I usually stick with technical -- that is SO much easier).

After reading everything, I went with "I was very disappointed that ..." and this answer came closest to that meaning.

So, let me hope I do not hit any more of these Viennese phrases, but if I do, I know where to turn.

Thanks to all once again and happy holidays!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

missed very much

Dr. Mara Huber

3 +2

it broke my heart

Ramey Rieger (X)

3 +1

was very hard on me

Michael Martin, MA

Summary of reference entries provided

abgehen: er geht mir sehr ab = I miss him badly

Cilian O'Tuama

mei, mei, gfehlt hast mir ;-)

Johanna Timm, PhD

Discussion entries: 8

Answers

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

was very hard on me

Explanation:
No need to stay close to the original. I think, this works well in English:

"For my husband not to be there when I arrived was very hard on me."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2015-12-15 19:10:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Let's try this one..

"My husband not being there was very hard on me."

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 11:32
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 98

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

Lancashireman: So you are recommending "For my husband not to be there (when I arrived)" as the grammatical subject of the verb "was"? If so, I may have to change this to a disagree.

29 mins

-> If you can improve the grammar without making it sound stiffer, I am all for it.

neutral

Julia Burgess: Could be: It was very hard on me that my husband... Still not quite there somehow.

1 hr

-> Agree. We're not there yet..

neutral

Cilian O'Tuama: Thanks for even more of your native colloquial English.

6 hrs

-> Any time, buddy boy!

agree

Peter Koczian: as a native speaker of German, this is exactly how I understand this passage

16 hrs

-> Of course. But we don’t seem to talk about that here as other commenters have apparently decided to move on to far more fascinating topics.

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

missed very much

Dr. Mara Huber
Germany
Local time: 17:32
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

it broke my heart

Explanation:
that my husband wasn't there (to greet me).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day17 hrs (2015-12-17 08:18:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another idea:

...so sad that my husband wasn't there (to greet me)

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 17:32
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 116

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Arslon Matkarimov

27 mins

-> Sad, but true. Mercí.

neutral

Dr. Mara Huber: "Broke my heart" is too strong.

5 hrs

-> Hello Mara, I don't think so. As an expression/colloquialism, I think it hits the spot quite nicely.

neutral

Julia Burgess: I'm afraid I'm with Mara - seems a bit strong (as you mention in the Discussion, she doesn't seem to dwell on it any further). // Hi Ramey. Yes, I am a native speaker (a Brit). Phrase can be used trivially, but perhaps only in more modern usage than here.

1 day 20 hrs

-> Hi Julia! Are you an English native speaker? Maybe you're reading too much into it?

agree

Melanie Meyer: I think that your second version "(I was) so sad that..." is right on target!

2 days 1 hr

-> thanks Melanie, happy, merry, blessed....

neutral

Ulrike Kraemer: With Mara and Julia: "broke my heart" is way too strong. Abgehen = fehlen, vermissen. Agree with your second suggestion: she was very sad that her husband wasn' t there to to welcome her. / Well, as a NS of German I know the meaning of "abgehen". ;-)

3 days 20 hrs

-> See my comment to Julia. As a native speaker, I don't take it so very much to heart!

Reference comments

9 mins peer agreement (net): +8

Reference: abgehen: er geht mir sehr ab = I miss him badly

Reference information:
Langenscheidt HandWöbu

Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 72

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)

agree

Thomas Pfann: or here „es ging mir sehr ab = I missed it badly“ (es = von meinem Mann willkommen zu werden)

42 mins

agree

franglish: I missed very much not being welcomed by my husband.

1 hr

agree

Kristina Cosumano (X): Agree with Thomas and franglish.

1 hr

agree

Anne Schulz

1 hr

agree

Henry Schroeder: In the US, she would probably say: "I was very sorry that..."

2 hrs

neutral

Dr. Mara Huber: "Willkommen" is not a verb like "to welcome" in English. It must be "willkommen geheißen zu werden". Also: Miss very much NOT being welcomed means the person would have preferred not to be welcomed.

6 hrs

-> the "NOT" issue is not that clearcut, but I only posted a reference.// I do agree with you though that "broke my heart" is way OTT.

agree

Lancashireman

8 hrs

agree

Ramey Rieger (X)

1 day 17 hrs

agree

Ulrike Kraemer

3 days 20 hrs

10 hrs

Reference: mei, mei, gfehlt hast mir ;-)

Reference information:
Ö: abgehen: jemandem geht jemand (etwas) ab

D: fehlen: jemandem fehlt jemand (etwas)

Das Zeitwort „abgehen“ kann in der Kommunikation zwischen Österreichern und Deutschen zu Verständigungsschwierigkeiten führen. Als in Felix Mitterers Piefke-Saga die deutsche Unternehmerstochter Sabine nach längerer Zeit wieder ihren Tiroler Geliebten Joe trifft, entspinnt sich folgender Dialog:

JOE: Du bist mir abgegangen!

SABINE: Was?

JOE: No, abgangen bist mir! (Sabine versteht nicht.)

JOE: Furchtbar is des! Mir werdn uns nie verstehn! Gfehlt hast mir!

Das Missverständnis wird dadurch verschärft, dass in der norddeutschen Jugendsprache das Wort „abgehen“ noch eine andere Bedeutung hat: So sagt eine der drei Hauptdarstellerinnen der Fernsehserie Sex and the City in einem Dessousgeschäft zu ihrer Verkäuferin: „Hallo, ich suche etwas, von dem einem Mann sofort einer abgeht, wenn ich damit vor ihm stehe ...“ (Text der deutschen Synchronisation).

Auch die Wendungen „die Post geht ab“ und „da geht was ab“ stammen aus dem Norden des deutschen Sprachraums, haben inzwischen aber auch in der Jugendsprache des Südens Fuß gefasst. Die entsprechenden traditionellen Ausdrücke in Österreich und Bayern lauten „jetzt geht’s los“ und „da ist was los“. Im wörtlichen Sinn (z. B. eine Strecke abgehen) ist der Ausdruck „abgehen“ in Deutschland genauso gebräuchlich wie in Österreich.

Schon Johann Christoph Adelung weist in seinem 1773 erschienenen Wörterbuch darauf hin, dass „abgehen“ nur im Süden des Sprachraums so viel wie „fehlen“ bedeutet: „Oft schließt ,abgehen‘ in dieser Bedeutung auch das Gewahrwerden, die lebhafte Empfindung des Verlustes ein (...) z. B. es gehen mir zehn Taler ab, d. i. ich merke, dass ich sie verloren habe.“

http://austria-forum.org/af/Wissenssammlungen/Österreichisch...

Just for fun: Da foin da di kipfla auße!
http://members.aon.at/berri/wienerische_idiomen.htm

Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 67

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English translation: missed very much

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English translation: missed very much

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