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türkischer Stadtviertel weiter verstärkt
Recht bekam
Dec 10, 2012 21:38
11 yrs ago
3 viewers *
German term

Wie muss man sich das vorstellen

German to English Bus/Financial Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Taken from a book explaining basic economic theory:

Wie muss man sich das vorstellen, wenn Menschen Entscheidungen darüber treffen, ob sie ihr Geld für Kuchen ausgeben oder für etwas anderes? Dies ist eine für die Wirtschaftswissenschaft grundlegene Frage, denn non der Antwort hängt ab, wie...

My suggestion is "How are we to understand it when..." but somehow I don't feel this is quite right. I would be grateful for any suggestions. Many thanks.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +4 thought processes
3 +3 How do we understand the decisions people make about ...
4 +1 What does it mean?
4 How do we picture
4 How do people decide if to spend their money on ...
3 what triggers people (better: consumers) to...
3 How do people arrive at decisions..
3 How come
Change log

Dec 10, 2012 21:47: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Bus/Financial" to "Other" , "Field (specific)" from "Economics" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"

Dec 11, 2012 08:54: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Bus/Financial" , "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"

Discussion

Steffen Walter Dec 12, 2012:
Above... ... refers to the headline of my discussion entry (where I stated that "Other" should be avoided as a field, as far as reasonably possible).
philgoddard Dec 11, 2012:
Above what?
Steffen Walter Dec 11, 2012:
"Other" should be avoided @ Phil: I've changed the categories back to "Bus/Financial - Idioms" for the reason stated above.
Cilian O'Tuama Dec 10, 2012:
... wie man sich die wichtigsten Akteure im Wirtschaftsleben
vorzustellen hat.

In case anyone else was interested in the rest of the sentence.
philgoddard Dec 10, 2012:
I've changed the subject field to General because, although the context is economic, it's not specifically economic terminology.

Proposed translations

+4
1 hr
Selected

thought processes

e.g.
what thought processes are involved when...
what thought processes take place when...
what are the thought processes when...

(one asks oneself)
Peer comment(s):
agree Lancashireman
47 mins
agree Sven Petersson
56 mins
agree 784512 (X)
3 hrs
agree Horst Huber (X) : How do we form an image of, or analyze, interpret the thought processes.
2 days 32 mins
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks to everyone for the useful suggestions. This one seems to fit the context best: What thought processes are involved when people decide to spend their money on cake or on something else? "
+1
7 mins

What does it mean?

Or you could be even more concise and say: "Why do people make specific decisions to spend their money on..."

" How are we to understand it" is the correct literal meaning, but I agree that it's a bit of a mouthful.
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner : I like 'what does it mean?'
53 mins
Something went wrong...
+3
9 mins

How do we understand the decisions people make about ...

How would we describe the monetary decisions people take/make, for example, whether to spend money on cake or...

Just a guess :)
Peer comment(s):
agree Cilian O'Tuama : how does one go about understanding the thinking behind our decisions
1 hr
agree Helen Shiner : With Cilian's slightly altered version.
1 hr
agree paerte (X) : How can we define the comlex decision-making process that leads consumers to spend their income on cake versus something else?
12 hrs
neutral BrigitteHilgner : In my opinion, the beginning of the German sentence is waffle and should be dropped.
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
19 mins

what triggers people (better: consumers) to...

spend money on [product A] instead of [product B]?

(It's all about psychology.)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : Trigger + NOUN + infinitive... Sounds like a Denglisch construction to me, Nicole, but I suspect that you will presently reassure us that this is contemporary EN-US grammar.
1 hr
Oh, good grief, Andrew. I am not a native speaker of English and everyone knows that. I do, however, very often convey the true native meaning (apparently lesser language than precious, superior BE) and explanation and leave the grading to teachers. :-)
neutral philgoddard : Actually trigger + noun + infinitive is right, but trigger + animate noun + infinitive is wrong. You can trigger decisions, but not people.
2 hrs
Thanks, Phil! At least I am glad that firstly, my thinking is not reduced to grammatical structures, and secondly apparently has "triggered" appropriate contributions by other colleagues. My job is done. :-)
neutral Helen Shiner : Perhaps best to use the discussion box to point out "true native meaning". This is not about US/UK differences; just what Phil has explained.
14 hrs
neutral Cilian O'Tuama : i agree it's all about psychology :-)
2 days 2 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

How do we picture

How do we picture/imagine the ways people decide how to spend their money, be it on cake or other things?

"Understand" sounds too rational to me in this context. "Picture" or "imagine" would allow for a broader discussion--with concrete examples--of how spending decisions are made.
Something went wrong...
34 mins

How do people arrive at decisions..

..to spend their money on one thing over another?
Or:
"How do people go about making decisions to spend their money on one thing over another?


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 Stunden (2012-12-11 05:05:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For sensitive UK ears:
"How do people arrive at decisions to spend their money on one thing rather than another?"
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lancashireman : Spend money on NOUN over NOUN? The English language continues to develop by leaps over bounds.
1 hr
Indeed it does.
neutral Cilian O'Tuama : This is not an English I am familiar with.//Please remain so full of yourself.
1 hr
That's quite all right.//Not at all. Exercise in projection?
neutral Helen Shiner : Unfortunately, I have to agree with Andrew and Cilian here, and I don't think it is a UK/US thing either.
13 hrs
You're right. It's not..
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

How do people decide if to spend their money on ...

In my opinion, the meaning of the sentence is best conveyed in a concise translation.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Armorel Young : "if to spend" simply isn't English//the right word would be "whether"
2 hrs
'How do people decide if to spend their money on cake or on something else?' would be the full sentence.
agree BrigitteHilgner : ... what to spend their money on
3 hrs
neutral Helen Shiner : With Armorel
9 hrs
disagree Cilian O'Tuama : agree with BH, but this wording isn't English, as Armorel points out.
1 day 16 hrs
Something went wrong...
21 hrs

How come

How come people decide to spend their money on a cake rather than other things...
(I agree with Brigitte that this is basically waffle and can be kept short, e.g. "Why do people..." or "How come someone decides...")
Something went wrong...
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