angepasst

14:29 Mar 17, 2018 

It's a questionnaire for prospective employees for a leadership position, where they are supposed to say how they would respond to various situations. The answers don't go to anybody but the HR people, but the choice of answers (this is part of one) is determined by whoever wrote the questionnaire.

14:24 Mar 17, 2018 

I am not sure if this is from a job reference, rather understood it to be a response/defense from a supervisor who was criticised by an employee and tries to explain her behaviours without blatantly putting him down. I trust that Susan will know how negative or not "avoids conflict" may come across, and how negative such a statement may or may not be in an English dispute.

14:17 Mar 17, 2018 

Not quite a euphemism, more like an ambiguous term with positive and negative meanings, depending on context. If you say, "er ist angepasst" about an immigrant, it could be a mostly positive statement meaning he adapted well to his new environment. If you say "er ist angepasst" about an autonomous adult asking for protection, it sounds like "he should be bold enough to speak out for himself and defend his own interest, but he does not seem able to do that".

14:16 Mar 17, 2018 

"Blend in with the group" could go either way; Björn is right about that. My entry, however, reads "tends to blend in.." which puts a negative spin on it. "Avoids conflict" sounds like a workaround to me. Firstly, negative definitions are much easier to do than positive definitions. Secondly, if you zoom in on one narrow aspect, you don't cover the full meaning. For instance, it's entirely possible to envision a work environment where certain employees desperately try to avoid conflict, and yet, they get bullied or mocked because they don't know how to blend in.

13:39 Mar 17, 2018 

"'Angepasst' is the kind of language used in job references where no negative attributes are allowed and employers therefore have developed a sophisticated system of statements based on seemingly positive words which other employers (and sometimes the whole world) can easily read as an actually ambiguous, negative, or even devastating verdict."
Ah! A euphemism! Now I begin to see better why this seemingly simple word confused me and has generated so much (helpful) discussion here.

12:53 Mar 17, 2018 

I agree with your statement that German employers are not allowed to certify negative attributes. We should observe this rule during translating certificates, too, and cannot replace ambiguous attributes by negative attributes like "avoids conflicts", or similar. Björn did not enter his explanations as answer accordingly.

12:15 Mar 17, 2018 

I think the key to "what the German word means in context" is in your explanation to my answer. The supervisor probably says in a roundabout way that the "He" is not able to stand up for his needs, because he is kind of shy (zurückhaltend) and avoids to offend or rub someone the wrong way. "Angepasst" is the kind of language used in job references where no negative attributes are allowed and employers therefore have developed a sophisticated system of statements based on seemingly positive words which other employers (and sometimes the whole world) can easily read as an actually ambiguous, negative, or even devastating verdict.<br /><br />NB: I agree with you that Björn should go ahead and post his "avoids conflict" as an answer ;-)

11:42 Mar 17, 2018 

"Does that mean you are..."

Quite the opposite, I think. Most people on here do post a lot of answers--I don't. If I were, I'd be "following suit."

Another reason why I didn't is that I was and am a bit pressed for time. I added the Huffington Post link in the hopes that some of what they wrote there could be of use to you.

Actually, I'd say Michael was half-right in his since-retracted answer that "angepasst" typically isn't a word to shower praise on someone, but I really wouldn't go as far as saying that "angepasst" is a license to kill.

And yes, you're blending in, but that's usually a positive attribute. It's more like you don't "show initiative" or, if you want an adjective: "assertive."

My biggest concern is that this may end up sounding unnatural in the context of a conversation or some report.

Best

11:28 Mar 17, 2018 

Your suggestion of "avoids conflict" seems popular, but as usual you didn't post an answer. Does that mean you are "angepasst"?
PS to German native speakers: It is not helpful to post references to the English words you are suggesting as translations, since I, as a native English speaker, know very well what they mean. What I don't know is what the German word means in context! The more so since, oddly enough, none of the usual online bilingual dictionaries (dict.cc, leo, linguee) have translations that correspond to our discussion here. They are all about being adapted, adjusted, suitable, and other more positive qualities.

10:46 Mar 17, 2018 

Um die genaueste Übereinstimmung zwischen "angepasst sein" und den nachstehenden Vorschlägen zu finden, ist es sinnvoll, den Duden nach der Bedeutung zu fragen. Ich habe diese Informationen meiner Antwort angehängt, weil der Platz in der Diskussion dafür nicht reicht.

Was aus meinem Sprachgefühl sonst noch im dem Wort mitschwingt, ist eine gewisse Unterwürfigkeit, Verzicht auf eigene Meinung und der Gehorsam Vorgesetzten gegenüber, der im Extremfall bis zur Ausführung von Mord und Totschlag reichen kann, was sich besonders drastisch im Verhalten von Soldaten zeigt.

17:30 Mar 16, 2018 

In other words:

He is not the kind of guy to stand out from the crowd. Maybe that helps some.

RE "angepasst": avoids confrontation and conflict

RE "zurückhaltend": That's more likely to be "shy," especially considering your reply to Anne.

He's the "quiet type." That'd be shorter.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/shy-people-annoyan...

Best

17:29 Mar 16, 2018 

Zero references.