May 5, 2023 10:06
1 yr ago
47 viewers *
German term

Glück auf!

Non-PRO German to English Tech/Engineering Mining & Minerals / Gems Expression
I am looking for an English phrase of German GLUCK AUF!
This is a small phrase that a miner says at the moment when he is in a cage and goes undeground.
In Poland we use to say SZCZĘŚĆ BOŻE, which is typical phrase for Polish miners.
Change log

May 5, 2023 12:05: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "Expression"

Proposed translations

1 hr
Selected

"Godspeed!" or leave untranslated

If you're right that Polish miners use "szczęść Boże," then you could use "Godspeed," which is how Wiktionary translates the Polish phrase (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/szczęść_Boże).

There's also good precedent for leaving the phrase untranslated—see references. (The first reference actually gives another alternative translation in the next sentence: "Success attend you.")
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
12 mins

Good luck!

As far as I know, there isn't an English equivalent at all. Simply "good luck" might work depending on the context, unless the historical significance of the phrase is important to the text, in which case I'd explain it or leave a translator's note.
Peer comment(s):

agree Simon Vigneault
1 hr
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8 hrs

(AUT) Have a happy ascent! (and going up in the world)

Asked and answered before, but questionably and obscurely as 'luck of the lode' and un-localised, namely without ref. to regional differences - so maybe fit for Erzgebirge, ex-GDR consumption, but not right in Austria for the similar-sounding district (I know well) of Erzberg in Eisenerz, Province of Steiermark / Styria.

As for Poland, my stay at rhe Krakow Technikum Hutnicze half a century ago had been all too short and a native English Polish/English colleague, a (post-)graduate of the Royal School of Mines at London Uni's Imperial College in Kensington, and who had been an exchange student over there in Silesia in the 1950s is, alas and 'Glück ab', no longer with us to compare the German greeting.
Example sentence:

Was heißt nun „Glück auf"? Eindeutig ist es nicht zu erklären. Nach mündlichen Überlieferungen sollen diese zwei Worte den Wunsch ausdrücken, der Bergmann möge nach der Schicht aus dem Dunkel des Schachtes *wieder glücklich aufsteigen an das Ta

AUT: Glück auf! Der Erzberg ist noch lange nicht am Ende 28. September 2012, 10:09 Uhr

Peer comment(s):

neutral philgoddard : Ascent?
10 hrs
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1 day 3 hrs

Eeyup

I like this idea even though it seems to be far less context-specific than the German.

https://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Terminology/Luck.h...

"When I first moved from Bradford to Chesterfield I was surprised to find that locals here greeted one-another with, “Eeyup, Duck” instead of the expected “Nah-then”."
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/yor...
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Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

This has been asked before

Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree writeaway
56 mins
agree philgoddard
1 hr
agree Andrew Bramhall : "Happy Ascent" my backside;could someone please explain the difference between the prepositions 'auf' and 'ab' to AMM; Thanks.
1 day 2 hrs
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