Talk:Gingerbread (Buffy episode)

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[edit] German in the episode

The discussion about the validity of the German spoken in the episode seems a bit too elaborate for an encyclopedic article. Is it really necessary to discuss at length improperly translated sentences by some TV writer?

It's true the translation may not be the best, but nonetheless this is not a a significatnt element of the episode, and surely doesn't deserve to dominate the article? I have shortened it, and placed the expanded discussion below. -- Paxomen 17:13, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Personally, I'd say that this looks like an attempt to produce older-sounding German (Middle High German or Old High German, perhaps), albeit not a perfect one. Maybe this should be added as a redeeming note. Baranxtu 00:06, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] German translation

The German text about the first reported sighting of the two children really is German, but full of mistakes. It reads:

ich, eine Geistlicher von nahe die Schwarz Wälder, tat finden das körper von das kinder meine selbst. eine wurde von die junge, die anderen von und mädchen. darauf meine eigene erforschen ich lernte

Literally translated, this would read:

I, a cleric from the near the Black Forests, did find the bodies of the children myself. One was of the boy, the other of and [sic] girl. Upon my own research I learned ...

Which doesn't sound too bad until you realize that eine is the feminine form while Geistlicher is masculine, Schwarz is singular but Wälder is plural, but the Black Forest ist der Schwarzwald anyway; das is the wrong definite article for Körper (der Körper, plural die Körper, is masculine), Kinder as the plural form of das Kind also demands a die; von das Kinder should be der Kinder (being a genetive); both körper and kinder (as well as ich, eine, junge, mädchen and darauf) should be capitalized -- and so forth through the whole text. In other words, somebody probably just ran the English sentence through a computer. Needless to say, German fans of the show noticed.

Correct German would be something like:

Ich, ein Geistlicher von nahe dem Schwarzwald, tat finden die Körper der Kinder selbst. Einer war von einem Jungen, einer von einem Mädchen. Daraufhin forschte ich selbst und lernte ...

Even then, this would be modern and not 17th century German, which was considerably different in spelling and style.

Giles's spoken German is far better that what the computer provides. (He already proved his impressive German accent in the season 2 episode "Killed by Death".) In the car, he says

Lüften Sie den ...

and struggles to remember the word for "veil", which would be Schleier. The sentence then becomes Lüften Sie den Schleier, "Lift the veil". This is perfectly correct German, though it does leave open whom he is addressing, as this is a direct order to one person in the formal (polite) form. During the first part of the incantation -- before the fire is put out -- die Macht ("the power"), die Macht den Weg bereiten ("clear the path for the power") and das Böse soll das Gesicht des Bösen tragen (roughly "the evil shall have the face of evil") can be understood, with the rest being garbled by Giles. The second part, before he throws the potion, is Versteckt Euch nicht hinter falschen Gesichtern ("Do not hide behind false faces"). Though this is a different form of address than the veil part (a direct order in the familiar plural, as appropriate for two children), all spoken German is in fact correct.