Oct 8, 2015 07:40
8 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
New Zealand
Committed to the Customer
Native in: English (Variant: New Zealand) 
Works in: French to English, German to English, Spanish to English
Seelachssalat ohne Lachs
German to English
Other
Cooking / Culinary
Newspaper Headline
Headline of a food-related newspaper article. Here is the part of the article that has inspired the headline:
"Was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht, sagt der Redensart. Der große Teil der Bevölkerung hingegen, der seine Lebensmittel im Supermarkt kauft, nimmt ahnungslos eine Menge Unerwünschtes zu sich: Kalbsleberwurst etwa darf bis zu einem Anteil von vierundvierzig Prozent aus Schweinefleisch bestehen, ***Seelachssalat kommt sogar ohne Lachs aus und wird aus Pollack hergestellt***, einer günstigen Dorschart, die eingefärbt wird, um den Verbraucher im Glauben zu lassen, besten Fisch auf dem Teller zu haben."
The word "Seelachs" means, well, pollack, while "Lachs" is simply salmon. Pollack and salmon don't sound anything alike. It's impossible to make the kind of pun with them that is being made in the German. I have absolutely no clue what to do with this. TIA for any inspiration you can provide.
"Was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht, sagt der Redensart. Der große Teil der Bevölkerung hingegen, der seine Lebensmittel im Supermarkt kauft, nimmt ahnungslos eine Menge Unerwünschtes zu sich: Kalbsleberwurst etwa darf bis zu einem Anteil von vierundvierzig Prozent aus Schweinefleisch bestehen, ***Seelachssalat kommt sogar ohne Lachs aus und wird aus Pollack hergestellt***, einer günstigen Dorschart, die eingefärbt wird, um den Verbraucher im Glauben zu lassen, besten Fisch auf dem Teller zu haben."
The word "Seelachs" means, well, pollack, while "Lachs" is simply salmon. Pollack and salmon don't sound anything alike. It's impossible to make the kind of pun with them that is being made in the German. I have absolutely no clue what to do with this. TIA for any inspiration you can provide.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +5 | Rock salmon without the salmon/Crab sticks without the crab |
philgoddard
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| 3 +1 | Food without/foregoes thought |
Ramey Rieger (X)
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| 3 | "Seelachssalat" without Salmon |
beermatt
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| 2 | faux salmon salad |
gangels (X)
|
Proposed translations
+5
40 mins
philgoddard
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
Six languages into flawless English
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 4 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
12
Selected
Rock salmon without the salmon/Crab sticks without the crab
The headline is not a pun.
The German word Seelachs, literally sea salmon, is an attempt by the fishing industry to make pollack sound more fancy. It's not translatable (at least not without a lot of explanation), so if the article is for publication I would suggest replacing it with something that does work in English.
In the UK, fish and chip shops sell "rock salmon", which is not salmon but a euphemism for various species of small shark. I think this would be a good equivalent - you'd obviously have to specify "in the UK" if you're writing for an international readership.
Alternatively, you could refer to crab sticks, which are imitation crabmeat made from pulverised white fish.
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Note added at 45 mins (2015-10-08 08:26:38 GMT)
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Another alternative is to forget the reference to "salat", which just complicates things, and say "In Germany Seelachs, which means sea salmon, is not salmon but the rather less glamorous pollack".
The German word Seelachs, literally sea salmon, is an attempt by the fishing industry to make pollack sound more fancy. It's not translatable (at least not without a lot of explanation), so if the article is for publication I would suggest replacing it with something that does work in English.
In the UK, fish and chip shops sell "rock salmon", which is not salmon but a euphemism for various species of small shark. I think this would be a good equivalent - you'd obviously have to specify "in the UK" if you're writing for an international readership.
Alternatively, you could refer to crab sticks, which are imitation crabmeat made from pulverised white fish.
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Note added at 45 mins (2015-10-08 08:26:38 GMT)
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Another alternative is to forget the reference to "salat", which just complicates things, and say "In Germany Seelachs, which means sea salmon, is not salmon but the rather less glamorous pollack".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
beermatt
: yeah, this "rock salmon" idea goes along the lines of fooling people into the idea that there's som "SALMON" = some "up-market" fish involved -- although "aqua-culture" grown "real" salmon is often crappy in keeping, quality and taste!!!
13 mins
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| agree |
Lonnie Legg
: Rewrite, if the client goes along, with "rock salmon" for a UK-readership (yanks will be clueless); or more international: "crab sticks".
52 mins
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| agree |
Edgar Bettridge
: crab sticks work - I think the headling is a pun though....
1 hr
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Thanks for agreeing. But why do you think it's a pun? I'm open to persuasion :-)
|
|
| agree |
Eckhard Boehle
1 hr
|
| agree |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: Hi Phil! Maybe it's a correct translation, but it doesn't work for me as a title. It would help to know for which audience the translation is intended.// Yes, I was off for a while. Rock salmon sans salmon, at least at little catchy, don't you think?
