In America we say that second place is the first loser, and when we don’t win, we start looking for another sport to be champions in, and if we can’t find one, we invent one. Germans on the other hand celebrate their losses and declare themselves “champions of the heart”, even when their team gets totally dominated.
If the Germans come in third place they call it a fairy tale, so coming in second place must be nothing short of a miracle.
deutsche Übersetzung für Astrid ein/ausblenden
Einen schönen guten Abend, liebe Astrid,
hier die Übersetzung:
Deutsche gewinnen immer, auch wenn sie verlieren
In Amerika heisst es, dass ein zweiter Platz der erste Verlierer ist, und wenn wir nicht gewinnen, suchen wir uns einen anderen Sport, in dem wir Meister sein können und wenn wir keinen finden, erfinden wir einen. Die Deutschen dagegen feiern ihre Verluste und nennen sich selbst “Meister der Herzen”, auch wenn ihre Mannschaft total dominiert wird.
Wenn die Deutschen den dritten Platz machen, nennen sie es ein Märchen, also kann ein zweiter Platz nicht weniger als ein Wunder sein.
Herzliche Grüße,
John
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June 30th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Well, the real trouble is that Americans only compete in sports that no one else wants to play.
Funny post, though.
June 30th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
LOL about the picture …
June 30th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
wir können halt gut verlieren. Ist doch auch ein netter Charakterzug
June 30th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
@Sabine:
in the field of sports, that US recently can’t even win in their own invented sports (basketball and baseball) on top international level
June 30th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Two words: “World” Series.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Da Astrid darum gebeten hat und dieser Blog sowieso (fast) nur von Deutschen gelesen wird, schreibe ich mal auf Deutsch.
>If the Germans come in third place they call it a fairy tale, so coming in second place must be nothing short of a miracle.
So wie ich das verstanden haben wurde diese Geschichte lediglich “Sommermärchen” genannt weil Deutschland der Ort der Austragung war und die Deutschen ein “wahres Fussballfest gefeiert haben”. Damit soll gemeint sein wie sie diese Meisterschaft ausgerichtet hatten. Es war, und das kann ich persönlich bestätigen, eine unglaubliche ausgelassene Stimmung auf den Straßen und das haben sich die Deutschen selbst nicht zugetraut. Insbesondere, dass sie sich selbst als eigene Flagge verkleiden ist mir vorher noch nicht untergekommen. Das hatte also weniger mit dem Abschneiden, den dritten Platz zutun, obwohl zu vermuten ist, dass die Deutschen nicht ganz so ausgelassen gewesen wären wenn sie nach der Vorrunde raus geflogen wären (siehe Beispiel der Österreicher und Schweizer).
Die Spanier haben wirklich ein gutes Spiel bzw. eine gute Meisterschaft geliefert und es sind wenigstens nicht die Italiener geworden ;-))
Es hieß doch “Lieber Dritter als Petze!”, oder nicht?
July 1st, 2008 at 12:48 am
“Jede Niederlage ein neuer Sieg”
July 1st, 2008 at 8:00 am
>> Da Astrid darum gebeten hat und dieser Blog sowieso (fast) nur von
>> Deutschen gelesen wird, schreibe ich mal auf Deutsch.
Wha?
July 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
Okay, lets say this first: we sucked and Spain has really deserved the title (and the 8 year old son of my best friends wholeheartedly disagrees
)
I think the “winner takes all” mentality, which is very strong in the US (as I experienced during my participation in Track & Field and Archery), is wrong. I mean, look at how many teams participated in the EM and we came in second! So we can’t be that bad in the end.
Just because I am not best in a particular field does not make my contribution less valuable or meaningless (and again this is a concept my friends’ kid still has to learn 
).
The world does not just consist of winners and I doubt that the majority of people would describe themselves as losers. I certainly don’t
July 1st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Die Welt wäre ein stiller Ort, wenn nur die begabtesten Vögel sängen.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Ein Spiel dauert 90 Minuten und am Ende gewinnen die Deutschen - even when they lose!
July 1st, 2008 at 2:34 pm
@ Germaican in New York
Dies ist ein Betrag von Astrid von dem Beitrag “You can say you to me”
Astrid Says:
June 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
> Hallo lieber john, du bist so fleißig mit deinen deutschen übersetzungen.danke,schatz!!!!
> es wäre nett wenn die deutschen leser dieser fantastischen seite ihre kommentare in deutsch abgeben würden,weil unser john kann nicht nur toll unsere sprache sprechen, sondern wie einge wissen,sogar deutsche dialekte.
Ein Blick in die FAQ verrät, dass es sich hier um die Mutter seiner Freundin handelt. Diese sei mir an dieser Stelle herzlichst gegrüßt.
