Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
08/15-Produkte
English translation:
run of the mill products
German term
08/15-Produkte
This is for a communication strategy of a company. It is listed next to "our products stand for top quality ", so I presume it means something along the lines of "poor quality products".
TIA
| 2 +14 | run of the mill products |
Jonathan MacKerron
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| 5 +4 | standard products |
Alison Schwitzgebel
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| 5 +1 | nondescript products |
M-A-Z
|
| 4 +1 | common, everyday products |
Günther Toussaint
|
Non-PRO (1): Stephen Sadie
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Proposed translations
Retired as of Jan 2019!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
run of the mill products
Mechanical Engineer (spec.: Plastics)
Native in: German 
Works in: English to German, German to English, Dutch to German, and 3 more.
common, everyday products
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Note added at 18 Min. (2006-10-17 08:47:41 GMT)
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isn't "standard" too nice?
France
Words that work
Native in: English 
, German
Works in: German to English, Germanic(Other) to English, French to English
standard products
Let me get you a souce. Back in a mo...
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Note added at 5 mins (2006-10-17 08:34:39 GMT)
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"Der Begriff 08/15 geht auf das Maschinengewehr Maxim 08 zurück, das 1915 modifiziert im ersten Weltkrieg in der deutschen Armee eingesetzt wurde. Daher (sMG) 08/15.
Da es in jeder Einheit der Infantrie Usus war, kam es zum Synonym für gewöhnlich, normal"
http://www.couchblog.de/couchblog/archives/2003/08/firebird_...
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Note added at 7 mins (2006-10-17 08:36:41 GMT)
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"Viele fragen sich, woher eigentlich der Ausdruck 08/15 stammt. Er geht zurück auf die Typenbezeichnung eines deutschen Maschinengewehrs, das im Ersten Weltkrieg zum Einsatz kam. Durch den permanenten Drill an dieser aus 383 Einzelteilen bestehenden Waffe wurde 08/15 unter Soldaten zum Synonym für tägliche Routine, für etwas, das nichts Besonderes war. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg kamen die Maschinengewehre erneut zum Einsatz, galten aber als antiquiert, sodass 08/15 auch noch die Bedeutung "veraltete Massenware" und "Durchschnitt" erhielt.
Deutschlandweite Berühmtheit erlangte der Begriff dann in den fünfziger Jahren durch die drei Kriegsromane des Schriftstellers Hans Hellmut Kirst:
"08/15 Die abenteuerliche Revolte des Gefreiten Asch" (1954) (späterer Titel: "08/15 in der Kaserne")
"08/15 Die seltsamen Kriegserlebnisse des Soldaten Asch" (1954) (späterer Titel: "08/15 im Krieg")
"08/15 Der gefährliche Endsieg des Soldaten Asch" (1955) (späterer Titel: "08/15 bis zum Ende")
Die Trilogie wurde 1954 und 1955 mit Joachim Fuchsberger in der Hauptrolle verfilmt.
Eine ähnliche Karriere erlebte der "Otto Normalverbraucher", auch eine literarische Figur, die durch den Film "Berliner Ballade" in der Darstellung von Gerd Fröbe bekannt wurde und für den typischen Durchschnittskonsumenten steht."
http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/0,1518,311740,00.h...
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Note added at 14 mins (2006-10-17 08:43:37 GMT)
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"A revised version of the MG08 was produced in 1915 — the MG08/15 — which featured a bipod rather than the tripod mount plus a pistol grip. At 18 kg, it was lighter and less cumbersome and was intended to demonstrate better mobility on the battlefield; it nevertheless remained a bulky weapon which was chiefly used for defensive purposes. It was, however, put to some use as an aircraft weapon.
The designation lives on as an idiom in the German language, 08/15 (Null-acht-fünfzehn) being used like an adjective to denote something 'standardized', unremarkable or generic"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_08
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Note added at 38 mins (2006-10-17 09:07:44 GMT)
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or even "Plain vanilla". My American husband suggests "run of the mill"
http://english2american.com/dictionary/b.html
| agree |
Thomas Pfann
: Exactly, not necessarily do with poor quality, just standard/ordinary/off the shelf.
5 mins
|
| agree |
Stephen Sadie
: you often see "everyday products" too
10 mins
|
| agree |
Andrea Hauer
: finde ich gut dafür. Allerdings wird 08/15 schon abwertend verwendet.
12 mins
|
| agree |
RobinB
: What we'd call "bog standard", but not in translations of course....
28 mins
|
|
Great definition of that one here: http://english2american.com/dictionary/b.html.
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|
| neutral |
Cetacea
: Ich finde "Standard" zu positiv für "08/15". Standard ist neutral, 08/15 abwertend.
28 mins
|
| agree |
Textklick
: I'd say Robin's "bog standard", is spot on, as long as it is an internal document. 08/15 is, after all, colloquial (and see Andrea and Cetacea's notes).
1 hr
|
| neutral |
Aniello Scognamiglio (X)
: mit Cetacea! 08/15 ist definitiv abwertend! Probe aufs Exempel: 08/15-Übersetzung vs. Standardübersetzung!
2 hrs
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| disagree |
M-A-Z
: standard implies that the products are regular and usual while 08/15 doesn't say anything about standard or non-standard. It refers to the pair of opposites "special" and "non-special" and adds a negative connotation to "non-special"
2 days 23 hrs
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