This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
D-Kupplung
Zeugnis - einzusetzendes Band

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

besinnen

English translation:

turn one's attention to

Added to glossary by David Williams
Nov 17, 2009 16:58
14 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

besinnen

German to English Tech/Engineering Ships, Sailing, Maritime Shipbuilding
Context:

Auf Einsteigermodelle hat man sich bei der "shipyard" Werft besonnen. Üblicherweise baut die Werft Stahlkreuzer.

Obviously this doesn't mean that this shipyard specialises in boats for beginners, but the opposite evidently isn't true either. Of course, none of the adjectival translations of 'besonnen' are anywhere near what is mean here, but the meanings of 'besinnen' seem to miss the mark too...
Proposed translations (English)
3 reflect on
3 +4 ... considered branching out into ...
4 decided to focus on
3 the shipyard has been thinking back to...
Change log

Nov 17, 2009 17:52: Astrid Elke Witte changed "Term asked" from "besinnen (here)" to "besinnen"

Nov 18, 2009 18:17: David Williams changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/62748">David Williams's</a> old entry - "besinnen"" to ""turn ones attention to""

Discussion

David Williams (asker) Nov 18, 2009:
Thanks for pointing that out ;-)
Lancashireman Nov 18, 2009:
one's Since you have entered your own answer in the glossary, maybe you should also add the missing apostrophe.
Peter Sass Nov 18, 2009:
@David
Yes, 'turned its attention to' is a good paraphrase here as it indicates their actual reorientation, beyond considering (with 'attention' being adequately weaker than 'focus').
Lancashireman Nov 18, 2009:
Or just ... "... branched out into ..." (without the 'considered', decided', 'reflected on', 'thought back to' etc)
Bernhard Sulzer Nov 18, 2009:
yes for this context, it works.
David Williams (asker) Nov 18, 2009:
Indeed I realise that, but it seems to work in this specific context nevertheless, doesn't it?
Bernhard Sulzer Nov 18, 2009:
@David. Hi. In terms of the show that's what they did, "turned their attention to..." although this is still stronger than the German "sich besinnen auf."
David Williams (asker) Nov 18, 2009:
How about saying that the "shipyard has turned its attention to entry-level boats for beginners"?
David Williams (asker) Nov 18, 2009:
Bernhard Sulzer is spot on in terms of the context here...
Susanne Rindlisbacher Nov 17, 2009:
"besonnen" verstehe ich hier so: Die Werft hat sich daran erinnert, dass es auch kleinere Schiffe gibt und dass man es damit versuchen könnte, was dann auch getan wurde.
Peter Sass Nov 17, 2009:
Consider vs. decide

Just to briefly add, in order to determine the core meaning of 'sich besinnen' check out the phrase: "Hast Du Dich nun besonnen?" which translates well into "Have you made up your mind now?" (rather than "Have you considered ~sth?").
Peter Sass Nov 17, 2009:
@Andrew: No, I don't. I guess we simply disagree about the precise meaning of 'sich (auf etwas) besinnen', which is a rarely used term of Hochsprache.

My point is that 'consider' clearly is too vague here, as 'haben sich besonnen' indicates that the reflection process has come to an end and they have already turned towards building these boats (see Jutta's last post which I fully agree with: 'h a t sich nun überlegt' and before 'konkrete Überlegungen und/oder schon erste Schritte'). This decision for a new building policy is what is mainly implied here by 'besonnen'. And yes - this is my understanding as a native speaker and therefore a mere 'interpretation'.
Lancashireman Nov 17, 2009:
besinnen @ P. Sass: You are changing the source term (besinnen) to suit your own interpretation. Nowhere in the brief context given does it state (merely or otherwise) that "they have made this *decision*".
Peter Sass Nov 17, 2009:
To clarify, whether or not they have built boats for beginners before is not implied by the meaning of 'besinnnen' or the context ("Üblicherweise"). It is merely stated that they have made this decision after some reflection (also, there's no implication of how far they have come to carry it out).
Jutta Scherer Nov 17, 2009:
Ich glaube, Uta meinte "rückbesinnen". Hier scheint es einfach drum zu gehen, dass die Werft bislang einen anderen geschäftlichen Fokus hat, sich nun aber überlegt hat, (auch?) Einsteigermodelle zu bauen (z.B. weil das Kerngeschäft nicht so gut läuft?)
Lancashireman Nov 17, 2009:
Context in the second sentence @ Uta: ***Üblicherweise*** baut die Werft Stahlkreuzer.
David Williams (asker) Nov 17, 2009:
I'm not 100% certain but I think the opposite is true here.
Uta Kappler Nov 17, 2009:
context might tell Maybe there is more context, but this could mean that the shipyard had previously built smaller boats and is now either "going back to it" oder "focusing on these smaller types" (again) or just "considering" to.
Jutta Scherer Nov 17, 2009:
@David "haben sich besonnen auf" heißt, dass sie in der Richtung konkrete Überlegungen anstellen und/oder sogar schon erste Schritte getan haben. Vielleicht kannst Du das aus dem Kontext entnehmen?

Proposed translations

9 hrs
German term (edited): sich besinnen auf
Selected

reflect on

as far as the boat show is concerned. See additional context below.

or (weaker):

to think of

As far as this particular shipyard is concerned, with regard to its participation in the Düsseldorf 2010, among many other ship builders, they/it (obviously) reflected on / thought of/about entry models. A bit stronger than consider but still in the general realm of "thinking" where "sich besinnen" belongs. That the ship was built was a logical progression - at least for the show - it doesn't change the meaning of "sich besinnen."

This particular shipyard/company did build that boat, actually they had it built at a different place because they usually don't build such "small" boats.
The boat is being/was shown at the yacht/boat show Düsseldorf 2010
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:rZl8v-2MejgJ:www.messe-d...

see: Auf Einsteigermodelle hat man sich bei der niederländischen Pedro Werft besonnen.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : Hi Bernhard. 'Reflected on' is actually weaker than 'considered'. It makes them sound like a bunch of dreamers. It would be nice to find out from the asker what swung the decision in your favour. I suppose it must have been the 'most helpful' criterion.
16 hrs
You can argue that it's weaker, I agree. I had thought that too. But in the context here, I took "to consider" as 'just' think of it but then leave it (not follow through) whereas I took reflect on here as a more complex thought process.
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for the helpful discussion!"
+4
19 mins
German term (edited): besinnen (here)

... considered branching out into ...

...entry models
Peer comment(s):
agree Jutta Scherer : touché :-)
7 mins
agree Rolf Keiser
31 mins
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : spot on
1 hr
agree Paul Cohen : The present continuous would be even better: "...is considering branching out...", thus underscoring that this is an ongoing process.
2 hrs
Hi Paul. Thanks for revisiting. Another one to filter, methinks.
Something went wrong...
42 mins
German term (edited): besinnen (here)

decided to focus on

'besinnen' here rather means decide (indicating a change of mind, e.g. 'back to basics') than merely consider - i.e. they have already changed their policy.
'They have decided [or come] to focus on [boats for beginners]'.
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

the shipyard has been thinking back to...

I actually agree with the interpretations behind both the previous answers, but in my mind they ARE interpretations which are not 100% supported by the facts.

So my alternative is a close translation which leaves it up to the reader to draw conclusions.
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search