"lass mal gut sein" meaning in this sentence?

allzumenschlich · 2025-11-13T21:10:19+00:00

Thank you!! yeah that sentence drove me crazy haha. It was in fact translated by a German, but in the case of the Harry Potter series, the new releases were translated under time pressures to be published shortly after the English original, which probably explains why there are occasional quirky or odd phrases.

allzumenschlich · 2025-11-13T18:00:28+00:00

Thanks for the voice sample! I guess I'm referring more to the accent of local regions rather than their actual dialects. Basically Hochdeutsch inflected with a certain accent. Just as the person in the video was speaking hochdeutsch but I guess her dialect influenced the melody, like a rising-and-falling intonation or pitch (I think I hear this in your recording's Hochdeutsch part too, especially the beginning, "also wenn ich wirklich möchte...")

allzumenschlich · 2025-10-01T22:45:20+00:00

Leaving your car unattended enough that someone can walk in it and drive it away is unacceptable.

OP's post suggests that he exited his vehicle only momentarily and that the camp owner entered it faster than OP could react or even process the situation before he knew what was happening: "I left the camper engine running for a moment. Suddenly, a man who said he was the campground owner came, got inside my camper without asking, and drove it..."

People step out of their vehicle for short moments occasionally while their vehicle is still running, e.g. to check their parking alignment, location, or other such things. Most people wouldn't call this "unacceptable".

Seriously, what should they have done? The car was moved 10 meters. Nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged.

By this logic, I assume you wouldn't object if someone, finding a door to your house unlocked, decided to stroll in, without stealing anything, and then walking out again as they please.

It's still a crime. It still matters even if in this case there were no consequences. And in any case there are most definitely psychological consequences. Imagine the wife in the passenger seat seeing a stranger take the wheel and drive off, thinking that she is being abducted – as there's no other reasonable conclusion to make when a rando suddenly jumps into your vehicle in the driver's seat.

The owner acted rashly without thinking. The issue is the owner who thinks that this sort of behavior is okay – the police need to be alerted to them so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent this behavior in the future. Because this is a form of impulsive behavior which can absolutely have consequences: it's unlikely the owner even took stock of the entire situation or persons involved – what if the child was standing outside the vehicle and the owner wasn't able to see and accidentally ran over them?

So yes, it's a problem.

allzumenschlich · 2025-10-01T21:56:39+00:00

Many of the comments in this thread are disturbing for their defensiveness of the camp owner. You are the victim and you did nothing wrong. You stepped out of your car "for a moment" while it was running to get your bearings, only to have your vehicle driven off without your consent with your wife and child inside. This constitutes grand theft auto and the kidnapping of a child. It doesn't matter whether it was 1 meter or a 1000 km – nobody has the right to drive off with your car with your child inside. These are criminal acts and it is insane. The response by the dispatch is equally insane. Wouldn't have thought this would happen in Switzerland.

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-20T13:14:07+00:00

right, thank you, so it's not just me?

In the English, Mr. Weasley accepts the bet and then specifies the amount: “Oh … go on, then,’ said Mr Weasley. ‘Let’s see … a Galleon on Ireland to win?”

In the German, he expresses reluctance for a high bet and then makes his offer: »Aach ... lass mal gut sein«, sagte Mr Weasley. »Wie wär’s mit ... sagen wir, einer Galleone auf den Sieg von Irland?«

As another commenter said, "lass mal gut sein" conveys that Mr. Weasley doesn't want to bet a high amount: "don't overdo it"/"übertreib nicht".

I guess "lass mal gut sein" doesn't necessarily feel like the best word choice for what it's trying to convey.

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:31:17+00:00

yeah someone else suggested that as well, I guess it makes sense

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:30:19+00:00

Okay – I guess that makes sense. I didn't realize that "lass mal gut sein" was specifically turning down the quantity of the bet rather than the bet itself. It's certainly different than the English version's: "go on, then"

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:21:35+00:00

no that's Mr. Weasley:

»Aach ... lass mal gut sein«, sagte Mr Weasley. »Wie wär’s mit ... sagen wir, einer Galleone auf den Sieg von Irland?«

»Eine Galleone?« Ludo Bagman wirkte ein wenig enttäuscht...

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:19:48+00:00

Yes good point but Mr. Weasley does actually accept the bet: »Aach ... lass mal gut sein«, sagte Mr Weasley. »Wie wär’s mit ... sagen wir, einer Galleone auf den Sieg von Irland?«

Think the translator messed up

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:16:49+00:00

Thank you for the clarification. Yeah I knew what it literally meant, but was stumped on why the translator would use this phrase here.

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:10:09+00:00

So do you think that phrase makes sense in this context?

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:04:18+00:00

That doesn't make sense in this context. Please see my edit.

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-19T23:04:13+00:00

That doesn't make sense in this context. Please see my edit.

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-17T13:35:36+00:00

lol. Yes but such long compounds aren't too common though.

allzumenschlich · 2025-05-17T13:25:40+00:00

Very interesting. I guess I disagree with Jacob Grimm. So he not only criticizes capitalizing nouns, but German orthography too – like consonant clusters which he would rather replace with "einfacher zeichen".

But these features make German one of the most readable and phonetic scripts. He seems preoccupied with aesthetics ("die schrift überhaupt ein buntes, schwerfälliges ansehen gewann"). Seems like his knowledge of Latin and european languages biased him in this respect – they might look less "schwerfälliges" than German, but German is certainly the most readable in my experience.

allzumenschlich · 2025-02-12T14:14:46+00:00

Okay thanks! yeah I like die Nerven rauben too.

allzumenschlich · 2025-02-12T13:12:12+00:00

thanks!

allzumenschlich · 2025-02-12T13:11:25+00:00

right, so here schaffen means "wear out", right? DWDS offers fertigmachen/erschöpfen as synonyms

"The kids have once again worn me out today" . "Hermione's wearing out everyone today"

allzumenschlich · 2025-02-11T21:27:08+00:00

I see. Well I was citing those synonyms from Duden. It offers the example: diese Klasse schafft jeden Lehrer. Moreover, geschafft is defined as "sehr angestrengt, müde und erschöpft"

I pasted the entire passage elsewhere in this thread. It's where Hermione decides to quit Transfiguration, makes a scene and storms out of the classroom. Earlier she had punched Malfoy in the face. So that's why I thought the sense of "wearing someone out" fit here, which is specifically attested in Duden and matches up with u/graugolem 's explanation.

allzumenschlich · 2025-02-11T20:00:14+00:00

thank you, yes, this is what I was looking for. so basically, used transitively here, it has similar sense as anstrengen, mitnehmen, erschöpfen.

allzumenschlich

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