@ John: Deine Seite macht echt Spaß und macht Hunger auf mehr.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
If we can’t celebrate the victory, we still can celebrate our team, which did a very good job, we made the world cup semifinal in 06, and the final this time, no other team in the world was able to accomplish this, so even without winning we’re pretty successful. As it was pointed out in the end the best team got the trophy, which rarely happens, you have to respect that.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:37 pm
and don’t forget the second place in Japan in 02, loosing to Brasil…
July 1st, 2008 at 4:49 pm
oh,wie nett von anonymous mich zu grüßen.sei auch du herzlich gegrüßt.
es macht wirklich spaß diese seite zu lesen.
Astrid
July 1st, 2008 at 6:35 pm
As an American, working in America, for a German company, this blog is right on.. I find myself noticing a lot of parallels to my work and the blog topics. However, I myself cannot read Deutsch, and Google translate really messes up the comments most of the time. You Germans are not the only ones reading this, please remember that.
July 1st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
“…no other team in the world was able to accomplish this, so even without winning we’re pretty successful.”
@ Dent: in 1998 France won the worldcup and 2000 France beat Italy in the European Championship and won it. What do you mean no other team in the world was able to accomplish this?
July 1st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Hi
I think, we celebrate the feast and the reception in Berlin should be a reward for the team to give us 3 weeks of fun, “public viewing”, excitement.
No one of my friends is a soccer-lover - but since 2006 during WM and EM we enjoy this new kind of beeing proud of the team.
It´s our summer fairy tale… and when we lost - we congratulate the spanish and had fun with them…. same thing did the turkish fans…
“summer fairy tale reloaded”…
Wendy
July 1st, 2008 at 9:29 pm
@ Scott
I am sorry. I nearly read all of the posts and comments. I thought even John follows my opinion (> FAQ) that nearly only Germans are reading this homepage. So I did like to do Astrid a favour in writing my comments in german.
I’d like to sum up the content of my comment:
I tried to point out that Germans call the championship of 2006 “Sommermärchen” (summer fairy tale?), because of how they celebrated it and not because of that third place. Okay, I am not even 30 years old, but I have never seen so much Germans in such a good mood as in these days. You don’t see Germans really often waving their flags or placing one at their cars. One reason could be that the German team played quite well. Probably the mood of the people of Austria and Switzerland would have been better, if their teams would have made it into the finals.
The soccer team of Spain really did a good job. On the plus side, it were not the Italian who won the Championship. I am sorry, but I really don’t like the Italian way of playing soccer. The Spanish team really earned the Cup in beating them.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Ich gebe wonkothesane vollkommen recht. Das Sommermärchen war nicht eigentlich der dritte Platz - obwohl der natürlich geholfen hat - sondern die Stimmung insgesamt. Besser als die Wise Guys in ihrem Lied “Klinsi” kann man es eigentlich nicht zusammenfassen:
“Das war so ein geiler Sommer.
Das war wie ein schöner Traum.
An schönere vier Wochen
erinner’ ich mich kaum.”
Ja, so war’s tatsächlich. Einfach nur fantastisch.
Außerdem ist der Titel des entsprechenden Films natürlich ein Bezug auf Heines “Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen”. Das Werk ist nicht ganz so optimistisch
== (Rough) Translation ==
I think wonkothesane is totally right. The “summer fairy tale” wasn’t really coming in third - though that helped, of course - but everybody’s mood. Can’t sum it up better than the Wise Guys in their song “Klinsi”:
It was such an awesome summer,
like a wonderful dream-
I can barely remember
another greater four weeks.
[I know it doesn’t rhyme now. I’m a student, not a poet.]
That’s it exactly. It was truly fantastic.
Besides, the title of that movie is a referende to Heine’s “Germany. A Winter’s Tale”, a work not quite that optimistic
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany._A_Winter%27s_Tale if you’re interested. I have no idea whatsoever whether the typical non-German (as if there was such a thing…) would know about that.)
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Lol!
Thank you, wonkothesane and tschilai, for being so accommodating of me. It is appreciated. While I do not speak Deutsch, I am of German descent. My great-great-grandfather was from Germany, and in trying to trace my lineage I believe I have relatives in Karlsruhe. I would love to visit some day and find out for myself.
I will check out your wikipedia link.
Scott
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
“What do you mean no other team in the world was able to accomplish this?”
It was only related to the last two tournaments. Too put it another way, only one team made the Top 4 in 06 and 08. Btw, Germany has won the Euro in 72 an became world champion in 74
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I’ve been following this website since seeing a link to it from a post on Toytown Germany- I almost couldn’t finish reading aloud to my husband as I was laughing so hard I was crying at times!! (I’m American, he’s German) And while my German isn’t horrible, I definitely find comments in English to be easier to understand as well! Great site- really funny!
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
@ Scot
You are welcome!
