# Norwegian: tillitserklæring



## torrobin

Hi, 
I wonder how to best translate the word 'tillitserklæring' to English. 
Like in the sentence: 'Jeg opplevde at pengene jeg mottok var en tillitserklæring fra deres side.'

There's a phrase called 'vote of confidence' but it doesn't feel right. 



torrobin


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## bicontinental

torrobin said:


> Hi,
> I wonder how to best translate the word 'tillitserklæring' to English.
> Like in the sentence: 'Jeg opplevde at pengene jeg mottok var en tillitserklæring fra deres side.'
> 
> There's a phrase called 'vote of confidence' but it doesn't feel right.
> 
> 
> 
> torrobin



Hi Torrobin,
I agree that 'vote of confidence' doesn't quite work in your example, but you could say, '_the money I received was a *token of confidence *on their part_...'
(There are of course lots of synonyms for 'token' e.g. evidence, indication, manifestation, sign, symbol etc. )
Bic.


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## torrobin

bicontinental said:


> Hi Torrobin,
> I agree that 'vote of confidence' doesn't quite work in your example, but you could say, '_the money I received was a *token of confidence *on their part_...'
> (There are of course lots of synonyms for 'token' e.g. evidence, indication, manifestation, sign, symbol etc. )
> Bic.


hi bicontinental, 
thanks for your reply! That sounds much better, and I'd even like to put in 'manifestation' so it'll be: 'the money I received was *a token and a manifestation of confidence* on their part'. 

torrobin


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## timtfj

torrobin said:


> hi bicontinental,
> thanks for your reply! That sounds much better, and I'd even like to put in 'manifestation' so it'll be: 'the money I received was *a token and a manifestation of confidence* on their part'.
> 
> torrobin


The problem with this is that both _token_ and _manifestation_ are quite formal and specialised words---in fact a _token and manifestation of_ sounds like the kind of language one would find in a traditionally-worded liturgy and nothing like everyday speech.

It depends very much on the context in which the money was received---I'm wondering whether *a goodwill gesture* or *the money . . . demonstrates their confidence* might be more appropriate. I'd really avoid _token and manifestation_ unlesss you want to sound either very pretentious or 200 years out of date.


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## NorwegianNYC

Hi,

I am not saying torrobin and bicontinental are incorrect (because they are not), but I have to agree with tim in this respect. Token and manifestation are very pretentious words, and although they work just fine, the message you are trying to get through is that this is a nice gesture, it is goodwill and a sign of trust. Then again - I do not know the context. If this is an official matter, you might want to go with the "stiffer" words (e.g. legalese), but otherwise I would 'tone it down' a bit.


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## Dan2

Hi folks...

I agree with Tim and NNYC only with regard to the phrase "token and manifestation of confidence".  But I find bicontinental's suggestion of "token of confidence" to be excellent.  It's a common phrase (at least in US English) and I don't find it at all pretentious.

Dan


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## bicontinental

Hello Tim and NYC,
Your comments are quite interesting…and surprising to me! I can’t speak for BE but in AmE I don’t find _token_ to be ‘very pretentious’, dated, or associated primarily with liturgical language; I actually find that it’s very much alive and well in modern AmE, especially in written English (at least in my part of the country where expressions like _a small token of my appreciation, _and _a token of confidence_ won’t make anyone bat an eye.) Having said that, I agree that it isn’t as relaxed as _a goodwill gesture_, or _sign_, but then again, I don’t see anything in the OP’s sentence that would require “toning down” the language in the English translation. The original sentence is written in a neutral, standard language, and as such I think that _token_ would work well here.

On a different, but related note, I don’t believe that “a gesture of goodwill/a goodwill gesture” or “a nice gesture” would be an accurate translation of_ tillitserklæring. ‘_Goodwill’ of course, has to do with kindness, with being helpful and friendly to somebody;  ‘tillitserklæring’ on the other hand, is all about having trust and confidence (tillit/tiltro) in someone, so in this example the money would be a sign of this confidence, and not an act of kindness.

Ref: http://www.nob-ordbok.uio.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=tillitserkl%E6ring&begge=+&ordbok=begge&ava=ava


 “tillitserklæring ~erklæring,   erklæring som gir uttrykk for tillit til en omstridt person”


Bic.


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## timtfj

bicontinental said:


> Hello Tim and NYC,
> I can’t speak for BE but in AmE I don’t find _token_ to be ‘very pretentious’, dated, or associated primarily with liturgical language


Sorry, I didn't make myself quite clear. I meant that the _combination of the two_ gives that effect. I agree that _token_ isn't an unusual word. It's OK on its own, but in combination with _manifestation_ the resulting phrase has that feel. I think that's partly because _manifestation_ pushes it into that kind of context.


