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Quick question: I am looking for the best way to express "feed off of" in a figurative sense in German. Here are some examples:
The soldiers feed off of the courage of the general.
The band feeds off of the energy of the crowd.
Here is my attempt at a translation:
Die Soldaten zehren von dem Mut des Generals.
Die Band zehrt von der Energie des Publikums.
Does "zehren von" work here? Thanks!
zehren is relatively old-fashioned and also implies a scarceness of supply. It does somewhat fit, though.
leben von is the expression to use and can also be used figuratively for non-animated subjects.
Das Wohnzimmer lebt von den üppigen Stuckverzierungen an der Zimmerdecke
Der Titel lebt vom starken Bass, der den Rythmus treibt (music)
