Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
Zuvielisation
English translation:
excessivilisation
Added to glossary by
misterherrnau
Jan 23, 2010 17:32
14 yrs ago
German term
Zuvielisation
German to English
Marketing
Marketing
This jeremiad is a dream assignment, a good ol'-fashioned rant about the evils of Consumer Society and the "civilization of excess" (actually a sober statement of the facts if you want to get all fundamental about it).
Does anybody have a really witty idea? This text is especially well written, so I would love to reward the author with a translation that does justice to her wordplay (even if she did not personally coin this particular expression)!
Does anybody have a really witty idea? This text is especially well written, so I would love to reward the author with a translation that does justice to her wordplay (even if she did not personally coin this particular expression)!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +7 | excessivilisation |
Bernhard Sulzer
|
| 2 +7 | Buy Society |
William Murphy
|
| 3 +1 | overconsumerism |
casper (X)
|
| 3 | gluture |
Mattis (X)
|
| 2 +1 | society of überconsumers |
Jonathan MacKerron
|
| 3 | Moreality |
Kaiya J. Diannen
|
| 1 +1 | civibuysation |
Jalapeno
|
| 2 | glutivization |
gangels (X)
|
| 1 | excessisation |
Nicole Backhaus
|
Proposed translations
+7
25 mins
Bernhard Sulzer
United States
United States
Native in German
Specializes in field
United States
High quality at a reasonable price
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, German to English, German, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
45
Selected
excessivilisation
maybe?
You seem to be referring to it as civilisation/civilization of excess, so maybe you need a different term but this might be closest to the word play you have in German.
über-civilisation crossed my mind too but these days, but it's too laden with positive and negative connotations.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-01-23 20:10:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
here a couple of more:
cevilisation
overcivilisation
civilization "overkill"
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_quarterly/v052/52.2bri...
overcivilization
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2010-01-24 02:33:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
..isation or ..ization, depending on your target audience
You seem to be referring to it as civilisation/civilization of excess, so maybe you need a different term but this might be closest to the word play you have in German.
über-civilisation crossed my mind too but these days, but it's too laden with positive and negative connotations.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2010-01-23 20:10:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
here a couple of more:
cevilisation
overcivilisation
civilization "overkill"
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_quarterly/v052/52.2bri...
overcivilization
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2010-01-24 02:33:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
..isation or ..ization, depending on your target audience
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Rolf Keiser
: absolutely ifts my gusto
9 mins
|
|
danke, Goldcoaster!
|
|
| agree |
Thayenga
14 mins
|
|
danke, Thayenga
|
|
| agree |
AndersonT (X)
: nice one!
39 mins
|
|
thank you, Anderson!
|
|
| agree |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
: well done!
43 mins
|
|
danke, Ingeborg!
|
|
| neutral |
British Diana
: it's a bit difficult to get one's tongue round, isn't it?
54 mins
|
|
If that's the main criterion, maybe. Personally, I don't find it too hard to put "excess" and "civilization" together.
|
|
| neutral |
philgoddard
: I agree with Diana. This is too contrived, whereas Zuvielisation is really simple and clever.
1 hr
|
|
I should just say I find my suggestion pretty clever and leave it at that.
|
|
| agree |
Nicole Schnell
: I love it. Clever! The word is SUPPOSED to stop you in your tracks anyway.
6 hrs
|
|
danke, Nicole!
|
|
| agree |
dkfmmuc
: I think this is a great one. Clearly reflects the "zuviel" and thatÄs not only about buying but about the whole civilisation.
1 day 34 mins
|
|
vielen Dank, dkfmmuc!
|
|
| agree |
Nikolaos Angelidis
: The content is right and foremost the wit! If anybody can pronounce it easyly or not, does not matter; the impact is important.
1 day 15 hrs
|
|
thank you, Nikos!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I think Bernhard Sulzer’s response is worthy of being immortalized in a glossary entry (after all, the response to Zuvielisation has been pretty positive, so it just might come up again). I’ve also found an appropriate place to pep up my translation with dasein_wm’s “Buy Society.” And special thanks to jennifer125 and Andrew Swift for their very useful research results!"
+7
10 mins
William Murphy
Italy
Italy
Native in English
Works in field
Italy
The right word at the right time.
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: Italian to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Buy Society
Here is my attempt at a parody on High Society.
Zuvielisation is such a great term. Shame to translate it in my opinion.
Zuvielisation is such a great term. Shame to translate it in my opinion.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
British Diana
: This is the best one yet, provided the readers "get" it (wd depend on context)//Well, already four readers (and any number of lurkers) got it, so that's fine.
1 hr
|
|
thanks Diana
|
|
| agree |
philgoddard
: I think readers would get it very quickly.
2 hrs
|
|
thanks Phil, I'm being progressive this time :-)
|
|
| agree |
CArcher
2 hrs
|
|
thank you
|
|
| agree |
Anne-Marie Grant (X)
3 hrs
|
|
thank you
|
|
| agree |
Nicole Schnell
: Great!
