Nervenfutter

English translation: a little something to tempt the taste buds

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Nervenfutter
English translation:a little something to tempt the taste buds
Entered by: Edwin Miles

14:51 Jul 31, 2014
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / idiomatic German
German term or phrase: Nervenfutter
Mit unserem diesjährigen Dankeschön möchten wir Ihnen den Jahresausklang versüßen. Mit ein wenig ## Nervenfutter ## im Gepäck lassen sich in 2015 gemeinsam die höchsten Gipfel erklimmen. Wir wünschen fröhliche Festtage & ein glückliches neues Jahr!

I'm having trouble capturing the "essence" of Nervenfutter here. This is part of a text for a Christmas card to be sent out with some kind of chocolate treat. All suggestions welcome, as usual!!
Edwin Miles
Germany
Local time: 22:20
a little something to tempt the taste buds
Explanation:
this is a free rendering of course but I think it gets the idea

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2014-08-01 02:18:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"a little treat to calm the nerves" would be a more literal so up to you :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2014-08-01 02:20:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

has to be something snappy ...
Selected response from:

David Hollywood
Local time: 18:20
Grading comment
Thanks David. In the end, I went with "With a little something sweet to brace the nerves," which I'm now having second thoughts about...and I think your suggestion is probably closer to the mark.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4Comfort food/Comfort candy
Pauline Alexiou
3 +2energy snack
Riesling
3 +2a little something to tempt the taste buds
David Hollywood
3 +1a small 'chocolate treat'
RISHON REUBEN
3stress-relieving snack(s)
Armorel Young
3feel-good treats
Johanna Timm, PhD
3nuts and raisins
Yorkshireman
2Christmas nibbles
John O'Brien


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
Christmas nibbles


Explanation:
I am guessing that nervenfutter is along the lines of Studentenfutter. I checked the Google images search for the product Nervenhahrung. This appears to be a bar containing nuts and raisins and chocolate chips.
Does your Christmas card packet contain these ingredients? If it is only chocolate you could also say "Chocolate chip nibbles"

John O'Brien
Local time: 22:20
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
stress-relieving snack(s)


Explanation:
Possibly

or: a comforting snack / energising snack


Nervenfutter

Das richtige Essen in stressigen Zeiten

Gerade wenn es hektisch zugeht, sollten wir uns die Zeit nehmen, Körper, Geist und Seele mit wertvollen Nahrungsmitteln zu stärken. Der Schokoriegel taugt höchstens kurzfristig als Nervenfutter. MEDIZIN populär über das richtige Essen in stressigen Zeiten.

http://www.medizinpopulaer.at/archiv/seele-sein/details/arti...



Armorel Young
Local time: 21:20
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 134
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
a small 'chocolate treat'


Explanation:
Its probably a synonym for Nervennahrung, which obviously refers to the chocolates. Its something that's good for the nerves basically and chocolates serve that purpose.

So the word you used is good enough 'chocolate treat'... Something like 'a treat for the nerves' would be awkward in a greeting card, I suppose.

RISHON REUBEN
India
Local time: 02:50
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Björn Vrooman: If you want a noun, here you go; maybe add delicious/special. The "Pink Hummer limo" website says that the "luxury chocolate fountains" are "for kids parties", and it's "that all-important chilled champagne to calm your nerves" - wrong treat, I guess!
1 day 2 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

58 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
energy snack


Explanation:
Agree with Johanna and Rishon, Nervennahrung is the more idiomatic term, and it may refer to various types of snacks, but in particular to chocolate.

It does not work too well with the Gipfel metaphor as Nervennahrung is supposed to give mental/intellectual stamina a boost, not necessarily physical stamina.

By contrast, a trail mix would work well, as pointed out by Johanna, but you would need to verify that this is indeed the type of snack to be sent along with the card.

Hence my suggestion to fit both the summit metaphor and whatever high-calory treat the sender decides to include.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 Stunde (2014-07-31 15:53:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I admit it does sound rather pedestrian.

Riesling
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 1

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yorkshireman: Walkers and hikers are by nature pedestrian :-)
8 hrs

neutral  Björn Vrooman: See discussion post. You're trying to combine two words that I don't see directly related in the sentence. The "im Gepäck" has more to do with "semantic flow" than it has with the mountain metaphor. The "mental" cue was correct, though.
14 hrs

agree  Harald Moelzer (medical-translator): fits the German meaning best
4 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Comfort food/Comfort candy


Explanation:
I would say that "nervenfutter" would be "comfort food", with chocolate rating towards the top of the list, especially with women. However, as this is part of a greeting on a christmas card accompanying a chocolate gift,
perhaps "comfort candy" is more appropriate.

