silly

German translation: sich vor Lachen / Angst in die Hose machen

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:silly
German translation:sich vor Lachen / Angst in die Hose machen
Entered by: aykon

10:24 Sep 24, 2020
English to German translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: silly
This is about watching movies and series.


Laugh yourself silly.
Scare yourself silly.

Ideally, I would come up with a translation for "silly" that fits both lines.
aykon
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
sich vor Lanchen / Angst in die Hose machen
Explanation:
I don't think you can just translate the word "silly" here. This is a very idiomatic wordplay, which dos not really translate into German very well.
You could have "sich kaputt lachen" but then that does not fit with "sich gruseln". The only translation I could come up with, which has a similar structure for both is "sich vor Lachen / Angst in die Hose machen", i.e. to wet yourself because you are scared or laughing. This might, however, not really be pc enough for the context you are translating in. If it does not fit and you are looking for localisation rather than translation, I would probably start completely from scratch with another punchline.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 mins (2020-09-24 10:47:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sory, typo: "vor Lachen", not "vor Lanchen"
Selected response from:

Astrid Fiess
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
Grading comment
Danke. Also doch was gefunden, was für beides passt :-)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3sich vor Lanchen / Angst in die Hose machen
Astrid Fiess
4 +1tot/Tode
Susanne Gläsel
3kaputt/zum Tode
Wendy Streitparth
3...bis der Arzt kommt
Caro Maucher


  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
tot/Tode


Explanation:
Mein erster Vorschlag:

Lach dich tot.
Ängstige dich zu Tode.

Susanne Gläsel
Germany
Local time: 17:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Maïté Mendiondo-George
1 min
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
kaputt/zum Tode


Explanation:
Lache Dich kaputt. Erschrecke Dich zum Tode.

Can't think of anything that fits in both cases - maybe someone else is feeling brighter! Otherwise....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2020-09-24 10:39:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

zu Tode!

Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 17:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
sich vor Lanchen / Angst in die Hose machen


Explanation:
I don't think you can just translate the word "silly" here. This is a very idiomatic wordplay, which dos not really translate into German very well.
You could have "sich kaputt lachen" but then that does not fit with "sich gruseln". The only translation I could come up with, which has a similar structure for both is "sich vor Lachen / Angst in die Hose machen", i.e. to wet yourself because you are scared or laughing. This might, however, not really be pc enough for the context you are translating in. If it does not fit and you are looking for localisation rather than translation, I would probably start completely from scratch with another punchline.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 mins (2020-09-24 10:47:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sory, typo: "vor Lachen", not "vor Lanchen"

Example sentence(s):
  • "Als Kind vor dem Fernseher habe er sich vor Lachen in die Hose gemacht,..."
  • "Wir haben den neuen Halloween-Frappuccino bei Starbucks bestellt – und die Mitarbeiter haben sich vor Angst in die Hose gemacht."

    https://www.berliner-woche.de/neukoelln/c-leute/die-durchgeknallten-rixdorfer-vom-boehmischen-platz_a95016
    https://noizz.de/food/phantom-frappuccino-noizz-hat-den-veganen-halloween-drink-probiert/8wl0v3b
Astrid Fiess
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Danke. Also doch was gefunden, was für beides passt :-)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  B&B FinTrans
1 hr
  -> Thank you

agree  Caro Maucher: "in die Hose machen" passt für beide Situationen, und durch die Substantivierung (vor Lachen / vor Angst) umgeht man die blöde Formulierung mit Verben.
2 hrs
  -> Thank you

agree  Edith Kelly: Lachen, nicht Lanchen
23 hrs
  -> Thank you
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
...bis der Arzt kommt


Explanation:
war so mein erster Gedanke.
Aber ich stimme Astrid zu, dass es vermutlich besser wäre, etwas ganz anderes zu wählen, falls möglich.

Caro Maucher
Germany
Local time: 17:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 12
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search