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Mini-contest 2012: "Yogi Berra Quotes" » English to German

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

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Source text in English

- "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous."

- "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

- "You can observe a lot just by watchin'."

- "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

- "I can't concentrate when I'm thinking."

- "The future ain't what it used to be."

- "I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."

- "We're lost, but we're making good time."

- "Half the lies they tell about me aren't true."

- "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."

- "It's like deja-vu, all over again."

- "It ain't over till it's over."

- Mrs. Lindsay: "You certainly look cool." Yogi Berra: "Thanks, you don't look so hot yourself."

- "If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."

There were 34 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase.

Entries submitted in this pair were rated on a per-segment basis. Listed below are all submitted translations of each individual source text segment.

Submitted segment translations

Translations submitted for each source text segment are listed below. Segments have had surrounding punctuation stripped, and the resulting identical segments have been grouped together, so each listed translation should differ, but the difference may be subtle (eg. internal punctuation or diacritics).

Viewing segment # out of 14

Source text segment #2

- "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Rank by:
+61 | -5
This has nothing to do with cutlery. The phrase is paradoxical because as a noun, a fork (in the road) is a singular entity, but it presents two options, right or left, one of which must be taken. The fork itself cannot be taken.
+27 | -4
There is actually a solid truth behind that puzzling piece of wisdom from
old Yogi. When we come to a fork in the road of life, we have to go one
way or the other. We can't just stand there scratching our heads forever,
turn back and pretend the choice
+21 | -3
Berra insists that this is part of some driving directions to his house. In his hometown of Montclair, New Jersey, there is a fork in the road and either way you take, you will get to his house. Some people find this to be a very poignant quote, thinking
+14 | -5
One interpretation is that one should not hesitate (too much?) before making a decision.
+23 | -16
1) When you find a fork (for eating) in the road, take it (pick it up).
The second meaning has extra ambiguity because it's a non-sequitur:
A fork in the road is when you have two or more possible routes to take. "take it" is ambiguous - take which route?
+11 | -6
One interpretation is that one should not be afraid to meet challenges. A fork in the road is a challenge that one has to solve, and to "take it" means to deal with it without (too much) hesitation.
+10 | -6
Finding a "fork" in the road has double meaning - a fork for eating and splitting of the road into two or more different directions. You can take both - an ambiguity of the two meanings makes it funny.
+7 | -5
I agree it has nothing to do with cutlery. The point is though that as a standalone statement, it CAN i.e. it's one possible interpretation. Especially when the confusion of the non-sequitur forces you to question whether or not the unlikely interpretatio
+1
Finding a fork on the road is similar to coming to a cross road, you have to decide which turn to take.
+1
This quote could rate as some kind of a condensed Zen koan. It has nothing to do with choice, it's just about embracing the paradox itself. Come to a fork? Nevermind, just go on, wherever you may end up. I don't think the double meaning can be translated.

Translations of this segment (34 total; 33 unique)

Wenn du an eine Weggabel kommst, nimm sie
Wenn sich die Straße zweigt, mach' Brennholz draus
Wenn du zu einer Weggabelung kommst, nimm sie
Wenn du eine Abzweigung auf der Straße siehst, nimm sie
Wenn man an eine Weggabel kommt, sollte man sie nehmen
Wenn Sie auf der Straße zu einer Abzweigung gelangen, nehmen Sie sie
Siehst Du eine Straßengabelung, nimm sie
Wenn sich eine Chance ergibt, ergreife sie
Wenn du auf deinem Weg an eine Scheide kommst, nimm sie
Wenn du an eine Weggabelung kommst, dann nimm sie
Wenn Sie an eine Weggabelung kommen, dann nehmen Sie die
Wenn du an eine Weggabelung kommst, nimm sie
Kommst du an eine Weggabelung, dann nimm sie
Wenn Du am Scheideweg stehst, entscheide dich
Wenn Du an eine Weggabelung kommst, dann folge ihr
Wenn du an eine Weggabelung gelangst, nehme sie
Nimm jede Weggabelung, an die Du gelangst
Ergreife die Chance, die dir geboten wird
2) „Wann immer Sie an eine Weggabelung kommen, folgen Sie ihr
Kommst Du zu einer Weggabelung – nimm sie
Die Sache stinkt gewaltig, am meisten der Käse
Wenn Du an eine Gabelung kommst folgst Du der Strasse
Wenn du an eine Weggabelung kommst, nimm sie an
Wenn Sie an eine Straßengabelung kommen, nehmen Sie die
Wenn du an ‘ne Strassengabelung kommst, nimm‘ diese
Wenn Sie an eine Weggabelung kommen, dann fahren Sie da weiter
Falls Du auf einer Straße an eine Gabelung kommst, nimm sie
Wenn du an eine Weggabelung kommst, gable sie einfach auf
Wenn Dir eine Gabelung über den Weg läuft, nimm sie
An einem Scheideweg kommt man nicht vorbei
Wenn sich die Straße gabelt, einfach weitergehen
Wenn du eine Weggabelung auf der Straße erreichst, solltest Du Sie nehmen
Wenn sich Dein Weg gabelt, geh ihn weiter
Viewing segment # out of 14