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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen

English translation:

life's weary woes will prove our undoing

Added to glossary by Paul Cohen
Jan 19, 2007 19:21
17 yrs ago
German term

an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen

German to English Art/Literary General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
In another letter of Sigmund Freud to his daughter:

"Dass Du so heiter und wohl bist, ist herrlich und könnte einem die Hoffnung auffrischen, dass das Menschengesclecht doch nicht so bald **an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird**."

A paragraph which has no further context.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 life's weary woes will prove our undoing
3 +4 will wither away from (the) weariness of/with life
3 +1 perish from the banality of life
4 that humanity won't perish after all because life has become too much for it
3 become extinct by mere tiredness of life
Change log

Jan 20, 2007 11:13: Steffen Walter changed "Term asked" from "an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird" to "an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen"

Discussion

Paul Cohen Jan 21, 2007:
Whether these texts are for publication or not is one matter, but it did occur to me that virtually every note, diary entry, letter and even shopping list that Freud ever wrote HAS ALREADY been translated into English and thoroughly analyzed.
Francis Lee (X) Jan 21, 2007:
Shouldn't each of these Freud questions have a note to Kudoz colleagues that they are basically for informational purposes (i.e. for one specific biographer who speaks no German and NOT for publication)? Just in case they put "too much effort" in. ;-)

Proposed translations

+2
15 mins
German term (edited): an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird
Selected

life's weary woes will prove our undoing

Alas, it looks as if life's weary woes will not prove the undoing of all mankind.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-01-19 20:36:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or more accurately:
(...) that life's weary woes will not prove the undoing of all mankind after all.

Lebensüberdruss = "world-weariness" (Langenscheidt)
Zugrunderichtung, Verderben, Unglück = undoing (ditto)

The old man is basically trying to give his daughter some words of encouragement. It's good to see that you are doing better, life goes on, it's not the end of the civilized world as we know it, etc.
Peer comment(s):
agree Gert Hirschfeld : Very poetic, Paul. Although everyone seems to favour another solution, this does it for me. A real value-added translation. I'd put my money on that.
1 day 3 hrs
Thanks, Gert. Like many things in life, language is a matter of personal taste.
agree Diana Loos : With Gert; not only poetic - that's the "value-added" bit - but also sounds like genuine English.
1 day 20 hrs
Thanks, Diana! That's about the most positive feedback that anyone could give. Poetic license that still sounds like English!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot."
+1
8 mins
German term (edited): an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird

perish from the banality of life

You have quite a number of options here. I've derived my suggestion from the "banality of evil", which is a phrase often used in another context - WWII.

Überdruss can mean anything from tedium to banality and monotony

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/tedium
Peer comment(s):
agree Bernhard Sulzer : fits the original well IMO
1 hr
Something went wrong...
11 mins
German term (edited): an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird

become extinct by mere tiredness of life

It is marvellous that you are so happy and in good health, which could almost fill me with new hope that mankind may, after all, not become extinct by mere tiredness of life in a hurry.
Something went wrong...
+4
59 mins
German term (edited): an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird

will wither away from (the) weariness of/with life

as in

...that mankind (the human spirit) will wither away from the weariness of/with life...

...from sheer/the unhappiness with life...


http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/ancient_greece/39166/3
that mankind wouldn't wither away from all the tragedy and unhappiness

http://www.lifeissues.org/euthanasia/euthbrochure.htm
weariness with life

http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/LoveLife/life.html
sheer weariness

http://www.purposeoflife.net/
weariness with life

http://feeds.feedburner.com/relevantbibleteaching
life's weariness.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2007-01-20 00:11:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

also:

humankind
human race

...that the human race will not fade away so soon from/because of the (its) weariness of life

that weariness of life will not cause/spell the end of the human race so soon.

Peer comment(s):
agree Matthew Kinch (X) : Yes, I would agree that in this case "Lebensüberdruss" strongly conveys a sense of "weariness", disenchantment and even despair.
28 mins
thank you, Matthew
agree Andrea Black : Definitely weariness, I'd like "perish" better than wither away, though.
1 hr
danke, Andrea , and yes, "perish " for mankind
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X)
5 hrs
danke, Ingeborg
agree Nicole Schnell
16 hrs
danke, Nicole
Something went wrong...
14 hrs
German term (edited): an Lebensüberdruss zu Grunde gehen wird

that humanity won't perish after all because life has become too much for it

It's not as poetic as the other suggestions, but IMO the word "Überdruss" undoubtedly conveys the idea of something being too much - in this case, life.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Paul Cohen : Yes, life has become too much. But in addition to Übersättigung, the word also means Ennui, Widerwille, Abscheu & Ekel in German. It's a tough nut to crack! That explains why some of us are waxing poetic in our translations. ;-)
1 day 2 hrs
Your answer does in fact express the idea best - q.v.
Something went wrong...
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