Talk:Ror Wolf

Question for German speakers
Is "unerschrockene" actually "unafraid", or is it "intrepid", "fearless"? --PaulBetteridge (talk) 22:05, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
 * You don't need a German speaker - which I am - but one who can tell the subtleties of English. Translator provides: unflinching, undaunted, dauntless, hardy, intrepid, doughty, stout-hearted, unabashed, courageous, brave, unafraid. Of those, I'd discard all "positive ones" because the "un-" is a negation, leaving: unflinching, undaunted, intrepid, unabashed, unafraid. Of those, the only one I knew was "unafraid". You'd say "unerschrocken" of a prince in a fairy-tale setting off for adventure. If you tell me that one of the others gets closer, I'll believe you. Let's not forget that almost everything Wolf wrote has a double-meaning ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:24, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
 * So perhaps "intrepid" is better, since it is a positive quality, or at least implies some determination: one might be "unafraid" purely through ignorance, not knowing any better, or unafraid and unconcerned; but the fairy-tale prince would probably be an "intrepid" explorer. But if you think that the negative aspect needs to be kept, then "fearless" would be better. I feel that "unafraid" is perhaps too colourless a word. --PaulBetteridge (talk) 22:43, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
 * "fearless" might rather be "furchtlos", no? Use "intrepid" then, please. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:58, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

Hilfsarbeiter
Translator is helpless, "unskilled worker" is the best, but doesn't have the "temporary, not well payed, little skill required" aspects that Hilfsarbeiter has. Help? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:32, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I thought "labourer" was a great improvement on "auxiliary worker". But it seems "unskilled labourer" would be better still. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grunt#Translations gives Hilfsarbeiter as a German translation of the sense "person who does ordinary and boring work", but I wouldn't recommend "grunt", although it is probably a fairly precise translation - not quite the encyclopedic voice. --PaulBetteridge (talk) 22:52, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I ought to say that "labourer" has quite a lot of the quality of "not well paid and little/no skill required" in English anyway; but I have changed it to "unskilled labourer" to try that out --PaulBetteridge (talk) 22:57, 18 February 2020 (UTC)