2 hrs
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The asker says British English.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "In the end, I opted for "crab sticks without the crab" and completely rewrote the sentence that contained the "Seelachs/Lachs" references. That appears to have been accepted by the client - or at least, I haven't heard any complaints about it. Although the "rock salmon" reference might have been closer to the original text, I decided that it was maybe too specifically British, and that "crab sticks" was the safer and more international option, as Lonnie said. So many thanks for your help with translating this very "fishy" piece of writing! Much appreciated."
+1
7 mins
Food without/foregoes thought
Yes, the pun is hard to capture, but there are some fantastic people out there, so let's get things started...
Eat 'em and weep
The secret ingredient
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Note added at 12 mins (2015-10-08 07:52:54 GMT)
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What are you eating?
Chickenfishlettuce (hihi)
Meatless meat, fishless fish
Eat 'em and weep
The secret ingredient
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Note added at 12 mins (2015-10-08 07:52:54 GMT)
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What are you eating?
Chickenfishlettuce (hihi)
Meatless meat, fishless fish
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Dorothy Schaps
: Great ideas for the title - I got a bit distracted with the actual text when I posted my discussion entry! ;)
21 mins
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Yes, there's a billion talentless poets out there exercising poetic license.
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32 mins
"Seelachssalat" without Salmon
Ok, (according to me) this is a matter of playing about with words, and also with a lot of explanations.
So:
"Seelachssalat (direct translation: "Sea Salmon Salad"), i.e intending to indicate to the consumer that there is some actual salmon contained in the "salad") in fact contains no salmon at all but is made from...
Take it as you like it...
So:
"Seelachssalat (direct translation: "Sea Salmon Salad"), i.e intending to indicate to the consumer that there is some actual salmon contained in the "salad") in fact contains no salmon at all but is made from...
Take it as you like it...
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Lonnie Legg
: Rather cumbersome, but if the specific German market practice is what counts (otherwise see phil's)...
1 hr
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Hmm... no more cumbersome than philgoddard's "rock salmon without the salmon". Here I'm trying to retain the idea that it's a German thing about a German product. I'd welcome better suggestions!
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1 day 4 hrs
faux salmon salad
the "faux" simply makes it go down easier with true gourmets than the unpalatable "false or fake". Another possibility is "imitation salmon salad", which probably would be used in the US
Discussion
Lachsersatz ist ein kalt geräuchertes Fischprodukt aus Köhler (Handelsname „Seelachs“) oder Pazifischem Pollack (Handelsname „Alaska-Seelachs“), das durch Färbung ein an Lachs erinnerndes Aussehen hat.
Zur Herstellung von Lachsersatz werden die Fische zunächst filetiert, entgrätet und mit Salz gebeizt. Anschließend werden die Filets in dünne Scheiben geschnitten, mit Gelborange S und Cochenillerot A rotorange gefärbt, kalt geräuchert oder mit Raucharoma versehen und schließlich in Pflanzenöl und Branntweinessig eingelegt.
In den Handel kommt Lachsersatz z. B. als „Seelachs-Filetblockscheiben“ oder „Seelachsscheiben in Pflanzenöl“. Bei der Herstellung anfallende kleinere Stücke werden auf gleiche Weise zubereitet als „Seelachsschnitzel“ angeboten.
Rock salmon sans salmon
Of course it's supposed to be humorous or satirical, but in my view fails completely in German.
But let's get back to the linguistic and cultural side:
"salmon" and "rock salmon" would work, but nobody outside of Germany can imagine those jars of artificially coloured bright-orange, seriously salty bits of fish in cheap oil that have nothing to do with the idea of "salmon"!
Deswegen meine letzte (englischsprachige) Idee, dass der Autor eventuell schon ein paar Jahre auf dem Buckel haben könnte und in Kategorien denkt und schreibt, die der heutigen Zeit nicht mehr so ganz entsprechen...
Was auch mein Bild der FAZ generell nicht so schlecht wieder gibt....
I do have a feeling that the author of the article may have lived for a few years and is not completely up to date with the current food industry market...
http://fazarchiv.faz.net/?q=Seelachssalat&search_in=TI&timeP...
Hey Beermatt! I tried a Roachatouille once, but, well, it was too crunchy for my taste. But hotcats! Now there's the McCat of the future!
Taking the fish out of fishsticks/fishing for fish in fishsticks
You might have to do a huge roundabout description saying something like "In Germany, you can buy 'Seelachssalat', a salmon-pink fish spread [or other description] that literally translates as 'sea salmon salad'. However, the fish used in this product is simply pollack ...."
I'd almost be tempted to leave it out entirely, but that might not wash with the client... =/
Good luck! I feel for you!