Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
Unternehmen heißt machen
English translation:
Doing business means getting things done.
Added to glossary by
Jutta Scherer
Jun 26, 2015 00:52
8 yrs ago
German term
Unternehmen heißt machen
German to English
Bus/Financial
Advertising / Public Relations
This is a play of words. I would use "undertaking", but I'm not sure how to phrase it.
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Jun 26, 2015 07:14: Steffen Walter changed "Field (specific)" from "Business/Commerce (general)" to "Advertising / Public Relations" , "Field (write-in)" from "Advertising" to "(none)"
Jul 10, 2015 06:21: Jutta Scherer Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
10 hrs
Selected
Doing business means getting things done.
Oder alternativ.
Doing business means making things happen.
Doing business means making a difference.
Doing business means getting your hands dirty.
Kommt halt alles auf den Kontext, die beabsichtigte Aussage, das Medium und den Stil des Textes an.
(Statt "doing business" könnte ich mir auch "entrepreneurship" vorstellen, falls sich das Ganze an (Jung-) Unternehmer wendet.
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Note added at 6 days (2015-07-02 08:56:52 GMT)
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I am running out of space here in the section below, so here's another comment.
I've long worked at a management consultancy, most of my clients are managers or entrepreneurs, and I've translated several books on management. One thing I know for sure is that none of my clients would like his or her business referred to as a synonym for "being busy". It's always about achieving something, getting things done, making a difference, having an impact. Of course, when businesses are "busy" it's never for nothing – but that phrase doesn't create the same feel as the German does.
We have this term "Macher" over here. That's not someone who is busy all the time - in fact, he or she might not even be busy fulltime. No: It's someone who gets things moving and ideally produces results.
That said, in this case there is a possibility that the author might be referring to hands-on involvement ("getting your hands dirty"). That is something I would definitely verify with him or her. My guess is, however, that this is about effectiveness - hence my first suggestion, which I feel also conveys a notion of getting active.
Doing business means making things happen.
Doing business means making a difference.
Doing business means getting your hands dirty.
Kommt halt alles auf den Kontext, die beabsichtigte Aussage, das Medium und den Stil des Textes an.
(Statt "doing business" könnte ich mir auch "entrepreneurship" vorstellen, falls sich das Ganze an (Jung-) Unternehmer wendet.
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Note added at 6 days (2015-07-02 08:56:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I am running out of space here in the section below, so here's another comment.
I've long worked at a management consultancy, most of my clients are managers or entrepreneurs, and I've translated several books on management. One thing I know for sure is that none of my clients would like his or her business referred to as a synonym for "being busy". It's always about achieving something, getting things done, making a difference, having an impact. Of course, when businesses are "busy" it's never for nothing – but that phrase doesn't create the same feel as the German does.
We have this term "Macher" over here. That's not someone who is busy all the time - in fact, he or she might not even be busy fulltime. No: It's someone who gets things moving and ideally produces results.
That said, in this case there is a possibility that the author might be referring to hands-on involvement ("getting your hands dirty"). That is something I would definitely verify with him or her. My guess is, however, that this is about effectiveness - hence my first suggestion, which I feel also conveys a notion of getting active.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
TonyTK
: I like your second one, but without the "doing" (Business means (or "is about") making things happen).
27 mins
|
Thanks, Tony. Yes, I initially thouht about leaving out the "doing", but then I thought it sounded more "active" this way.
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|
agree |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: Very nice! I hid my answer because of lack of context, but this is flexible enough.
1 hr
|
Oh, thanks, Ramey!
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neutral |
Michael Martin, MA
: It's a good slogan but you lost the word play contained in the original..//Nicely argued but if a business claims it’s busy it’s never for the heck of it
23 hrs
|
True. But to me it's always meaning over form. "Business means being busy" ist a nice word play, but it could be misunderstood as "keeping busy for the heck of it" - which is almost the opposite of what the German sentence is meant to express..
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
28 mins
To undertake is to make things happen!
Suggestion
4 hrs
Just do it!
If the word *heißt* is meant a bit sarcastically this would work, too.
6 hrs
Business is a hands-on venture
Depending on context, Ours is a hands-on venture
10 hrs
Business means doing business
...
avoiding "undertaking", which reminds me of "undertaker"
avoiding "undertaking", which reminds me of "undertaker"
3 hrs
Business means being busy
The capital U in Unternehmen stands for business - otherwise, there's no word play.. machen = being active/busy/in a state of 'business'. Like 'Unternehmen', business has two meanings attached to it:
"Thus, business means being busy. However, in a specific sense, business refers to any occupation in which people regularly engage in an activity with a view to earning profit."
http://schools.aglasem.com/15523
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Note added at 2 days2 hrs (2015-06-28 03:18:38 GMT)
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Here's another one that preserves a play on words:
"Undertaking means taking things (head) on"
"Thus, business means being busy. However, in a specific sense, business refers to any occupation in which people regularly engage in an activity with a view to earning profit."
http://schools.aglasem.com/15523
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Note added at 2 days2 hrs (2015-06-28 03:18:38 GMT)
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Here's another one that preserves a play on words:
"Undertaking means taking things (head) on"
Discussion