Feb 25, 2004 09:30
20 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
United Kingdom
Friendly, reliable and accurate!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
Schlepp-Topp
German to English
Tech/Engineering
Computers: Hardware
This is from a reference book for a basic computer course.
Eine Sonderform sind die so genannten Laptops. Man kann sie - wie der Name „Laptop“ nahe legt - auf dem Schoß benutzen. Sie können - wie ein kleiner Aktenkoffer - überallhin mitgenommen werden. Daher wird auch versucht, sie möglichst Gewicht sparend zu bauen. Da das nicht immer gelingt, haben sie sich auch den spöttischen Beinamen „Schlepp-Topp“ eingehandelt.
Now the German itself is obviously not problematic. I'm just not sure how to translate the term. I cannot think of any derogatory nickname for the laptop based on its weight, and wondered how widespread the German term was? Is it one your average layman would have come across?
TIA
Eine Sonderform sind die so genannten Laptops. Man kann sie - wie der Name „Laptop“ nahe legt - auf dem Schoß benutzen. Sie können - wie ein kleiner Aktenkoffer - überallhin mitgenommen werden. Daher wird auch versucht, sie möglichst Gewicht sparend zu bauen. Da das nicht immer gelingt, haben sie sich auch den spöttischen Beinamen „Schlepp-Topp“ eingehandelt.
Now the German itself is obviously not problematic. I'm just not sure how to translate the term. I cannot think of any derogatory nickname for the laptop based on its weight, and wondered how widespread the German term was? Is it one your average layman would have come across?
TIA
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+7
8 mins
Selected
schlepp-top
I would suggest you leave it as it is. There are a lot of expressions current in England which have a Yiddish flavour, and this could well already be one of them. I know I have heard of "schleppening" luggage in the UK, and I can't be the only person to have heard that, because EVERYONE knows what you mean - and "schlepp-top" itself is so close to "lap-top", I am sure the same would apply.
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Note added at 29 mins (2004-02-25 10:00:10 GMT)
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If you must translate \"schlepp-top\", then use \"lap-top\", if you think \"schlepp-top\" has undesirable connotations - you\'ve no choice. But so what? I\'d rather leave it, even so.
Anyway, if you re-read the German, I\'m sure you\'ll agree that there is more than just a hint of fun being poked at the manufacturers.... So schlepp-top would get their intentions across admirably.
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Note added at 37 mins (2004-02-25 10:08:03 GMT)
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Last para.: ...shclepp-top would get *the writers\'* intentions....
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Note added at 37 mins (2004-02-25 10:08:28 GMT)
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Last para.: ...schlepp-top would get *the writers\'* intentions....
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Note added at 29 mins (2004-02-25 10:00:10 GMT)
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If you must translate \"schlepp-top\", then use \"lap-top\", if you think \"schlepp-top\" has undesirable connotations - you\'ve no choice. But so what? I\'d rather leave it, even so.
Anyway, if you re-read the German, I\'m sure you\'ll agree that there is more than just a hint of fun being poked at the manufacturers.... So schlepp-top would get their intentions across admirably.
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Note added at 37 mins (2004-02-25 10:08:03 GMT)
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Last para.: ...shclepp-top would get *the writers\'* intentions....
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Note added at 37 mins (2004-02-25 10:08:28 GMT)
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Last para.: ...schlepp-top would get *the writers\'* intentions....
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
David Kiltz
: Leave it (footnote?). Schlepp-Topp is very widespread in Germany (actually you may hear it as often as often as 'Laptop'. Schlepp is used in Yiddish for e.g. a heavy rucksack, in Germany 'mein Schlepp' = 'my laptop'.
6 mins
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Thanks David; you'd be surprised just how many Yiddish expressions are daily coinage in the UK too....
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| agree |
Jonathan MacKerron
: but "shlep" according to Webster
21 mins
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Thanks, Jonathan (Chambers has both)
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| agree |
Lars Helbig
21 mins
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Thanks, Lars
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| agree |
Eckhard Boehle
: "Schlepp-Topp" is very common indeed - and is mainly used in a neutral sense, just because of the play of words
46 mins
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| agree |
Steffen Walter
: with Eckhard although the term is used in a slightly derogatory fashion in *some* instances. nb. I've also heard "Schleppi" as a further nickname.
