German to English Help

[diego_pmc]

Hi there,

I need some help translating these lines from German to English. Would someone please help me?

First, what does "Herr Petze" mean/refer to?
It's from here:

Na herzlichen Dank aber auch, Herr Petze. Dank dir habe ich jetzt richtig Ärger mit Samuel und Greg. Das werde ich mir merken, du Kameradenschwein.

And some other sentences:

Ach, für Francis gilt das aber nicht, der bestiehlt uns doch auch ständig bei der Heuer.

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Ich habe die Unterteilung unserer Gesellschaft in verschiedene Kasten nie verstanden.

---

Hoffentlich nicht nur, weil der Kerl seinen Trupp auf Teufel komm raus zum größten im Lager machen will.

---

Also näher gehe ich auf keinen Fall ans Lager. Sorg erst mal dafür, dass wir wirklich willkommen sind und uns Henry nicht gleich in Stücke hackt.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Is this some kind of homework or coursework?

[diego_pmc]

Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood

Is this some kind of homework or coursework?

No. I'm doing a small translation. Most of it I can do alone, but I'm not as good at German as I'm at English, so I need help from time to time.
As you can see, the sentences really don't have much in common (they're from different parts of the text).

[Badwolf]

I'm not German, and have a very limited grasp of the language so this could be horribly wrong, but I think it means "Mr Petze". You'd be best double checking with someone else though.

[diego_pmc]

Originally Posted by Badwolf

I'm not German, and have a very limited grasp of the language so this could be horribly wrong, but I think it means "Mr Petze". You'd be best double checking with someone else though.

Yeah, Herr means Mr., but I was thinking Petze is some kind German character, or you say Herr Petze to an ass*ole, but I want to make sure, so that I'd use the correspondent in English.

[Laserschwert]

A "Petze" is somebody, who "blows the whistle on someone"... ironically enough a "telltale" (or "squealer"). In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" there's a chapter named "The Centaur and the Sneak", where "Sneak" was translated as "Petze" in the German version of the book. The "Herr" at the beginning is used in the same way, as in English in something like Mr. "I'm to scared to go"...

Ach, für Francis gilt das aber nicht, der bestiehlt uns doch auch ständig bei der Heuer.

Well, it doesn't apply to Francis, since he keeps robbing us with the payment. ("Heuer" is payment for sailors, and Francis seems to be cheap with it)

Ich habe die Unterteilung unserer Gesellschaft in verschiedene Kasten nie verstanden.

I've never understood the classification (or "division") of our society into castes.

Hoffentlich nicht nur, weil der Kerl seinen Trupp auf Teufel komm raus zum größten im Lager machen will.

Let's hope it's not just because he want's to make his brigade ("Trupp" is sometimes used as a casual term for a close group of people... but originates from the military term) the biggest camp, by hook or by crook.

Also näher gehe ich auf keinen Fall ans Lager. Sorg erst mal dafür, dass wir wirklich willkommen sind und uns Henry nicht gleich in Stücke hackt.

Well, I'm definitely not going any closer to the camp. First of all you should make sure that we're really welcome, and that Henry won't chop us into pieces right away.

[diego_pmc]

Wow, thanks - the translations are greatly done.:A

I have one more (this is probably the last one).

Vielleicht höre ich mich um, aber vielleicht hängt es auch nur davon ab, wie stark der nächste Schluck von meinem Grog reinhaut.

[Laserschwert]

Originally Posted by diego_pmc

Vielleicht höre ich mich um, aber vielleicht hängt es auch nur davon ab, wie stark der nächste Schluck von meinem Grog reinhaut.

Maybe I'll ask around, but maybe it just depends on how much kick the next gulp (or "draft" in American English, "draught" in British English) of my grog has (or "how hard it hits me", or whatever describes the strong effect of grog the best).

[wisp]

Originally Posted by Laserschwert

Let's hope it's not just because he want's to make his brigade ("Trupp" is sometimes used as a casual term for a close group of people... but originates from the military term) the biggest camp, by hook or by crook.

I wouldn't translate "trupp" with brigade, since that's a whole different dimension. If you stick to the military unit sizes a "trupp" consist of less than ten people, whereas a brigade has about a few thousand. A better translation would be squad or if you need it non-military and a bit colloquial you could use bunch for example.

[Haggis]

How about "troupe", or "band"?

[briancharliee]

use LEO @ http://dict.leo.org. It's better than any dictionary I've ever owned. Mind you, it's a dictionary, not a translator.

[Till]

You can also supplement LEO with dict.cc, which typically does a better job with colloquialisms and the like.