# fast den Atem nehmen



## GinevraD

Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem und
infolge seines forschen Aussehens und Auftretens verstummte sofort jedes Gespräch. 

Is this the English equivalent to "to take [someone's] breath away?

However, in English the meaning is positive as in _being in love _but in this case, it
seems that the writer is referring to a negative experience.


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## perpend

I see what you mean. There is a Spanish-German forum here, but it appears you need an English translation?

You could work around it:
... made us almost/near breathless
... brought us quickly to a silence


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## GinevraD

Yes, because I am interested in how the expression is said in English. Thank you.

I like the first option because the last part of the sentence speaks again of
conversation being silenced.


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## exgerman

The idea behind the German expression is the we were thunderstruck --- so surprised and shocked that we almost forgot to breathe.


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## Demiurg

As exgerman explained, it has nothing to do with silencing someone, but with fearing to breathe.  You can for example say:

_Der Gestank nahm/raubte mir fast den Atem. => The smell almost took my breath away. _


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## perpend

Hier geht es aber um eine "Allgewaltige". Yikes!!! (Siehe OP.)

EDIT: I wouldn't say "with fearing to breathe", for what it's worth.


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## Demiurg

perpend said:


> Hier geht es aber um eine "Allgewaltige". Yikes!!! (Siehe OP.)



Na ja, göttlicher Odem oder teuflicher Mundgeruch, beides kann einem den eigenen Atem verschlagen. 



perpend said:


> I wouldn't say "with fearing to breathe", for what it's worth.



You're the native speaker!  What about "not daring to breathe"?


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## GinevraD

exgerman said:


> so surprised and shocked that we almost forgot to breathe


Yes, the words turned to graphic form. - thanks

Thanks everyone - your contributions are all welcome - a nice mix of opinions from native speakers from both sides.


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## perpend

Demiurg said:


> Na ja, göttlicher Odem oder teuflicher Mundgeruch, beides kann einem den eigenen Atem verschlagen.
> 
> You're the native speaker!  What about "not daring to breathe"?



 I thought more about "fearing to breath", and my "sense" tells me: being afraid to breathe

In other words: The voice .... made us afraid to (even) breathe

"dare" is interesting: The voice ... left us not daring to (even) breathe. (Das hat was!)

And you made me think of this: The voice ... left us barely able to breathe.


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## GinevraD

"The voice" as you call it, is actually the recruits' sergeant who meets them for the first time - I don't know if
more context would be helpful here.

"Dort wurden wir von unserem zukünftigen Feldwebel gleich ganz liebenswürdig angeschnauzt,
sodass wir nur so an Armen und Beinen flogen. Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem und
infolge seines forschen Aussehens und Auftretens verstummte sofort jedes Gespräch. Grabesstille lag über
den Kasernenhof, als er sagte: „Ich werde Euch schon die Flötentöne beibringen.“ The source is the 1916 memoirs of A. Lempelius

 He says the sergeant addressed them  "ganz liebenswürdig" (lovable ??) so maybe it was not so 
intimidating after all...


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## manfy

GinevraD said:


> He says the sergeant addressed them  "ganz liebenswürdig" (lovable ??) so maybe it was not so
> intimidating after all...


 
 Not quite !!!
This is a common *sarcastic* contrast in German. "Angeschnauzt" has genuinely negative connotations.
Well, "connotations" is actually an understatement. "Anschnauzen" means something like " to snap at somebody" or "to bark at somebody".


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## Demiurg

German even has a word for it: Kasernenhofton.


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## GinevraD

Demiurg said:


> Der Gestank nahm/raubte mir fast den Atem. => The _smell_ _almost took my breath away_.


I don't understand this translation because _Gestank_ is a negative word while "take someone's breath away" is always positive like
the person you love 'takes your breath away' or something/someone beautiful takes your breath away - I dont think that something that
stinks 'takes your breath away.' - I think that @perpend agrees with this. 

Maybe this is another case of irony --mixing both neg. and pos. terms?


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## manfy

Yes, "to take someone's breath away" is mainly used in a positive sense.
I'm not sure if I ever heard or read it in other context - but if I did, I wouldn't find it seriously odd as long as the context is properly phrased, thus modifying the usual meaning of "taking one's breath away".
But better wait for a native speaker's thoughts on that.

"Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem ..." maybe could be rendered along the lines of
"The roar of this Almighty made us almost hold our breaths..." with the unspoken afterthought [in awe/fear/anticipation of what was there to come].


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## Kajjo

@perpend, Ginevra: What do English native speakers say to express negatively "take away one's breath"?

_das verschlug mir den Atem
das raubte mir den Atem
das nahm mit den Atem_


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## GinevraD

I am not a native speaker but I have often heard (Am.E) "hold our breath, hold our noses" after some unpleasant odor:

Slowly we went inside, trying to hold our breath against the deathly smell that enveloped us.
We had to hold our noses and take two or three great gulps ... Within a very short time, we were racing to the toilet, and the smell was horrific!
The pungent smell of cheese made us hold our noses;
And that odor, layered month after month in those stuffy rooms, made us hold our noses when...

