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  3. Poetry & Literature

trau schau wem

English translation: watch whom you trust

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:trau schau wem
English translation:watch whom you trust
Entered by: Tegan Raleigh

11:27 Apr 23, 2005
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase: trau schau wem
from a poem:

Weil die Voodoo-Puppen
beim Sterben lächeln
ist Töten so einfach
trotz gründlicher Sympathie für die Helden

trau schau wem
doch nicht deinem Meister der sticht
dich hinterrücks mit Nadeln durch
um dann zu trauern nach Elternart
Tegan Raleigh
United States
watch whom you trust
Explanation:
another variation
Selected response from:

Trudy Peters
United States
Local time: 05:48
Grading comment
thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +5watch whom you trust
Trudy Peters
3 +1look whom to trust
Jan Schauseil
3don't look back
Vito Smolej
3Be careful whom you trust
Katja Bell (X)
2watch your back
rangepost
2einfach nur Hintergrund
Elimar Orlopp


  

Answers


22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
look whom to trust


Explanation:
The second paragraph seems to be about trust and betrayal (by your master).

Jan Schauseil
Local time: 16:48
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tom Funke: Whom can you trust?
52 mins
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +5
watch whom you trust


Explanation:
another variation

Trudy Peters
United States
Local time: 05:48
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Wolf Brosius (X): is somewhat more appropiate(for this morbid poem)
4 mins
agree  Sarah Swift
1 hr
agree  Ken Cox: Or 'watch who you trust' in colloquial usage (despite the grammar police). See also http://www.redensarten-index.de/suche.php?suchbegriff=Trau, ... "trau schau wem" gets an impressive number of google hits.
3 hrs
agree  Edda Emery (X)
3 hrs
agree  Sonia Soros
7 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
don't look back


Explanation:
is far from the actual words, but close to the intention - because, still, your master will backstab you etc -

just a suggestion

Vito Smolej
Germany
Local time: 11:48
Native speaker of: Native in SlovenianSlovenian
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Ken Cox: Sorry, Vito, that's not what 'don't look back' means. In the horror film context, it means 'don't look now, but there's something scary behind you', and in the sense used by Bob Dylan it means 'forget the past'.
2 hrs
  -> Right... touche
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
watch your back


Explanation:
my 2 cents.

rangepost
Local time: 02:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Be careful whom you trust


Explanation:
It's all about watching out, i.e. being careful.

Katja Bell (X)
Germany
Local time: 11:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
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1 day 16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
einfach nur Hintergrund


Explanation:
"Trau, schau, wem" ist ja sehr bekannt, aber mir war seine Bedeutung abhanden gekommen, habe deshalb gegoogelt, und neben der Bedeutung "Guck dir den Menschen genau an, bevor du ihm vertraust" noch folgenden erhellenden Beitrag (sieh Web-Referenz) gefunden:

"trau, schau, wem." ist immer wieder ein schönes sprüchlein. Erstmals wohl von aesop:

"Der Löwe und die Ziege
Auf einem sehr steilen Felsen erblickte ein Löwe eine Ziege. "Komm doch", rief er ihr zu, "auf diese schöne fette Wiese herab, wo du die trefflichsten Gräser und Kräuter findest, während du dort oben darbest."
"Ich danke dir schön für dein Anerbieten", sprach die kluge Ziege, die wohl die Absicht des Löwen erkannte. "Dir liegt mehr an meinem Fleisch als an meinem Hunger. Hier oben bin ich vor dir sicher, während du mich dort unten sofort verschlingen würdest."
Trau, schau, wem? "
damals wohl: "Fide, sed cui, vide?"



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 16 hrs 50 mins (2005-04-25 04:17:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Das mit der Fabel kommt noch in einigen anderen Googles vor.
Es ist m.E. unmöglich den deutschen gedrängten Spruch direkt ins Englische zu übertragen, weil er ja eigentlich meint:
Traust du jemandem, dann schau, wem (du traust)
Mein Vorschlag denn also doch, und bitte um Korrektur, wenn es für das englische Ohr zu schmerzhaft ist... :-))
\"You trust? Look out whom!\"




    Reference: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:CHvv0tWcdi8J:www.acheta...
Elimar Orlopp
Germany
Local time: 11:48
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
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