Karlsruhe? Never been there, but according to the stories of my best friend who used to live there one and a half years, those people are pretty weird. They speak a really ugly accent (okay, in my opinion). You should probably read John’s stories about that state.
12 years ago I visited the US. Now, I really like to visit my older brother at NYC, but I have no idea which meal I have to order on the flight, to avoid a visit at Guantanamo Bay. ;-))
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Order a hot dog and apple pie as your meal, that will remove all terrorist suspicions and will be delicious.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:18 am
I have a hunch the esteemed author of this blog wasn’t quite as acquainted as he is now with Germany in, uh, let’s say 1994, or 1998.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 am
@ John
Thanks a lot. I will look for an airline which offers that and “nothing for ungood” :-))
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Ganz nach dem Motto: Deutschland belegte einen hevorragenden zweiten Platz waehrend Spanien nur Vorletzter wurde….
July 4th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Kleine Korrektur: Die Übersetzung (für Astrid) müsste lauten ”…und wenn wir nicht GEWINNEN, suchen wir uns einen anderen Sport…”. Nothing for ungood! ;o)
Btw (1): We (Germans) definitely do NOT tend to celebrate a ‘’second winner”. Quite the contrary, we are disappointed about loosing. Solely media exploit nearly everything, even the opposite of it, when they see a chance of making big profit.
4 Astrid: Wir (Deutsche) tendieren definitiv NICHT dazu, einen ”Zweiten Gewinner” zu feiern. Im Gegenteil, wir sind enttäuscht über Niederlagen. Einzig und allein die Medien schlachten alles aus (sogar das Gegenteil davon), wenn es einen großen Gewinn verspricht.
Btw (2): I already knew the actual meaning of ”public viewing” before i read it here. I became a little bit confused about that wrong german interpretation as well as you. But in case of celebrating a looser it makes sence somehow, doesn’t it? ;o)
Ich kannte die eigentliche Bedeutung des Begriffes ”public viewing” schon bevor ich das hier gelesen hatte. Ich war, ebenso wie ihr, etwas irritiert über diese deutsche Fehlinterpretation. Allerdings, wenn man einen Verlierer feiert, dann passt es doch wieder irgendwie, oder nicht? ;o)
July 4th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Tarkus, thanks for pointing out that egregious translation error. I have corrected the translation and am working on patching my translation software to avoid such bugs in the future.
July 4th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
No Clockthing! ;o)
July 4th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Wow, it took me like 30 seconds to figure out what you meant by
“no clockthing”. I guess if I didn’t write the jokes on this site, I wouldn’t get them…
July 5th, 2008 at 4:14 am
I assumed that you would figure out what ‘No Clockthing!’ means. ;o) I suppose you are confronted with such creations permanently? Did you know, that we (Germans) intentionally(!) mistranslate sometimes, too? Namely when Germans imitate Germans speaking English.
The rules seem to be simple:
Translate word by word (in perfection syllable by syllable)!
Ignore the orthography of both languages!
Use the wrongest of all possible meanings!
Avoid English pronunciation!
The major difficulty is, to translate it in such a way, that other Germans, who re-translate it, will understand what is meant.
The results are neologisms like…
Übersetzung = oversitting (translation)
Achtung! = Eighting! (Attention!)
Sieh dich vor! = Look you before! (Be careful!)
Nimm dich ja in acht! = Take you yes in eight! (Be very careful!)
Fronleichnam = Happycadaver (Feast of Corpus Christi)
Einen Augenblick, bitte! = An eyewatch, please! (Just a moment, please!)
Raumfahrer = roomdriver (spaceman)
fortsetzen = awaysit (to continue)
Yes, we can over so something laugh! ;o)
Additional true story:
During our schooldays we asked our (German) English teacher to translate ‘Fallschirmspringer’. Okay, following the rules above, it could be something like ‘fall-umbrella-jumper’. But i suppose our teacher had the correct word (sky diver) in the back of his visual mind, when he seriously(!) told us the translation is ‘from-the-air-jumper’. :o)
July 5th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Treppengeländer = stairs go countries
July 6th, 2008 at 7:42 am
The most popular of that kind of translations is ‘Equal goes it loose (Gleich geht’s los)’ by our former Bundespräsident Heinrich Lübke.
July 6th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
what about “it looks after rain out” (looks like it will be raining), also by Lübke
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Wer ist jetzt eig. Astrid? Und hier mal ein FAKT von Oliver Pocher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM-ZK87XrHA
July 11th, 2010 at 9:51 am
[…] Ausland. Wenn man so will, sind wir mal wieder die Meister der Herzen, auch einige Beschränkte das nicht verstehen können, warum auch ein dritter Platz ein Erfolg sein kann. Das Entscheidene ist die Aussicht, daß hier was Großes wachsen kann. Özil ist 21 Jahre alt. […]