Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
(sich) etwas vorschnurren
English translation:
repeat to themselves with great self-satisfaction
Added to glossary by
Danik 2014
Jul 17, 2015 18:49
8 yrs ago
German term
John7953
(sich) vorschnurren
German to English
Art/Literary
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
My greetings to the lovely community.
I would appreciate some help in understanding the german verb: (sich) vorschnurren.
This is the context, a text from Karl Marx's "Herr Vogt":
Mir waren „Herr Liebknecht" und seine Schweizer „Revolutionstage" damals noch unbekannter als die Kneiptage bei Wirt Benz in der Keßlerstraße zu Bern, wo die Tafelrunde der Parlamentler die von ihnen selbst in der Paulskirche gehaltenen Reden sich noch einmal mit vielem Vergnügen vorschnurrten, die künftigen Reichsposten numeriert untereinander verteilten und sich die harte Nacht des Exils verkürzen ließen durch die Lügen, Schwänke, Zoten und Aufschneidereien Karls des Kühnen, der nicht ohne Anflug von Humor und mit Anspielung auf eine altdeutsche Märe sich damals eigenhändig das Patent als „Reichs-WeinSchwelg" ausstellte. (Marx-Engels Werke, Bd. 14, p. 411).
The english translation in the "Collected Works", Vol. 17, p. 51 gives: "regaled each other", in which, I think, exist both the expression "mit Vergnügen" and the verb "sich vorschnurrten".
I would appreciate any help in understanding this verb's meaning.
Thanks in advance,
John
PS: Answers in German language, are also very welcomed.
I would appreciate some help in understanding the german verb: (sich) vorschnurren.
This is the context, a text from Karl Marx's "Herr Vogt":
Mir waren „Herr Liebknecht" und seine Schweizer „Revolutionstage" damals noch unbekannter als die Kneiptage bei Wirt Benz in der Keßlerstraße zu Bern, wo die Tafelrunde der Parlamentler die von ihnen selbst in der Paulskirche gehaltenen Reden sich noch einmal mit vielem Vergnügen vorschnurrten, die künftigen Reichsposten numeriert untereinander verteilten und sich die harte Nacht des Exils verkürzen ließen durch die Lügen, Schwänke, Zoten und Aufschneidereien Karls des Kühnen, der nicht ohne Anflug von Humor und mit Anspielung auf eine altdeutsche Märe sich damals eigenhändig das Patent als „Reichs-WeinSchwelg" ausstellte. (Marx-Engels Werke, Bd. 14, p. 411).
The english translation in the "Collected Works", Vol. 17, p. 51 gives: "regaled each other", in which, I think, exist both the expression "mit Vergnügen" and the verb "sich vorschnurrten".
I would appreciate any help in understanding this verb's meaning.
Thanks in advance,
John
PS: Answers in German language, are also very welcomed.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +1 | repeated with great self-satisfaction |
Danik 2014
|
| 3 | recited speeches …..with chuckling delight |
Michael Martin, MA
|
Change log
Jul 19, 2015 19:53: Murad AWAD changed "Not for Points" from "Checked" to "Not Checked"
Jul 22, 2015 08:50: Danik 2014 changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/2091686">Ioannis A.'s</a> old entry - "(sich) vorschnurren"" to ""repeated with great self-satisfaction""
Proposed translations
+1
23 mins
Danik 2014
Brazil
Brazil
Native in German
Works in field
Brazil
German, English, Spanish to Portuguese!
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) 
, Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: German to Portuguese, English to Portuguese, English to German, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
repeated with great self-satisfaction
sich vorschnurren- literally purr to themselves
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/self-satisfaction
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Note added at 2 days21 mins (2015-07-19 19:10:49 GMT)
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Many thanks, John! Just a correction: I am a woman. But it would be difficult for you to know that. :))
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Note added at 2 days23 mins (2015-07-19 19:12:20 GMT)
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Anyway I hold it with the cats!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/self-satisfaction
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Note added at 2 days21 mins (2015-07-19 19:10:49 GMT)
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Many thanks, John! Just a correction: I am a woman. But it would be difficult for you to know that. :))
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days23 mins (2015-07-19 19:12:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Anyway I hold it with the cats!
Note from asker:
| Hello Mr. Danik. I am very grateful for your suggestion, which I feel as the most accurate. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Bernhard Sulzer
: I take it as recited to / before each other, but I'm not 100% sure, it's late; repated with great self-satisfaction works without getting too much into the "sounds" of things.
3 days 10 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Again, dear Danik, thank you! You held it right!"
8 hrs
Michael Martin, MA
United States
United States
Native in German
&
English
Specializes in field
United States
Creativity wins in the long run
Native in: German (Variant: Germany) , English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
98
recited speeches …..with chuckling delight
or .. , chuckling with delight
I was looking for an animal sound verb (e.g. cackle) but none of them sounded right to me in the context... It should also be noted that the verb 'vorschnurren' is the author's own creation. Not a bad one, IMO. But don't expect to find it in dictionaries..
I was looking for an animal sound verb (e.g. cackle) but none of them sounded right to me in the context... It should also be noted that the verb 'vorschnurren' is the author's own creation. Not a bad one, IMO. But don't expect to find it in dictionaries..
Note from asker:
| Hello Mr. Martin. I am very grateful for your suggestion and your animal sound-direction you gave. Two comments on your last suggestions, I 've just made them in the "discussion-table". |
Discussion
I am frankly sorry for any inconvience, and if you could advise me a way to change the not-for-points option before I close this discussion, I 'd be glad to learn it, for the proper function and cause of the site.
I would like to really thank all the answerers for their helpfull suggestions, and especially for their prompt responses.
At last, I 'd like to make only two observations, of which just now found the necessary informations, only as a small kind of gratitude. Indeed, as Mr. Martin wrote, one should not expect to find the verb in word in the dictionaries, but that goes mainly for the new dictionaries. In the monumental Grimm Wörterbuch, one meets with the verb in word, and although the Grimm Brothers managed to wrote from A to E, while the work for the rest entries started in the middle of the 20th century, withal in the lemma "vorschnurren" we are given two sources, one of which is the "Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache" of Joachim Heinrich Campe, (5 Vol., avail. in archive.org) written between 1807–1812. Hence, this verb was not actually a Karl Marx's own creation.