2

Having studied a bit of German I am starting with translation. In a book called 'Männer sind wie Schokolade', first chapter, it can be found:

Wie lange kann man wohl in einer Werbeagentur arbeiten, ohne daß man leicht bekloppt wird?

I would translate it as:

How long can you work in an advertising agency without becoming easily crazy?

I apologize if it is too bad.

I am not sure how to translate "leicht bekloppt wird", because leicht wird und leicht bekloppt have different meanings. Would you help me?

Improve this question
6
  • 2
    Please ask about a specific part that you are unsure about, otherwise the question is likely to be closed for being a proofreading request.
    – Carsten S
    Apr 15, 2018 at 23:09
  • 2
    Leicht bekloppt means slightly silly.
    – Janka
    Apr 15, 2018 at 23:58
  • 5
    @Janka More slightly crazy, IMHO.
    – Robert
    Apr 16, 2018 at 3:00
  • 2
    Could you pick a different title that outlines tge actual issue, please? Any question related to the meaning of a phrase could be a "translation" problem.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Apr 16, 2018 at 6:19
  • 3
    Thank you for the edit... at least the title does now say what we are asked here. I can see that you know what bekloppt means so I am sure you can find the English term that fits here better than we do (it would be off topic for us anyway). I can only guess from your translation that you further are in doubt about what leicht refers to, i.e. whether it is leicht werden or leicht bekloppt. To get this answered I will reopen your question for now, but it may be better you also edit that concern into the question so that people can quickly find the issue that is being dealt with here.
    – Takkat
    Apr 16, 2018 at 14:07

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

Note, that you are reading a book that was printed before the orthography reform of 1996. The correct writing of »daß« is now: »dass«.

I think this part is easy, you already translated it correctly:

Wie lange kann man wohl in einer Werbeagentur arbeiten, ohne daß man bekloppt wird?
How long can you work in an advertising agency without becoming bonkers?

(I think bonkers fits better for bekloppt than crazy because bekloppt is a slang word.)

The word »leicht« in your sentence modifies the word »bekloppt« in this manner:

  • bekloppt = chokoo, bonkers
  • leicht bekloppt = slightly chokoo, slightly bonkers

You can use it also with other adjectives:

Der Braten schmeckt leicht angebrannt.
The roast tastes slightly burnt. = It tastes burnt, but only a little bit.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.