If something takes your breath away, you feel surprise and admiration because it is so beautiful or exciting: The view from the window took my breath away. [Cambridge Dictionary]

It is a phrase that can't be translated literally (to take one's breath away) because it means (in a literal sense) that something prevented you from breathing.

However, a native speaker will have a better answer.


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## Kajjo

_den Atem anhalten / to hold your breath_ ... that's a different issue, because we do it actively. But thanks for mentioning!
_sich die Nase zuhalten / to hold one'e nose -- _dito.


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## GinevraD

For clarification: I was referring to this specific example: Der Gestank nahm/raubte mir fast den Atem
as I understand that Gestank = stench, stink, unpleasant odor. In this case you don't do it actively?
I am confused.


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## manfy

I did browse the English-only forum earlier on for that term and it seems that at least in BE the phrase "to take one's breath away" is also used in a literal sense of making somebody stop breathing (which is very close to the German version 'hat uns den Atem genommen'). Here's one example. 
To me as a non-native speaker this usage makes sense. It tells me that it might be uncommon, but it's certainly not nonsensical in general.


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## Kajjo

GinevraD said:


> For clarification: I was referring to this specific example: Der Gestank nahm/raubte mir fast den Atem
> as I understand that Gestank = stench, stink, unpleasant odor. In this case you don't do it actively?
> I am confused.


Everything fine, this works in German. I just meant that "hold the breath" appeared much more active to me than "took my breath away".


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## GinevraD

Thank you - I apologize for deviating from the main object which was to find a translation for
"Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem "

However, I've gotten help for parts of the rest of the paragraph, e.g. "the sergeant barked at us in a lovable way" was meant 
as an ironic sentence. 
Does flogen in this context "an Armen und Beinen flogen" mean trembling?

I get the picture for "atem nehmen" in a literal sense, I still need help in getting the right words in English in this context.


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## manfy

GinevraD said:


> However, I've gotten help for parts of the rest of the paragraph, e.g. "the sergeant barked at us in a lovable way" was meant as an ironic sentence.


 
I don't quite like this phrasing! It could be misconstrued as "The sergeant barked at us. He did it in a funny and lovable way [so that nobody could take him seriously]". The German phrasing does not offer this ambiguity at all.
Maybe something like "Our future drill sergeant lovingly barked at us right away, and hands and feet were flying to snap into formation."
That's probably not idiomatic, but I trust you get the idea.

"... , sodass wir nur so an Armen und Beinen flogen." is a very strange phrasing in German, but the only meaning that makes sense to me in context of military and drill sergeants is that the recruits snapped into place and formation (i.e. forming a line and saluting - or whatever they do in the military) because of the might and forcefulness of the sergeant's bark alone.

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PS: If you're not hung up on literal proximity in your translation then exgerman's suggestion works very well and it's a good semantic match.
"Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem ..."
"We were thunderstruck by the might of his voice/bark/roar, and his intimidating appearance and demeanor silenced every last one of us."

You see this is not a very literal translation, but for me it brings across the feel of the original sentence much better than any attempt that stays close to the literal German wording. It's up to you as translator to decide how far you can and want to go with this.


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## JClaudeK

GinevraD said:


> "take someone's breath away" is always positive like


Auf Deutsch gibt es das Adjektiv "atemberaubend = breathtaking", das meines Wissens auch nur positiv konnotiert ist.

Aber:
_Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem_ *≠ *Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen war atemberaubend.


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## GinevraD

JClaudeK said:


> Auf Deutsch gibt es das Adjektiv "atemberaubend = breathtaking", das meines Wissens auch nur positiv konnotiert ist.
> 
> Aber:
> _Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem_ *≠ *Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen war atemberaubend.


I think that is what I've been trying to say before that "take someone's breath away" does not go here, because in English "take someone's breath away" = breathtaking



manfy said:


> "... , sodass wir nur so an Armen und Beinen flogen." is a very strange phrasing in German,


Maybe it is strange because it was written 100 years ago? I can't say if it is strange or nor, but...

The imagery of arms and legs flying is strange for me too in this context where (I think) the recruits are trying to
be as quiet as possible to the point of (almost) holding their breath.

Again I ask: could _flogen_ be translated as trembling?


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## GinevraD

manfy said:


> "Die Stimme dieses Allgewaltigen nahm uns fast den Atem ..." maybe could be rendered along the lines of
> "The roar of this Almighty made us almost hold our breaths..."


I reread your posting and see that you offered a translation that is not ambiguous in English - and I think the correct one - I got side
tracked by arguing about "take someone's breath away" My mistake.  Thank you!


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## manfy

GinevraD said:


> Again I ask: could _flogen_ be translated as trembling?


 
And thus I answer: I don't think so. Not now and not 100 years ago.


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## GinevraD

@manfy as I said in posting #25 you answered the original question much earlier in this discussion - thank you

even if I am still wondering about "flogen" but that does not belong in this thread.

Thank you everybody.


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