1 hr
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| agree |
Sybille Brückner
: I think it is used in a more funny sense: to lug (schleppen) the laptop with you
1 hr
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| agree |
Gábor Simon
2 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, David. I think I'm going to have to do a bit of rephrasing as well. As you say, the term is not derogatory per se, just poking fun, but it is certainly not a positive one either.
Thanks to everyone for your contributions! Much appreciated.
"
10 mins
laptop-less
From laptop to laptop-less ;-)
12 mins
Klaus Herrmann
Germany
Germany
Native in German
Works in field
Germany
Best TCO in Technical Translations
Native in: German 
Works in: English to German, German
Related KudoZ points
:
19
lugable, clunktop, schlepptop
lugable is a term I've heard a couple of times, and this term can be found on the internet:
Archived NotePAD Entry - 10/16/2003: "CAROLINE PIX"
... My father bought (and I own) one of the original macs. I also have the first
portable (or as we called it the lugable) and a very early notebook. ...
peterdavid.malibulist.com/gmlog/00000579.html
According to E-words: buzzwords, it's a clunktop:
One of those big old nasty laptops that you have to clunk around. Also known in German as a "Schlepptop", from the verb "schleppen" (to haul, drag, or break your back carrying.
http://www.p45.net/cgi-bin/ejits/ewank/index.cgi?block=2&f=k...
Schlepptop should work for an American audience, I suppose - The Yiddish 'schlepp' is quite commonly used, at least on the East coast. This term was readily unterstood by friends and computer sales people in New York area :-)
To "schlepp" something is to carry it along with difficulty. (http://la.essortment.com/yiddishwords_riic.htm)
Archived NotePAD Entry - 10/16/2003: "CAROLINE PIX"
... My father bought (and I own) one of the original macs. I also have the first
portable (or as we called it the lugable) and a very early notebook. ...
peterdavid.malibulist.com/gmlog/00000579.html
According to E-words: buzzwords, it's a clunktop:
One of those big old nasty laptops that you have to clunk around. Also known in German as a "Schlepptop", from the verb "schleppen" (to haul, drag, or break your back carrying.
http://www.p45.net/cgi-bin/ejits/ewank/index.cgi?block=2&f=k...
Schlepptop should work for an American audience, I suppose - The Yiddish 'schlepp' is quite commonly used, at least on the East coast. This term was readily unterstood by friends and computer sales people in New York area :-)
To "schlepp" something is to carry it along with difficulty. (http://la.essortment.com/yiddishwords_riic.htm)
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
SEH
: Shouldn't it be "luggable"? (or is that just British spelling?) Sounds good, but I think it's already an accepted term (e.g. http://www.getntds.com/products/analyzers.htm) so not sure whether it would work well here
39 mins
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27 mins
Jonathan MacKerron
Native in English
Retired as of Jan 2019!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
those unwieldly portable PCs
if the context is indeed a negative one
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Note added at 29 mins (2004-02-25 10:00:37 GMT)
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\"those shlepables)
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Note added at 29 mins (2004-02-25 10:00:37 GMT)
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\"those shlepables)
1 hr
Sybille Brückner
Germany
Germany
Native in German
Germany
53 YEARS OF TECHNICAL TRANSLATION
Native in: German
Works in: English to German, Russian to German, German to English, and 1 more.
Schlepptop
I really think it is used in a funny way and not so much in a negative way, as I wrote in my "agree" above.
You have to lug it with you (it sounds funny in German because there is a rhyme
of the vocals : laptop - Schlepptop
You have to lug it with you (it sounds funny in German because there is a rhyme
of the vocals : laptop - Schlepptop
4 hrs
Olga Koepping
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in German
&
English
United Kingdom
Deadline-driven, accurate, reliable
Native in: English 
, German
Works in: German to English, French to English, Italian to English, and 1 more.
drag-top
this an alternative to leaving it as schlepp-top, which does sound fine too.
Discussion