verzeipeln

English translation: entangled, knotted

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:verzeipeln
English translation:entangled, knotted

11:30 Mar 30, 2021
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2021-04-02 15:54:17 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)


German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase: verzeipeln
Gefunden hab ich es in Siegried Lenz: So zärtlich war Suleyken, zwölfte Geschichte: Eine Kleinbahn namens Popp, wo es heißt:
„Der Tag war schön. […] und die berühmten Suleyker Schafe verzeipelten vor lauter Übermut ihre Ketten.“

The book has been translated into (US) English, but I don't have a copy...
Tony Moen
Local time: 12:14
entangled, knotted
Explanation:
In this excerpt it is a snake that lies entwined in its cage :"Schlaftrunken wie immer lag sie da, ihre gut siebzig Zentimeter so verwunden und verzeipelt, daß..."
https://books.google.de/books?id=ImIrvKDbWNgC&pg=PT26&lpg=PT...

In the following eloquent, slightly ironic excerpt from a book about art we find this passage: "Und diese fisslige kognitive Dissonanz zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit wird sie nicht verstärkt und verzeipelt durch brennende praktische Probleme der Künste? Der Dichter, er steht vor der Frage:" Wie kann ich machen Wunder wahrscheinlich?" Nu, er muss durchschlagen den Gordischen Knoten und schreiben als sei sein Hirngespinst pure Wirklichkeit..."
https://books.google.de/books?id=jI5CXRk4u-sC&pg=PA273&lpg=P...

All the contexts given and especially the connotation of the Gordian knot in the last text tend to lead to the assumption we are talking about entangled or knotted.

If you manage to find a more original expression in a rare dialect from the country of your target audience, then, given the rare occurrence of the word in German, this could be an (even better) option too.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2021-03-30 19:05:19 GMT)
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// Thanks Tony. What I meant by rare is that it is very uncommon and indeed rare in todays German language. Even in the times of Lenz (the first source is also from a Lenz book) this word would be rare and its use limited to East-Prussian dialects. Since these regions and their culture don t exist any longer - most East Prussians resettled as refugees in West Germany + the GDR and by means of dissemination and assimilation lost their language and culture as they could not pass it on to their offspring, who were of course growing up far away from the magical land of the Wassermuhme and Co. There are still certain terms and phrasings that could be heard in rare circumstances, indicating there may be a fade connection of the bearer to those lost lands some ancestors once called Heimat. Anyway, while verzeipeln indicates such heritage to those in the know to the sound and feeling of the East-Prussian dialect it is a rather rare word and most people would not know what it means. Happy to have helped you on this. :)

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Note added at 3 days 10 hrs (2021-04-02 21:47:34 GMT) Post-grading
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///PPS - Post grading: Thanks Tony, well appreciated!
Selected response from:

thefastshow
Germany
Local time: 11:14
Grading comment
Spot on!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1entangled, knotted
thefastshow
4shed
Cillie Swart
3(became) entangled (in their chains)
Michael Martin, MA
Summary of reference entries provided
Book review
Brent Sørensen

Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(became) entangled (in their chains)


Explanation:
I haven't fully reviewed the source text but my first thought is that "verzeipeln" could be related to "verzappeln" as in "sich in etwas verzappeln".

The question is, was it common practice to tether sheep over there back then?

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 06:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 43
Notes to answerer
Asker: I think the shift from verzeipeln to verzeipeln is exactly what we have here. Such shifts are not uncomnon at all. Thanks!

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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
shed


Explanation:
Doesn't have to be literal chains. Shed their captivity. Found their freedom. Out of sheer audacity. (vor lauter Übermut)


    https://www.deepl.com/translator?utm_source=lingueebanner1&il=en
Cillie Swart
South Africa
Local time: 12:14
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Not convinced this is likely. Zappeln means "sich rasch und unruhig hin und her bewegen" (Wahrig, 1997), and whether the chains are real or figurative, the word does not imply escape from a bond. Nore likely, I think, they got their chains in a tangle - quite likely, if you've ever taken (or tried to take) a couple of exuberant dogs on leashes for a walk. "Unruhig hin und her bewegen" would be the understatement of the day, at least. - Of course, we still don't know why they were chained up at all; I can't recall any other reference to sheep in these stories.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  thefastshow: I think philgoddard is right, the text is a little tongue in cheek. The sheep were chained together in an attempt to sabotage a new train line: Eine Kleinbahn namens Popp.
15 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
entangled, knotted


Explanation:
In this excerpt it is a snake that lies entwined in its cage :"Schlaftrunken wie immer lag sie da, ihre gut siebzig Zentimeter so verwunden und verzeipelt, daß..."
https://books.google.de/books?id=ImIrvKDbWNgC&pg=PT26&lpg=PT...

In the following eloquent, slightly ironic excerpt from a book about art we find this passage: "Und diese fisslige kognitive Dissonanz zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit wird sie nicht verstärkt und verzeipelt durch brennende praktische Probleme der Künste? Der Dichter, er steht vor der Frage:" Wie kann ich machen Wunder wahrscheinlich?" Nu, er muss durchschlagen den Gordischen Knoten und schreiben als sei sein Hirngespinst pure Wirklichkeit..."
https://books.google.de/books?id=jI5CXRk4u-sC&pg=PA273&lpg=P...

All the contexts given and especially the connotation of the Gordian knot in the last text tend to lead to the assumption we are talking about entangled or knotted.

If you manage to find a more original expression in a rare dialect from the country of your target audience, then, given the rare occurrence of the word in German, this could be an (even better) option too.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2021-03-30 19:05:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

// Thanks Tony. What I meant by rare is that it is very uncommon and indeed rare in todays German language. Even in the times of Lenz (the first source is also from a Lenz book) this word would be rare and its use limited to East-Prussian dialects. Since these regions and their culture don t exist any longer - most East Prussians resettled as refugees in West Germany + the GDR and by means of dissemination and assimilation lost their language and culture as they could not pass it on to their offspring, who were of course growing up far away from the magical land of the Wassermuhme and Co. There are still certain terms and phrasings that could be heard in rare circumstances, indicating there may be a fade connection of the bearer to those lost lands some ancestors once called Heimat. Anyway, while verzeipeln indicates such heritage to those in the know to the sound and feeling of the East-Prussian dialect it is a rather rare word and most people would not know what it means. Happy to have helped you on this. :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 10 hrs (2021-04-02 21:47:34 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

///PPS - Post grading: Thanks Tony, well appreciated!

thefastshow
Germany
Local time: 11:14
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Spot on!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for the contexts! They will be added to my database. In Afrikaans (the target language here) one could choose between verstrik, vasgedraai, verknoop... from there it's a matter of thesaurising for more synonyms. But it seems from the quotes that the word is not exactly rare.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anne Schulz: "Verzwirbeln" (zwirbeln = to twist, as in a twisted fishing line) is my association with "verzeipeln" – and if the context is anything like "Suleyken", the asker will certainly need a local or outdated word for the translation!
19 hrs
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Reference comments


57 mins peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Book review

Reference information:
I thought this word might have been misspelled or an OCR error. But in this review, it’s specifically mentioned as a particularly interesting word.

http://www.eckhard-ullrich.de/alte-sachen/1496-siegfried-len...

Da gibt es solche köstlichen Wörter wie „verzeipelten“ und „abpesern“

Brent Sørensen
Germany
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  philgoddard
52 mins
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