Example sentence(s):
  • Chocolate is one of the favourite "comfort foods".
Pauline Alexiou
Local time: 23:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: I didn't choose this because, for me, comfort food or comfort candy is what you eat to forget a rejected job application or getting the cold shoulder if you ask someone out, or something along those lines, and that's far from the case here.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Trudy Peters: Comfort food sounds good. (Choc isn't candy).
9 mins
  -> Thank you Trudy. Chocolate in itself may not be candy, although it is bought in a candy store. But I am guessing that as this is a gift, it would be chocolates or chocolate coated candies etc. Have a nice evening.

agree  Helen Shiner: Thank you, Pauline; you, too.
50 mins
  -> Thank you Helen and have a nice evening.

agree  franglish
2 hrs
  -> Thank you and have a nice weekend

neutral  Yorkshireman: If "gemeinsam die höchsten Gipfel erklimmen" is meant literally, this is way off track for outdoor adventure-sports folk. Sorry for the disagree - I was assuming that this was a Christmas extra from a "Wanderverein" oder "Alpinistenverband"
7 hrs
  -> Thanks for your comments. Have a nice weekend.

neutral  Björn Vrooman: As Johanna pointed out, this does not work in the US - unless you're sending a cook along with the package: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/photos/americas-best-top-... // May erase comment if asker specifies (UK/US). You, too!
15 hrs
  -> Thanks for your opinion. Have a nice weekend.

agree  Cilian O'Tuama: works for me (w/o caps)
4 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
feel-good treats


Explanation:
googles well, - also with gift baskets, and "feel good" works well with the Christmas theme.

("Comfort food" I associate more with an entire meal)

picture: http://www.obbgifts.com/Feel-Good-Treats-gift-basket-p/ca_03...

description: https://www.theleafstore.com.au/blog/new-in-feel-good-treats...


Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Local time: 14:20
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 90

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Helen Shiner: Comfort food is very often simply chocolate or whatever we grab as a snack to relax. Often, unfortunately, the stuff that makes us put on weight. Not generally a whole meal./Don't know who has compiled that. Not the way we use it here (UK).
3 hrs
  -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_food/ Click the footnote in the Wiki section "British comfort food", it lists sources (including "BBC comfort food recipes", etc)

neutral  Yorkshireman: If "gemeinsam die höchsten Gipfel erklimmen" is meant literally, this is way off track for outdoor adventure-sports folk. Sorry for the disagree - I was assuming that this was a Christmas extra from a "Wanderverein" oder "Alpinistenverband"
3 hrs
  -> I'm pretty sure it's not meant literally- :-) "neue Gipfel erklimmen" is a rather common idiom. http://www.google.ca/webhp?nord=1#nord=1&q="neue gipfel erkl...

neutral  Björn Vrooman: Just hope you're not referring to the Canadian brand. // Very strange! Even without quotation marks around gift basket, I get 29 results only. Agree with you on "comfort food", though (see above). PS: Maybe it's a dog owner's association :)
11 hrs
  -> Hi Björn! I get 22,500 hits for "feel-good treats"+gift baskets, but this result may be region-dependent. Re the Spa: if the recipient reads the card and sees the chocolate, he'll prob. not say"Aw shucks, I expected a Spa/dog treat:)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
nuts and raisins


Explanation:
This is what I understand under Nervenfutter.

UK mountaineers and potholers swear by Kendal Mint Cake as a quick source of energy

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 46 mins (2014-07-31 15:38:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This is about "instant energy" rather than relaxation. (though I must admit, I like John's Christmas nibbles idea!)

Anyone who has done any serious fell walking (me), mountain climbing or potholing (me) will know that chocolate is the last thing to pack in a rucksack or anorak/overall pocket. You only do it once (me) - getting melted chocolate out of any kind of fabric is the pits.

Dried fruits (not prunes, they have nasty side effects), nuts, cereal bars, concentrated sugars (glucose - Kendal Mint Cake), or even a bag of rolled oats to munch on, are the staples for such trips and are, above all light and don't take up much space.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2014-08-01 00:00:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Power food" and "power booster" also come to mind.

Yorkshireman
Germany
Local time: 22:20
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 39

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Björn Vrooman: I do like your suggestions usually; I don't understand your mountain-climbing quotes here, though. On second thought: How do you get from Edwin's (the asker's) "chocolate treat" to "nuts and raisins"? (First objection: see discussion post).
14 hrs
  -> I was assuming that this was a Christmas extra from a "Wanderverein" oder "Alpinistenverband". My German idiom mode must have been deactivated yesterday.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
a little something to tempt the taste buds


Explanation:
this is a free rendering of course but I think it gets the idea

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2014-08-01 02:18:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"a little treat to calm the nerves" would be a more literal so up to you :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2014-08-01 02:20:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

has to be something snappy ...

David Hollywood
Local time: 18:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47
Grading comment
Thanks David. In the end, I went with "With a little something sweet to brace the nerves," which I'm now having second thoughts about...and I think your suggestion is probably closer to the mark.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Björn Vrooman: Really don't care whether it's "snappy". I think it works best A) because I dunno why people want to adopt the Germans' crazy over-use of nouns and B) because of the problems associated with some of the other words. Maybe another verb option?
5 hrs
  -> thanks Björn :) and welcome to Kudoz :)

agree  Johanna Timm, PhD: I really like this!
13 hrs
  -> well thank you very much Johanna and best greetings from BA :) ist ein Vergüngen, von dir zu hören und schöne Grüße

neutral  Cilian O'Tuama: steak w. red wine, bacon, onions, garlic all tempt my tastebuds, but this seems to be about something sweet.
3 days 21 hrs
  -> thanks Cilian and appreciate your comments as always :)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search