Translation

Tricky translations

In the hospitality business, a “tip” is a payment for good service (Trinkgeld):

“In England, waiters expect a tip of ten per cent.” — In England erwarten Kellner ein Trinkgeld von 10 Prozent.

In waste management, especially in British English, the “tip” is where you take rubbish or items you no longer want: (Müll-)deponie, Müllhalde, Müllkippe:

“I’m going to take my old desk to the tip.” — Ich werde meinen alten Schreibtisch auf die Müllkippe bringen.

In informal British English, if a room is a “tip”, it is very untidy (Saustall).

If you “give someone a tip”, you give them a hint or a useful piece of advice (Tipp, Hinweis, Ratschlag).

“Tip” is also the end of something, especially something pointed (Spitze). If you know a word, but just can’t think of it, you say: “It’s on the tip of my tongue!” (Es liegt mir auf der Zunge!). And if something is “the tip of the iceberg”, it is a small or first sign of a bigger prob- lem (die Spitze des Eisbergs).

How do you say absagen / Absage in English?

For appointments or events, absagen means that something will no longer take place. It is translated as cancel or call off: Die Besprechung wurde abgesagt, weil viele Kollegen krank sind. — “The meeting has been cancelled because a lot of staff are ill.”

When we are talking about larger external events, such as a concert or sports event, we normally use the verb call off: Das Fußballspiel wurde aus Sicherheitsgründen abgesagt. — “The football match was called off for security reasons.”

If you are due to go to a meeting but are unable to, use take part, attend or come and not cancel, so that you don’t cancel a meeting by mistake:

Ich muss für heute leider absagen. — “I’m afraid I can’t attend / take part today.”

In the context of human resources (HR), Absage is used when an applicant is not successful. Here, we translate it as a rejection (letter):

Er bekam mehr als 40 Absagen auf seine Bewerbungen. — “He received more than 40 rejections to his applications.”