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I came across this graffiti which says:

"Nazis find ich persönlich ja doch eher uncool"

The way I would translate this in English would be:

Personally I still think Nazis are uncool.

Is this correct and are there any nuances in this sentence by using "ja doch eher" ?

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Each of these words adds a little to the whole sentence:

  • find is colloquial, especially when combined as find ich, which is often pronounced as findich
  • persönlich just emphasizes the non-objective nature
  • ja typically means as I (and maybe you) already knew before; in many other cases it weakens the argument
  • doch makes the sentence sound unsure, as in na gut, ich komme doch mit, du hast mich überredet
  • eher makes the argument even weaker, it's approximately at 60%, so very close to the middle
  • doch eher is very close to I'm totally unsure, but I tend to this direction
  • uncool is a lot weaker than doof, schlecht, which nicely matches the ja doch eher

Altogether, the sentence sounds like not a big thing, personal opinion, unsure. Until you get the irony.

A simple still doesn't provide all this heavy bag of connotation, so you need some more words.

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  • 1
    Maybe like this? "Personally I still think Nazis are, um, y'know, uncool."
    – the_darkside
    Jan 31, 2017 at 22:09
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    Ich finde, das doch wirkt bekräftigend. Eher uncool drückt einen gewissen Zweifel aus - das doch bekräftigt aber, dass eine Entscheidung gefallen ist.
    – user unknown
    Feb 1, 2017 at 4:28
  • Das doch könnte auch auf eine neue Erkenntnis hindeuten. Wie bekräftigend auch immer es sein mag, es rennt voll in die von eher aufgestellte Mauer und wird von dieser abgebremst.
    – Roland Illig
    Feb 1, 2017 at 6:45
  • Was wollte, mit anderen Worten, dieser Satz vermitteln ?
    – the_darkside
    Feb 5, 2017 at 7:27
  • Die Kernaussage ist: Nazis sind doof. Die ganzen abschwächenden Formen könnten bedeuten: 1. Aber ich traue mich nicht, das so direkt zu sagen. 2. Aber ich will nicht plump erscheinen. 3. Ich kann meine Meinung differenziert ausdrücken (also keine Schwarz-Weiß-Meinung). 4. (Es gibt bestimmt noch mehr …)
    – Roland Illig
    Feb 5, 2017 at 8:31
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In your example "ja doch eher" is a stylistic device. It is irony and in this case you make fun of people who like Nazis. It is hard to translate a stylistic device and you would most likely change the meaning of the sentence.

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  • I see, it is so unsure that it is basically an endorsement
    – the_darkside
    Jan 31, 2017 at 22:13
  • If it is hard to translate, you could try to explain it instead.
    – Carsten S
    Jan 31, 2017 at 23:12

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