6 hrs
|
|
thank you
|
|
| agree |
Melanie Nassar
14 hrs
|
|
thank you
|
|
| neutral |
Nikolaos Angelidis
: Sorry, but your expression: 1. is not a one-word term and 2. it does not have the same impact as the original DE one. Buy society is only the meaning/message. The new word has to have the same wit/style with the source!!
1 day 15 hrs
|
| agree |
Anne Brackenborough (X)
: Sounds pretty witty to me ;-)
1 day 20 hrs
|
|
thank you
|
15 mins
Nicole Backhaus
Native in German
Native German - Fast and affordable
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, German to English
excessisation
well, just a try ;)
+1
41 mins
civibuysation
Tough one, as "Zuvielisation" is really good. Hadn't heard it before.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Mattis (X)
: I like this, led me on to "sobuyity"...
14 mins
|
53 mins
gluture
A culture of glut...
+1
1 hr
Jonathan MacKerron
Native in English
Retired as of Jan 2019!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
92
society of überconsumers
in tune with the times
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-01-23 19:15:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"überconsumerism" gets its share of googles
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-01-23 19:15:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"überconsumerism" gets its share of googles
+1
15 hrs
overconsumerism
Certainly overconsumerism is a major problem on the planet. I read somewhere it takes 24 acres to support 1 American.
http://brainnoodles.com/weblog/archive/2003/09.aspx
Overconsumerism is my greatest sin. I've got too much stuff that will eventually be trash somewhere. I also burn more than my fair share of fossil fuel because I love to travel.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/40551,,3.php
Fake Plastic Fish wrote a post about how America and its overconsumerism is really taking a poll on the environment because of all the plastic JUNK being sold for the holidays. The post is exactly what I needed to force me to think about the overconsumerism of the holidays.
http://kiwibrooks.xanga.com/
One solution to overconsumerism is very, very simple: turn off your television. Like the poster above who couldn't fathom why she had so many clothes and books, TV--both commercials and programs--has an insidious way of making us want things we don't need, making us feel inadequate for not possessing the latest car/deodorant/beer/toothpaste.
How do we teach our kids that overconsumerism is not a great lifestyle and that we as individuals should decide what is cool and acceptable and not the media.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/simple_living/24874
If people from any political leaning think that overconsumerism is just more unAmerican alarmist theory, here's a quick fact: From 1980 to 2006 the national personal savings rate went from 10% of income after taxes to negative 0.4%. In short, more goes out than comes in for a lot of people.
http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/08/1185039....
http://brainnoodles.com/weblog/archive/2003/09.aspx
Overconsumerism is my greatest sin. I've got too much stuff that will eventually be trash somewhere. I also burn more than my fair share of fossil fuel because I love to travel.
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/40551,,3.php
Fake Plastic Fish wrote a post about how America and its overconsumerism is really taking a poll on the environment because of all the plastic JUNK being sold for the holidays. The post is exactly what I needed to force me to think about the overconsumerism of the holidays.
http://kiwibrooks.xanga.com/
One solution to overconsumerism is very, very simple: turn off your television. Like the poster above who couldn't fathom why she had so many clothes and books, TV--both commercials and programs--has an insidious way of making us want things we don't need, making us feel inadequate for not possessing the latest car/deodorant/beer/toothpaste.
How do we teach our kids that overconsumerism is not a great lifestyle and that we as individuals should decide what is cool and acceptable and not the media.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/simple_living/24874
If people from any political leaning think that overconsumerism is just more unAmerican alarmist theory, here's a quick fact: From 1980 to 2006 the national personal savings rate went from 10% of income after taxes to negative 0.4%. In short, more goes out than comes in for a lot of people.
http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/08/1185039....
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Lancashireman
: or http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hyperconsumerism
7 hrs
|
|
Oh, wow! I just learnt a new word ('hyperconsumerism'). Thank you, Andrew Swift
|
2 days 13 mins
glutivization
or just "over-serviced civilization"
3 days 4 hrs
Kaiya J. Diannen
Australia
Australia
Native in English
Works in field
Australia
Meticulous Attention to Detail = Quality
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Moreality
I'm a little late to the party, but I thought I'd throw this in for kicks and grins.
Part of the message is that our reality (and perhaps skewed morality?) is all about getting more... (just a thought)
"Wir Durchschnittsbürger in der Bundesrepublik leben ja längst im Überfluss,
in einem bereits lästigen, hektischen und ungesunden Schneller, Weiter, Mehr von allem. („Zuvielisation“ nannte das jemand.)"
http://www.nachhaltig.at/SusA41.pdf.
Part of the message is that our reality (and perhaps skewed morality?) is all about getting more... (just a thought)
"Wir Durchschnittsbürger in der Bundesrepublik leben ja längst im Überfluss,
in einem bereits lästigen, hektischen und ungesunden Schneller, Weiter, Mehr von allem. („Zuvielisation“ nannte das jemand.)"
http://www.nachhaltig.at/SusA41.pdf.
Discussion