niet meteen tot zijn biotoop behoren

18:14 Apr 10, 2012 

I don't think it is about a parallel.
They say - you cannot be exact in these things, they say something like - the church is not part of his 'world', or the church is 'not exactly his scene', he is from a different world and background, the world of prisons and a background of a lower socioeconomic class probably

then 'biotope', in this context, evokes associations like 'go on doing what you always have been doing', belonging to a specific 'breed' :-), 'an identity', etc

Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals

17:36 Apr 10, 2012 

If you can find any parallel between "biotoop" and "kerk" as you would "habit" (clerical garb) and "church", that might be a great argument. But, as I'm arguing... it's still far reaching.

17:29 Apr 10, 2012 

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, and that everyone's "professional" rational would kick in, but what I'm arguing is that the mistranslation of biotoop to mean habitat is simply wrong.

"Habitat" has no involvement of living beings.

Biotopes imply a sense of community as pertaining to a particular habitat, i.e. the symbiosis of the two.

If anything, a "biotoop" merely suggests the existence of something that is a part of one's everyday life. Nothing more.

Coming from a science background, I'm against blurring the meaning of habitat to include anything in nature where "things" naturally live, which is an oversimplified childhood definition.

Scientifically speaking - that's categorically incorrect.

So I'm not suggesting that it has to do with animals, I'm asserting that a "habitat" doesn't necessarily include anything living at all.

I would encourage you to also research the distinctions in Dutch as well, because even Dutch wiki makes a clear argument for why a biotoop is NOT a habitat.

More explanation of the nuance can be found here:

http://www.coastalwiki.org/coastalwiki/Biotopes_and_classifi...

http://www.coastalwiki.org/coastalwiki/Habitat

16:38 Apr 10, 2012 

it is humerous and metaphoric way of conveying an idea
it conveys notions like 'habit', 'the church is something outlandisch to him', 'being his scene/not being his scene, etc, etc.
rather than complicating things it is a most effective way of expressing a great many things through one word

16:02 Apr 10, 2012 

Hello Jack,

Yes, I can grasp that.
My view on language is that one ought not make it any more complicated than necessary, in essence language should be accessible to the widest audience possible and one should not try to sound clever by using a difficult word that not many have heard of if there is an equally good other word available that more people do understand.

If I'm designing parts for an aeroplane, then of course I must use the specific, absolutely accurate and correct words/terms for parts, etc. Those able to understand those words/terms might be those who studied that subject, however, in ordinary language complicating matters, to my mind, is a sign of the wannabe!
The text was simple, the term unnecessary and out of the flow of things, making it harder to understand for most people.

I may be completely wrong but it seems that way to me.

15:26 Apr 10, 2012 

...is not an appropriate term in relation to humans, metaphorically or otherwise.

While I understand where people are going with this, I believe there are far far FAR better ways to express this without using that term.

Addendum: It's also worthy to note (if considering nuance) that a biotope is a smaller subset of a habitat.

15:00 Apr 10, 2012 

He likes it so much he uses it less than a page later: "F werd een straatkind dat al op jonge leeftijd met criminele activiteiten begon. Het schoolleven kwam snel op de tweede plaats. De straat was zijn biotoop en daar koos F voor." That sounds more like "the street was where he was in his element".

14:12 Apr 10, 2012 

I think the term is used metaphorically here.

14:08 Apr 10, 2012 

Biotope is the English equivalent but biotope/biotoop (apparently from the German biotop) is related to plant and animal habitat, so the author used a word that doesn't apply to humans... is my guess.
Considering he/she has misused the word, I wonder whether or not it's okay to misuse it in the translation too!

Is the writer knowledgeable or did he/she do it (misuse the word) on purpose because he/she thought it sounded good (flash)?