Wonder why this wasn't posted: Berhalter went full 90 (I think) in a surprising 1-1 road draw of Cottbus at Dortmund that cost the hosts the direct Champions League spot in favour of Stuttgart. Dortmund was very superior at the beginning, had many shots on goal and scored the lead after a misunderstanding between Berhalter and another player. Dortmund hit the crossbar twice (including a sensational empty net header by Rosicky from three meter distance directly in front of the goal...), but seemed to have run out of power after halftime. Cottbus got better into the game and took the second chance to equalise. Hard times for Coach Sammer now, who did not exactly do himself a favour by taking his best player Ewerthon off after about an hour and once again having top striker Amoroso 75 minutes on the bench - latter one already is ready to move out of his house in Dortmund despite of a contract until 2004. Either Sammer or Amoroso as it seems...
Berhalter rated 3 Basically he degraded opponent Koller to insignificance, but the misunderstanding at Dortmund's goal cost him a bit.
"degraded Koller to insignificance"...when it comes to destroying things, you Germans sure have a way with words (smile) Thanks, btw, for your continuing efforts...if anyone should get some under-the-table payments (not uncommon in your homeland (smile), it should be you olafgb..thanks..
(whats wrong with...) Actually, there is NOTHING wrong...it is well written, very well written......I was actually making a satirical comment... You guys (Germans) have to realize that you are better than rest of world at some (many) things...the comment just being (one). It is "biting" to say the least (in the old days, one would yell "FACE") smile
I think it's a little awkward -- because we don't usually use "degraded" in this context. I don't think it's used that often with people anymore, but when used, I think it often refers to lowering of rank or moral standing. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe "reduced to insignificance" would be a little better, but really we use simpler expressions like "shut him down", which you wouldn't be expected to know. If I remember German correctly -- the second thing you said is the equivalent of "Mich verstehe nicht nein."
There isn't a grammatical problem, it just has a very militant sound to it. Like something a general would say when describing the Iraqi Air Force.
Dark Knight- Your German is "degrading you to insignificance"..smile.. One would say, "Ich verstehe ES nicht" (or Ich verstehe Dich nicht)....looks like the dude got some bad version translation program...double negatives don't work well in any language... Or maybe he's just making fun of us too...
I did a poor job of explaining, but I was trying to literally translate what he wrote, I know it wasn't correct German -- but I think you're right, he may have been kidding. (I know my Ich from my mich, although I'm vague on my mich vs. mir.) Spanish commonly uses double negatives.
Sorry to have confused all of you I simply translated the German idiom "zur Bedeutungslosigkeit degradieren" very freely. I did not look it up in a dictionary, but thought that somehow these words would fit as it derives from Latin, which is the base of most German and English words. Actually I wasn't aware that it is a military expression as it is used in German sports terms pretty often. But sure, 'degradieren' means to put you some levels lower, probably has its origin in the military.
Its use was accurate olafgb, its just either a technical term in english or more commonly referred to a social/moral lowering of status. Just one of those cases where a non-native speaker is more technicly correct, because the natives take liberties with the language and have a variety of phrases that parsed as words individually are gibberish but make perfect sense to someone used to using those terms in that combination all there life.
Yes, great joke of mine. Dark night was right. "Mich verstehe nicht nein." is the correct translation for my rubbish.
Are you Winnie SCHAEFER? smile Did you get a chance to see the Yanks last year (friendly in Germany)? If so, what did you think of der Bomber Mathis? If I were the low-budget East German clubs, I'd look here stateside for some of our younger talents....they could help a Rostock, etc. at a good value...
YESSSS!! That was a good game in our brandnew stadium. Mathis scored two goals! There were even rumours after that, that Bayern wants to buy him. So he made a gret impression. I know Berhalter is in Cottbus and he is doing a good job. I remember Paul Caliguri 1991. The only Us-player at Hansa Rostock, but he helped to win the last east-german-championship for Hansa! Today the management usually only buys player from Scandinavia and Africa.
I asked a German friend about an idiom for this situation and he offered: "er hat ihn kaltgestellt" Which I take to mean: "He had him on ice" More or less.