Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
ist Gift für ein Team
English translation:
is disruptive for any team
Added to glossary by
Astrid Elke Witte
Nov 22, 2009 11:05
14 yrs ago
German term
Germany
Edting + translation since 1987
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, German to English, German, and 1 more.
ist Gift für
German to English
Bus/Financial
Management
Der ganze Satz lautet:
Disziplinlosigkeit ist Gift für jedes Team.
Die Bedeutung müsste eigentlich klar sein (?): Jedes Teammitglied muss sich an aufgestellte Regeln halten.
Mir geht es allerdings nur um das "Gift" (kommt z.B. auch vor in Wendungen wie "Gift für jede Beziehung"). Gibt es im Englischen etwas Entsprechendes?
Disziplinlosigkeit ist Gift für jedes Team.
Die Bedeutung müsste eigentlich klar sein (?): Jedes Teammitglied muss sich an aufgestellte Regeln halten.
Mir geht es allerdings nur um das "Gift" (kommt z.B. auch vor in Wendungen wie "Gift für jede Beziehung"). Gibt es im Englischen etwas Entsprechendes?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | disruptive |
wfarkas (X)
|
| 3 +5 | is extremely damaging / is (utterly) harmful |
BrigitteHilgner
|
| 4 +2 | is deadly |
Cilan
|
| 5 | ... is poisonous for... |
Ferguson (X)
|
| 5 | is toxic |
Rosa Paredes
|
| 4 | .. is poison to any team... |
Werner Hehn
|
| 3 +1 | is anathema for/in |
polyglot45
|
| 3 | detrimental |
Rolf Keiser
|
Change log
Sep 26, 2010 21:04: Astrid Elke Witte changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/133642">Jutta Scherer's</a> old entry - "... ist Gift für ein Team"" to ""is disruptive for any team""
Sep 26, 2010 21:05: Astrid Elke Witte changed "Term asked" from "... ist Gift für..." to "ist Gift für"
Proposed translations
17 hrs
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
Selected
disruptive
Not playing by the rules is disruptive for any team (because it creates an unproductive/poisonous/troubling team dynamic).
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, everybody.
I like "disruptive" better than "harmful" because it expresses what the German "Gift" entails"
+2
17 mins
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
is deadly
or: has a toxic effect on
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Werner Hehn
: "is deadly" - yes, but not has a toxic effect on
5 mins
|
|
Thank you so much, Werner! BTW: Why can't you say "has a toxic effect"?
|
|
| neutral |
ahilbert
: In AE, I feel that it would be appropriate to say that it is toxic to any team. That retains the original sentiment without being to literal. "Toxic" is gaining popularity it seems: "toxic assets", a "toxic relationship."
3 hrs
|
|
Here is where I have to confess that I prefer AE - so I don't know much about "British Understatement" ;-)
|
|
| agree |
Teresa Reinhardt
: either one is just fine
17 hrs
|
|
Thank you, Teresa!
|
19 mins
Werner Hehn
Native in German
&
English
Specializes in field
bi-lingual, bi-cultural, perfectionist
Native in: English 
, German
Works in: English to German, German to English
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
.. is poison to any team...
Man kann auch ruhig sagen, wie im Deutschen auch, "is poison to any team". Anathema ist sicher nicht falsch - aber passt nicht in die übrige Textsprache.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Helen Shiner
: Not a natural thing to say in such circumstances, I don't believe. Somehow it sounds much more extreme in EN than in GER.
1 hr
|
25 mins
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
... is poisonous for...
some examples
...wound up being so poisonous for team chemistry,...
I think individual awards will be poisonous for the entire team.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2009-11-22 11:34:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"poisonous to" is better than "poisonous for"
...wound up being so poisonous for team chemistry,...
I think individual awards will be poisonous for the entire team.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2009-11-22 11:34:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"poisonous to" is better than "poisonous for"
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Helen Shiner
: I feel this is too close to the GER and wouldn't be a natural thing for an EN-speaker to say.
1 hr
|
+5
31 mins
BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Austria
Native in German
Austria
b2b/economics/marketing/market research/
Native in: German 
Works in: German to English, French to German, English to German
Related KudoZ points
:
12
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
is extremely damaging / is (utterly) harmful
More ideas
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Helen Shiner
: Far more likely to be used than images around poison which are too close to the German.
1 hr
|
|
Thank you, Helen.
|
|
| agree |
Anne-Marie Grant (X)
: extremely damaging
2 hrs
|
|
Thank you, Anne-Marie.
|
|
| agree |
Edith Kelly
: with Helen
4 hrs
|
|
Danke schön, Edith.
|
|
| agree |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
: yes, well put/ hi Brigitte, I'll be in touch
8 hrs
|
|
Danke schön, Inge. Grüße aus dem Wiener Nebel ('richtiges' Novemberwetter).
|
|
| agree |
Nicole Backhaus
14 hrs
|
|
Danke schön, Nicole. Frohes Schaffen!
|
+1
3 mins
polyglot45
Native in English
Native in: English , French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
is anathema for/in
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/anathema
One suggestion
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-11-22 12:14:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
is the kiss of death - if you must keep the German image....
One suggestion
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2009-11-22 12:14:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
is the kiss of death - if you must keep the German image....
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Lancashireman
: As Helen points out, too literal a translation (deathly/fatal/poisonous) is anathema, certainly to a BE speaker ('British understatement').
2 hrs
|
4 hrs
Rolf Keiser
Switzerland
Switzerland
Native in German
&
English
Specializes in field
Switzerland
Translate complexity through simplicity
Native in: English (Variants: US, British) , German (Variants: Germany, Swiss)
Works in: German to English, English to German, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
detrimental
lack of discipline has an ill effect on a team; vde. sentence below
Example sentence:
lack of discipline is detrimental to every team
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Cilan
: Altough I really like yor elegant wording, what is so bad about bluntly calling a rose a rose?
1 hr
|
5 hrs
Rosa Paredes
Canada
Canada
Native in English
Works in field
Canada
Criminal, Civil and Immigration Law
Native in: English , Spanish (Variants: Latin American, Chilean, Standard-Spain, Mexican)
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish, French to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
8
German term (edited):
... ist Gift für...
is toxic
This would work in North America, I don't know about UK.
Discussion
So my question was/is whether there is an English expression conveying the same meaning, preferably using a similarly powerful metaphor as "Gift" is in German.
@Brigitte: Wie ich sehe, hat meine Allgemeinbildung offenbar beklagenswerte Lücken - dennoch ist mein Gefühl, dass "Anathema" den Aussagegehalt hier nicht ganz abdeckt.
I had toyed around with "poison" myself but wondered whether it would be too literal, and I hesitated to use "harmful" because it did not seem powerful enough an expression. It turns out that googling the latter gets very few hits while the former gets lots (extended search of US sites) - although I have to admit that most of them refer to sports teams... Still, that really surprised me.
As for "anathema", I hadn't even known the word before. From what the dictionaries tell me it means "someone/something loathed or detested" - or "ein Dorn im Auge" in German. I wonder whether it also conveys the meaning of being detrimental or destructive?