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## timtfj

erklæring, erklæring som gir uttrykk for tillit til en omstridt person”





bicontinental said:


> On a different, but related note, I don’t believe that “a gesture of goodwill/a goodwill gesture” or “a nice gesture” would be an accurate translation of_ tillitserklæring. ‘_Goodwill’ of course, has to do with kindness, with being helpful and friendly to somebody;  ‘tillitserklæring’ on the other hand, is all about having trust and confidence (tillit/tiltro) in someone, so in this example the money would be a sign of this confidence, and not an act of kindness.
> 
> Ref: http://www.nob-ordbok.uio.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=tillitserkl%E6ring&begge=+&ordbok=begge&ava=ava
> 
> 
> “tillitserklæring ~erklæring,   erklæring som gir uttrykk for tillit til en omstridt person”
> 
> 
> Bic.


Now I've looked at that definition, the phrase that comes to mind is the one in the original post: the money was given *as a vote of confidence,* i.e. as an action expressing confidence. _Token_ doesn't seem strong enough to match the Norwegian definition.

PS apologies for slightly disordered posting---I've got a cold at the moment and my brain isn't working as well as I'd like it to.


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## NorwegianNYC

Yes - sorry about being unclear. It is the combination that makes it sound a little odd. I would personally avoid 'manifestation', but I agree with the ones above that 'token' alone works


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## torrobin

Thanks everybody!

I see that it might be clearer if I put the sentence in a context. 
The context is this: A young woman who has a great passion about a writing project, but who's struggling financially is given a large amount of money from some wealthy relatives. They give the money to her because they want to support her in her passion and they  believe in her and trust that she'll use/invest the money wisely. 

So she says: 'Jeg opplevde at pengene jeg mottok var en tillitserklæring fra deres side.'

So from the discussion it seems 'token of confidence' is the best. 
Though I also liked 'demonstrates their confidence'.

torrobin


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## timtfj

torrobin said:


> Thanks everybody!
> 
> I see that it might be clearer if I put the sentence in a context.
> The context is this: A young woman who has a great passion about a writing project, but who's struggling financially is given a large amount of money from some wealthy relatives. They give the money to her because they want to support her in her passion and they  believe in her and trust that she'll use/invest the money wisely.
> 
> So she says: 'Jeg opplevde at pengene jeg mottok var en tillitserklæring fra deres side.'
> 
> So from the discussion it seems 'token of confidence' is the best.
> Though I also liked 'demonstrates their confidence'.
> 
> torrobin


Given this description I do think that _token of confidence_ is too weak. The point is that a token is _symbolic_ and can be small: if someone says "Please accept this gift as a small token of our appreciation" they're intentionally _talking down_ the size of the gift. But what's being given here is a concrete demonstration and real practical help, not just a small symbol. *Vote of confidence* has that feel in English: it means that someone isn't just expressing their confidence, but is also acting on it.

If I were on the receiving end in such a situation and described it afterwards, I might say "When they gave me the money it felt like *a huge vote of confidence on their part*".

It's similar to actual voting in an election: if you say you have confidence in one of the candidates and then vote for them, the act of voting is what proves that you mean it. It both demonstrates your confidence and acts on it by trying to get them elected.

"Demonstrates their confidence" would be OK if she's talking about it in a neutral, factual way (no emotional content), but in my opinion it's too weak otherwise.


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## torrobin

timtfj said:


> Given this description I do think that _token of confidence_ is too weak. The point is that a token is _symbolic_ and can be small: if someone says "Please accept this gift as a small token of our appreciation" they're intentionally _talking down_ the size of the gift. But what's being given here is a concrete demonstration and real practical help, not just a small symbol. *Vote of confidence* has that feel in English: it means that someone isn't just expressing their confidence, but is also acting on it.
> 
> If I were on the receiving end in such a situation and described it afterwards, I might say "When they gave me the money it felt like *a huge vote of confidence on their part*".
> 
> It's similar to actual voting in an election: if you say you have confidence in one of the candidates and then vote for them, the act of voting is what proves that you mean it. It both demonstrates your confidence and acts on it by trying to get them elected.
> 
> "Demonstrates their confidence" would be OK if she's talking about it in a neutral, factual way (no emotional content), but in my opinion it's too weak otherwise.



Thanks, timtj!
I like the sentence 'When they gave me the money it felt like a huge vote of confidence on their part.'

torrobin


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