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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

überhaupt: das Kollegium

English translation:

And the teaching staff themselves

Added to glossary by Susan Welsh
Jan 30, 2011 15:53
13 yrs ago
7 viewers *
German term

überhaupt: das Kollegium

German to English Marketing Idioms / Maxims / Sayings idiom
This is a PR piece on how nice a certain school is. I can't grasp how "überhaupt" is being used here. The quotation is from the school's principal.

Die Lehrerinnen griffen persönlich zu Hammer und Schraubenzieher, wenn irgendwo etwas wackelte oder quietschte.[new paragraph]
**Überhaupt: Das Kollegium.** „Die sind einfach toll. Das Arbeitsklima ist sehr gut, wir lachen viel zusammen und haben fast keinen Krankenstand.“

I tried "Especially: the faculty" and "The faculty is first-rate," but have no confidence in either one.

thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 And the teaching staff themselves
3 +6 (and) while we're at it: (there's even more to say about) the faculty
3 +3 Talking about the faculty ...
4 +1 above all
4 To sum it all up: the faculty/teaching staff
4 Yes indeed - the staff! (faculty). I MUST tell you, they are wonderful
4 -1 not to forget: the faculty
3 Our faculty as a whole/As a whole, our faculty
2 And what a faculty!
References
überhaupt

Discussion

Horst Huber (X) Jan 31, 2011:
Und überhaupt ist das für die englischen Muttersprachler. Was nun würde Ihr Schulleiter wirklich sagen? Da ist so bißchen ein Seufzer drin, er kann die Leute ja gar nicht genug loben.
Susan Welsh (asker) Jan 30, 2011:
@opolt Thanks for the information--no wonder I couldn't get it from googling different dictionaries! I think several of the answerers have given good suggestions along these lines. The previous reference to "das Kollegium" was not explicit, just the bit about "die Lehrerinnen," in the sentence I provided. I don't think more context would add anything useful.
opolt Jan 30, 2011:
@Susan This expression (in correct usage) does two things: on the one hand, it's function is that of a hiatus, that is to say, it forms a break in the flow of speech, indicating that a new idea is going to be introduced, and at the same time (in most cases, especially when used with the colon), it takes up a topic which has already been mentioned before, in order to add a new aspect; or, it might summarize a number of previous statements in a few phrases, etc.

So, it's a rhetorical figure, which can be translated in many different ways. But to decide which translation fits best, normally one would have to know quite a bit about the preceding sentences/speech, to make sense of it.

So maybe there's some important context lacking here (preferably from the point where "das Kollegium" or those belonging to it were last mentioned). In this case, abundant quoting from the original could be quite helpful (and would be justified).
Susan Welsh (asker) Jan 30, 2011:
@Helen Yes, it is strange, as are some other things in this document. It could perhaps have been written better.
Helen Shiner Jan 30, 2011:
@ Susan Without seeing the text, it is difficult to say, but perhaps it is shown as a new paragraph, when it shouldn't really be. A strange way of starting a new paragraph when it refers back immediately to something stated in the previous one.

Proposed translations

+1
22 mins
Selected

And the teaching staff themselves

And the teaching staff themselves: They are simply wonderful. The working atmosphere is good, we laugh a lot (.... etc)



In the end it is a stylistic preference which answer you choose. I'd use teaching staff rather than faculty.
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner : And as for the teaching staff themselves - but with the 'as'. And the 'And' at the start of the sentence could go, which would be better stylistically (in EN).
7 hrs
Thanks, Helen. The style of the source text isn't the best either, it is a bit informal, like spoken German, therefore I don't think it is wrong to reflect that in the English translation.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks to all. Actually, everybody helped me, and there were lots of good choices here. It was fun to learn that this "ordinary" word was (gasp!) a modal particle, and that others find it hard to translate!"
+1
4 mins

above all

Above all: the faculty
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner
17 mins
neutral Jenny Streitparth : That's "vor allem", which would give it a slightly different meaning [to my mind].
3 hrs
neutral British Diana : Not really , "und überhaupt" is referring back to the staff
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
-1
7 mins

not to forget: the faculty

oder auch:
not to mention: the faculty

eigentlich wird "überhaupt" in dem sinne nur in der umgangssprache gebraucht, so von wegen: "und überhaupt, das kollegium ist auch noch super"
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jenny Streitparth : To my mind, neither of them work here [especially when you consider it being the start of a new paragraph]; not without rearranging the whole sentence.
3 hrs
disagree British Diana : Does not fit the context or mean the same. You are right that it is umgangssprachlich
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
+6
18 mins

(and) while we're at it: (there's even more to say about) the faculty

... because the "Lehrerinnen" had already been mentioned in the preceding sentence/paragraph.
Peer comment(s):
agree adamgajlewicz : speaking of which, etc. along these lines
48 mins
agree Johanna Timm, PhD : Genau. " Wo wir schon mal dabei sind..."
2 hrs
agree Erik Freitag
6 hrs
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : w/ Johanna: speakign of, since we are already praising them above all. etc.
9 hrs
agree Susanne Creak : yep, and I like "speaking of which/whom", too
10 hrs
agree Cilian O'Tuama : while we're on the subject
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
1 hr

Talking about the faculty ...

Talking about the faculty: "They are simply ..."

One more option to choose from.
Peer comment(s):
agree Johanna Timm, PhD : ja!
1 hr
:)
agree Lancashireman : Yes, you have been missing out on the fun.
1 hr
8-)
agree Jenny Streitparth : I like your punctuation the most. So, if this slight change to the original is permitted, yes.
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Our faculty as a whole/As a whole, our faculty

How I see it.
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

To sum it all up: the faculty/teaching staff

I would use: to sum it all up, because it sounds like the topping on how great the faculty at that particular school really is.

Or: Altogether: the faculty/teaching staff
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

And what a faculty!

yet another

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-01-30 19:46:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And what a faculty we have!
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19 hrs

Yes indeed - the staff! (faculty). I MUST tell you, they are wonderful

It seems perhaps unnecessary to be adding yet another attempt especially as one of our German NS has really got the closest to solving this problem, but as it is the sort of thing people spend about 5 yeatrs writing PhD's about (as you can tell if you google "modal particle+emphasis+"und überhaupt"), please allow me to have a bash, too.

As has been clarified here, this is a coplloquial utterance (perhaps taken originally from an interview) and these are notoriously difficult to render because the intonation is missing. I know that it isn't good translating style to use capital letters or exclamation marlks, but I here I think it is the best way to get over the principal's enthusiasm.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 hrs (2011-01-31 11:01:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry about my typos, I keep forgetting that this is the only area on KudoZ that cannot be edited.
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Reference comments

2 hrs
Reference:

überhaupt

esp. p.62/ 63 in
http://shortify.com/11924
Note from asker:
!! And I thought this was a simple question for a quiet Sunday afternoon!
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree British Diana : So this makes it a modal particle, good to know!
16 hrs
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