50 Business Spotlight 2/2020 LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE
TRANSLATIONHier finden Sie englische Wörter,
die man leicht verwechselt, und
englische und deutsche Wörter,
deren Übersetzung schwierig ist.
MEDIUMMIKE SEYMOUR
is an author,
trainer and
translator based
in Leeds,
England. Contact:
http://www.mikeseymour.
comDon’t confuse...
debt(s), debit
If you have debt(s), are in debt or get/
go into debt, you have borrowed money
from a person or an institution such as a
bank and have not yet repaid the money
(Schulden haben; verschuldet sein; Schulden
machen):
⋅ “Since he lost his job, he has got into^
a lot of debt.” — Seitdem er seinen
Arbeitsplatz verloren hat, hat er viele
Schulden gemacht.You can be indebted to someone not
only financially but also metaphorically,
meaning that you are grateful for their
help (jmdm. zu Dank verpflichtet sein).If someone debits money from your bank
account, they deduct or collect it from it
(abbuchen):
⋅ “The amount will be debited on the
15th of the following month.” — Der
Betrag wird am 15. des Folgemonats
abgebucht.You can set up a direct debit (Lastschrift-
verfahren) so that a regular bill — often for
different amounts — can be paid from
your account. And many people pay with
a debit card (Debitkarte, EC-Karte) rather
than using cash.- Make your choice
Complete these sentences with the correct form of
“debt(s)” or “debit”.A. I am worried that I won’t ever be able to repay my
.
B. The balance of the costs will be six
weeks before you travel.
C. She pays all her bills by direct so that
she does not get into by mistake.Tricky translations
- How would you say that?
Translate the following sentences.A. Although she works in a chemist’s, she is not actually
a trained chemist.B. Ihre wissenschaftliche Forschung in der Physik ist für die
Gesellschaft sehr wichtig.Answers1.debtsA.debitedB.debit, debtC.2.Obwohl sie in einer A.Apotheke arbeitet,ist sie eigentlichkeine gelernteApothekerin.Her scientific B.research in physicsis very important forsociety.How do you say “chemist”
in German?
A “chemist” can be someone
who has studied chemistry. In
German, this is Chemiker(in):
⋅ “After studying to become
a chemist, he worked in a
lab.” — Nach seiner Ausbil-
dung zum Chemiker arbeitete
er in einem Labor.Especially in British English,
a “chemist” or “chemist’s” is a
shop where you can buy medi-
cines, cosmetics, beauty prod-
ucts, etc. In American English,
this is called a “pharmacy” or
“drugstore”. The German trans-
lation is either Apotheke or
Drogerie, depending on what
one is buying, as medicines are
sold only in an Apotheke:
⋅ “Please, can you pick up my
medicine from the chem-
ist?” — Kannst Du bitte meine
Medikamente in der Apotheke
abholen?A “chemist” (“pharmacist”
in American English) is also
someone trained to prepare
drugs and medicines in a
chemist’s. This is Apotheker(in):
⋅ “The chemist said I needed
a prescription from my doc-
tor for that medicine.” —
Der Apotheker sagte mir, dass
ich für dieses Medikament ein
Rezept meines Arztes benötige.How do you say wissen-
schaftlich in English?
Wissenschaftlich can refer to the
classic research subjects one
studies at university (scien-
tific, academic or scholarly):
⋅ Seine Forschung wurde in
einer wissenschaftlichen
Fachzeitschrift zitiert. — “His
research was quoted in an
academic journal.”Scientific is normally restrict-
ed to the natural sciences
(Naturwissenschaften). In con-
nection with the humanities,
one typically uses scholarly.
In the social sciences, there is
some overlap. Only academic
can be used as broadly as wis-
senschaftlich in German.The noun Wissenschaft can be
translated as science in the
case of the natural sciences or,
in a broader sense, academia:
⋅ Unser Beirat besteht aus^
Vertretern aus Wirtschaft,
Wissenschaft und Politik.
— “Our advisory council
consists of representatives
from business, academia
and politics.”Universities often employ
wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter(in-
nen). This is normally trans-
lated as research assistants or
research associates.