Mosaikspiel

English translation: tangram, Chinese puzzle

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Mosaikspiel
English translation:tangram, Chinese puzzle
Entered by: Ann C Sherwin

19:01 Mar 29, 2005
German to English translations [PRO]
Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino / early 20th-century toys
German term or phrase: Mosaikspiel
The document dates from the time of World War I in the Sudetenland. The context is a list of toys. This child preferred cars, trucks, and wartime vehiles over dice games and •••Mosaikspiele•••.

Could it be jigsaw puzzles?
Ann C Sherwin
Local time: 05:24
pattern (laying) game
Explanation:
There is a nice example of such a game for sale at Ebay (see below) which, after looking at a number of Google sites all pointing in the same direction, makes me doubt very much that "jigsaw puzzle" is it since those are things where you use a jigsaw to cut something into pieces - a "Mosaikspiel" is very different from this.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2005-03-29 19:54:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

also, the period seems to fit as the game shown on Ebay is old
Selected response from:

klausie-hamburg
Local time: 10:24
Grading comment
Thanks. With the help of the picture on eBay and the 1901 Muret-Sanders, I came up with the English term myself. Muret-Sanders (1901) give "Chinese puzzle" which I then found in Webster's Third International cross-referenced to "tangram." It fits the picture you provided.
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4mosaic game
Linda Flebus
3pattern (laying) game
klausie-hamburg


  

Answers


26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
mosaic game


Explanation:
Various puzzles can be seen on this website


    Reference: http://www.gamealbum.com/keyword/mosaic/
Linda Flebus
Belgium
Local time: 10:24
Native speaker of: Native in FlemishFlemish, Native in DutchDutch
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
pattern (laying) game


Explanation:
There is a nice example of such a game for sale at Ebay (see below) which, after looking at a number of Google sites all pointing in the same direction, makes me doubt very much that "jigsaw puzzle" is it since those are things where you use a jigsaw to cut something into pieces - a "Mosaikspiel" is very different from this.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2005-03-29 19:54:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

also, the period seems to fit as the game shown on Ebay is old


    Reference: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25723&...
klausie-hamburg
Local time: 10:24
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 2
Grading comment
Thanks. With the help of the picture on eBay and the 1901 Muret-Sanders, I came up with the English term myself. Muret-Sanders (1901) give "Chinese puzzle" which I then found in Webster's Third International cross-referenced to "tangram." It fits the picture you provided.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search