...was er vom nervus rerum bessessen habe.

English translation: (devoured) any money he had

05:26 Feb 26, 2010

German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - History

German term or phrase: ...was er vom nervus rerum bessessen habe.

The source text is a speech to be given on "Children, Money and Economic Education in the Nineteenth Century"

Here is the full sentence along with the previous and openning sentence of the paragraph:

Im Jahr 1883 schreibt der 19-jaehrige Student Max nach Hause: "Ich werde von Tag zu Tag dicker; nur die Hungerkur, die ich infolge meiner vollkommenen Ebbe jetzt durchmache, laesst mich wieder abmagern...". Die Ferienreise habe alles verzehrt, was er vom nervus rerum bessessen habe.

Could this possibly be a grammatical error? I just can't make sense of it...thanks for any help!

Daniel Tucker (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 16 (none open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 2 Canada
Local time: 05:17

English translation:(devoured) any money he had

Explanation:
In other words, he hasn't got any money left and is losing weight (which he has put on during the holiday) due to the fact that he can't eat

I think it is just a fancy way of saying 'means' or 'money'.

The phrase does show up with plenty of google refs.

Selected response from:

Elisabeth Kissel
Australia
Local time: 19:17

Grading comment

Thanks! After I gave it some more thought, I don't know why I had so much trouble with it.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

2 +6

(devoured) any money he had

Elisabeth Kissel

Summary of reference entries provided

Nervus Rerum

Annett Kottek (X)

Discussion entries: 3

Answers

25 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

(devoured) any money he had

Elisabeth Kissel
Australia
Local time: 19:17
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 12

Grading comment

Thanks! After I gave it some more thought, I don't know why I had so much trouble with it.

Reference comments

2 hrs peer agreement (net): +4

Reference: Nervus Rerum

Reference information:
'Die lateinische Wendung bedeutet wörtlich übersetzt »Nerv der (aller) Dinge« und wird im bildungssprachlichen Gebrauch im Sinne von »Triebfeder, Zielpunkt allen Strebens, das Entscheidende« gebraucht und meistens auf das Geld bezogen: Sprechen wir doch einmal über die wirtschaftlichen Interessen des Konzerns, hier scheint mir nämlich der Nervus Rerum unseres Problems zu liegen! Das Ganze nennt sich Wohltätigkeitsveranstaltung, aber im Grund geht es diesen Leuten nur um den Nervus Rerum.'
Duden - Das große Buch der Zitate und Redewendungen, Mannheim 2002 [CD-ROM]

Annett Kottek (X)
United Kingdom
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 8

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...was er vom nervus rerum bessessen habe.

English translation: (devoured) any money he had

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...was er vom nervus rerum bessessen habe.

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