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German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
German term or phrase:soziales Netz
"Ich war gerade erst in Berlin angekommen und hatte noch kein soziales Netz....", i.e. kannte noch nicht so viele Leute, hatte wenige Freunde und Bekannte. "Social network" as a translation is, I guess, out of the question here because it evokes totally different connotations. Danke für Ihre Ideen!
Explanation: Why let Facebook et al. steal our vocabulary?!
Examples (all found by googling "had no social network"):
He had no social network and isolated himself from the world. His home became inhabitable due to hoarding as well as unsanitary conditions.
I had no social network up there at the time. I was boarding rather than flatting. I was an 18 year old, fundamentally lonely I suppose for those first few months...
...was not satisfying and he had no social network to speak of. He wanted me to fill in this big hole in his life.
...prisoners who had no social network outside the walled compounds in which they worked...
I had moved to a new city, taken on a new job and had no social network. I was too deaf to watch television, go to the movies or listen to music or the radio.
At that time I had no social network in Calgary. It was frightening, but I chose to trust my inner guidance system.
etc.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2012-11-21 11:01:21 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I am in no way trying to suggest that the other answers given here are at all wrong. As explanations, they are all spot on. I am merely suggesting that there is no need to paraphrase when – to my mind, at least – there is nothing wrong with a direct translation. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if "soziales Netz" in the source text was actually used here as a direct calque of the English "social network" in the first place. If so, translating it back into English as "social network" could not possibly come closer to the author's intended use.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2012-11-21 11:06:19 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
"I had only just arrived in Berlin and had not yet established/built up a social network."
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2012-11-21 11:50:34 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Jut to reiterate here what I stated in one of the comment boxes above: the few examples I looked at on Google (some of which I have cited here) came from Canada, USA, Ireland, UK and New Zealand. In other words, "social network" appears to be used with precisely this meaning and in precisely this context throughout the English-speaking world.
Horst, you are absolutely right. The time the guy is talking about is the late 80's, however the text itself was written in the middle of 2000's. I apologize for the confusion, had the look it up myself. I could add that I've heard German speakers using "soziales Netz" in the sense it's used in this discussion since early 2000's.
Horst Huber (X)
United States
If the text was written in
04:02 Nov 22, 2012
1987, I would find the choice of the word surprising, referring, as it would, to a time years before that. Nicole's remark should not be overlooked, she was thinking of the "social safety net". I can't help thinking we are dealing with later hindsight, when "network" came into more frequent use.
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
@Helen
10:48 Nov 21, 2012
Was it something I said?
@Colin - I don't trust Facebook - no joke, but also no damnation
I guess I just don't trust Facebook users! [Joke!]
re. "I'm not a fan of Ghits." No space to reply in the "Agree" box, so I shall answer here: I would never rely on Google as a definitive, authoritative reference source; what it is, however, is a vast source of language as it is actually used. It also has the advantage, as I have tried to show, that it provides relevant examples from all corners of the English-speaking world, i.e. it is not specific to, say, UK or US.
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
@Colin
10:40 Nov 21, 2012
I guess I just don't trust my readership! This is a classic case of taste. And before someone hits me for that, also a case of rhythm - what sounds best, as well.
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
@Helen
10:31 Nov 21, 2012
Yes, I agree with your comment on the commas, it would only draw attention to other connotations. Still, even if the text dates back to 1987, it will be read in contemporary times, the risk, in my mind, remains.
...one term cannot be used for more than one meaning. e.g. if one refers to behaviour at the BBC not being "PC", we do not mean that they have all started using Apple Macs! I am perfectly happy with the use of "social network" in its broader, original sense, alongside its more narrow recent use to mean "substitute for an actual social network"!
I don't know about Colin, but I'm certainly a stickler about these sorts of things, too. Context is all and in 1987 there would be absolutely no call for an association with today's other kinds of social network. Putting the term in inverted commas would, I think, be distracting.
I hadn't yet made any friends etc. In other words, I hadn't yet built up a "social network"
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
@Helen and Colin
10:20 Nov 21, 2012
Like I said, I tend to be a stickler, so if it awakens associations in my mind, I think the readers, or at least some of them, would have the same association, causing the brain to get distracted from the flow of text. I differentiate postal exchanges and email, too. (snail mail/email)
then there is no possible confusion with Facebook, etc. A "social network" had no IT connotations back then. In the same way that we still use "mail" to mean "postal service" (e.g. Royal Mail, US Mail), despite the prevalence today of "(e-)mail".
But given the context, there is no confusion, so I wouldn't understand your scruples.
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
@Helen
10:11 Nov 21, 2012
I am also an English writer, and I wouldn't use social network simply because of its IT connotations, in MY mind. It REALLY depends on the tone of the text. The most neutral translation, in my opinion, would be "contacts".
thank you all for your swift replies! The tone of the text is casual, it is a person reminiscent of his early days here in the city, before he got to know people and found places to hang out in etc. The text dates however back to 1987.
Try googling "had no social network". You will find page after page of relevant hits about people with no network of friends/acquaintances/contacts, and barely a hit referring to Twitter, Facebook and Co.
"social network" could work in English in this context but it is a heavy and Germanic sounding term IMO. An English writer would be unlikely to use that term.
by a very young person? Unfortunately young Germans tend to learn their very own German from back-translated anglicisms these days. Technically "soziales Netz" means social security, pensions, health insurance, etc. If in doubt, maybe you would like to provide a little bit more background / context? "Social network" therefor is perfectly fine.
In einem Brief an Freunde würde ich nicht "social network" schreiben, aber wenn es sich z.B. um einen Zeitungsartikel handelt (berühmte Person ist nach Berlin gezogen und wird interviewt) kann ich mir den Begriff "social network" durchaus als passend vorstellen. Der Stil des Textes ist wichtig. Horses for courses.
I think this is absolutely appropriate in the circumstances and does not make one think of the term's other meaning in this context. It would be rather clumsy to have to write 'circle of friends and acquaintances' and anyway that does not cover it.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
16 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +3
contacts/have any friends/acquaintances/I didn't know anyone
Explanation: It really depends on the tone: casual? = I didn't know anyone/wasn't acquainted with anyone businesslike? = contacts lonely/romantic? = I hadn't friend in the world/didn't know a soul, etc
Ramey Rieger (X) Germany Local time: 03:36 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 70
peer agreement (net): +3