den Schein für die Sache nehmen

English translation: take appearances for reality

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:den Schein für die Sache nehmen
English translation:take appearances for reality
Entered by: Kim Metzger

21:44 May 7, 2004
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Anthropology
German term or phrase: den Schein für die Sache nehmen
Wenn jemand sich von Äußerlichkeiten täuschen lässt und statt des wahren Gehalts einer Sache eben nur deren Blendwerk sieht.
Julia Moreau
take appearances for reality
Explanation:
Called one of the "richest, most imageful and full blown modern comedies," The Playboy of the Western World is a celebration of the comic and the tender, the earthy and the grand. When young Christy Mahon, on the way to finding his true love - and his manhood - bashes his bully of a father, he becomes the idol of a small Irish village, thus setting off the famed playwright's sardonic attack on the Irish tendency to take appearances for reality.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030727111949/http://www.steppen...
Selected response from:

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 17:03
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +3take appearances for reality
Kim Metzger
5 +1blinded (from the true value) by outward appearances
David Hollywood
4to take rhinestones for diamonds
Wenjer Leuschel (X)
4to mistake glitter for the real thing
gangels (X)
4to judge a book by its cover
IanW (X)


  

Answers


12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
den Schein für die Sache nehmen
blinded (from the true value) by outward appearances


Explanation:
"blinded by outward appearances" würde schon reichen denke ich

David Hollywood
Local time: 20:03
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gareth McMillan: Gets across the naievity implication.
23 hrs
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
den Schein für die Sache nehmen
to take rhinestones for diamonds


Explanation:
Not everything that shines is gold.
So, one might take rhinestones for diamonds.
A suggestion.


Wenjer Leuschel (X)
Taiwan
Local time: 07:03
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
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22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
den Schein für die Sache nehmen
take appearances for reality


Explanation:
Called one of the "richest, most imageful and full blown modern comedies," The Playboy of the Western World is a celebration of the comic and the tender, the earthy and the grand. When young Christy Mahon, on the way to finding his true love - and his manhood - bashes his bully of a father, he becomes the idol of a small Irish village, thus setting off the famed playwright's sardonic attack on the Irish tendency to take appearances for reality.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030727111949/http://www.steppen...


Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 17:03
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Wenjer Leuschel (X): That's plain and better.
10 mins

agree  David Hollywood: yes Kim, that flows better, very nice
22 mins

agree  NGK: or: to mistake appearance for reality
29 mins
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
to mistake glitter for the real thing


Explanation:
xxx

gangels (X)
Local time: 17:03
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
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21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
den Schein für die Sache nehmen
to judge a book by its cover


Explanation:
I like Kim's take on this, but here is another alternative: "to judge a book by its cover" or "to judge books by their covers"

IanW (X)
Local time: 00:03
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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