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Could anyone please help me understand the use of verbs 'auflegen' and 'anlegen' in the following context?

I've met the verbs in an article in FAZ about elections. Here's a part from it:

Heutzutage kommt es darauf an, immer und überall zu glänzen oder wenigstens glänzend auszusehen. Das gilt auch für Leute, die sich mit beidem schwer tun, was nicht nur für diese Leute unangenehm ist. Im Wahlkampf wird die Sache aberwitzig, wenn einem überall glänzend auf- und angelegte Menschen von Riesenwänden anschauen, die niemals den von dort verströmten Glanz im Alltag auch nur fünkchenweise aufleuchten lassen können.

As I understand, the author is talking about how awkward it looks when people without any charisma and media experience get onto large billboards (Riesenwänden ?). My guess is that 'auf- und angelegte' has to do with this 'getting onto', but I haven't been able to find any perfect match among meanings provided by Langenscheidt dictionary for learners.

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    "glänzend angelegt sein" could also mean dressed perfect.
    – ondrums
    Jul 26, 2021 at 19:51

3 Answers 3

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gut/glänzend aufgelegt [sein]: to be in a good/splendid mood

angelegt [sein]: in my experience a rather unusual way to say veranlagt [sein] (to have a certain disposition/inclination).

So the second sentence (Im Wahlkampf wird die Sache aberwitzig, wenn einem überall glänzend auf- und angelegte Menschen von Risenwänden anschauen, die niemals den von dort verströmten Glanz im Alltag auch nur fünkchenweise aufleuchten lassen können.) translates to something like:

During the election campaign, the matter becomes obscure when everywhere people in splendid mood look at you from billboards (not necessarily large billboards) and in everyday life those people don't have this radiance in the least [only shine in tiny sparkles].

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In the field of graphics design, farbig anlegen is used in the sense of adding color to an image.

glänzend aufgelegt has been explained above.

glänzend angelegt, as far as I interpret it, can refer to the rendering of the subjects in the ad, probably implying enhanced colours and/or airbrushing to make the subjects look better than in real life. This is also reflected in the last part of the sentence.

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The following is only a guess, I think the answer of @user1583209 is already good, but I want to add a thought for "angelegte": This rather strange word choice might be related to the matter of fact such people are non existent usually and are made happy only artificial, so these are not good "aufgelegt" in a real world, these are simply painted like this by advertising industry on fancy billboards. Then you could say they are "angelegt" (passiv).

The word is used mostly in gardening:

Ich lege ein Beet an. :: I lay down a bed (for flowers).

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  • Good point. This could actually be the main intention here for the word "angelegt", i.e., that the politicians on the billboard are some artificial creation or at least their smile on the billboards is artificial. Jan 1, 2017 at 15:52

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