Talk:Vicki Baum

Grand Hotel - translation of title
Vicky Baum's most famous novel is known in English as "Grand Hotel". The original German title is different, namely "Menschen im Hotel", and therefore it makes sense to add a translation of the German title. Until quite recently, this was rendered as "People at a Hotel" - and I think this translation is very adequate. A few days ago, though, user 106.68.225.56 changed this to "People in the Hotel". I reverted this, as I think it is very poor English, and 106.68.225.56 re-reverted, arguing that Google has this as the most common translation (and indeed "People in the Hotel" is what Google translate proposes).

So let's try to sort this out here. Citing Google results as proof is meaningless, as it is easy to find hundreds and thousands of erroneous definitions and spellings for any kind of word - and this is even more the case with translation software.

In English, people stay "at a hotel" - not "in a hotel". Thus Baum's title, which is meant to express a specific condition, to wit that of 'dwellers at a hotel', should be rendered as "People at a Hotel". As to the article (definite or indefinite), the German "im" is a contraction of "in dem", and "dem" suggests the definitive article. However, although a contraction, "im" is not synonymous with and cannot be replaced by "in dem" without changing the meaning. As a title (as opposed to in a sentence), "Menschen in dem Hotel" would be bad German - and it would also suggest people at a specific hotel, which Baum's title does not. Albrecht Conz (talk) 21:49, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

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 * Vicki Baum in Waikiki.png