This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
Mythos als Sprache
EB LS
Mar 28, 2023 20:22
1 yr ago
67 viewers *
German term

du schaust wie drei Tage Regenwetter

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Translating fiction to US English and came across this expression, describing someone who clearly looks miserable:

du schaust wie drei Tage Regenwetter

In British English I'd translate it as "you have a face like a wet weekend" but I don't think that works so well in American English. I just can't think of an appropriate equivalent. Any suggestions for a better expression?
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 You look like your dog just died
5 +2 You look as miserable as sin
4 +1 you look down in the mouth/dumps
3 look like a wet blanket
3 You look like a bear with a sore head
3 You are pulling a face like three days of rain/ You have a face as long as a fiddle
3 Your face is like a wet weekend. You look just like a wet weekend

Discussion

Rosemary Soroos (asker) Mar 29, 2023:
for context It's a conversation between girlfriends, one explaining how she could tell the other's relationship was going badly - she looks miserable, she's lost weight, she looks "wie drei Tage Regenwetter."
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Clearly there's not an obvious one relating to wet weather as in British English!
writeaway Mar 28, 2023:
It all depends on the context It's impossible (for us) to know the best way to go unless some context is visible.
Klaus Conrad Mar 28, 2023:
to have a face as long as a fiddle https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a face as long as a fid...
https://dict.leo.org/englisch-deutsch/drei tage regenwetter

Proposed translations

+3
10 hrs
Selected

You look like your dog just died

typical U.S. CONTEXT will tell which fits best.
Peer comment(s):
agree writeaway : Context would be nice (for some of us). And yes, if Asker is looking for US English, this does the trick
2 hrs
agree Lancashireman : Ramey is an authentic practitioner of EN-US.
4 hrs
agree Michele Fauble
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Ramey, I think this expression will work the best."
+1
1 hr

you look down in the mouth/dumps

How about this?
Peer comment(s):
agree Sean O'Byrne : dumps
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

You look as miserable as sin

Peer comment(s):
agree Charles Stanford : To cpounteract the neutral, which seems a bit half daft
6 hrs
Thank you, Charles. :)
agree Adrian MM. : your confidence level is nobody else's business, least of all a diffident neutralizer's https://de.glosbe.com/de/en/ein Gesicht wie sieben Tage Rege...
10 hrs
Lol, thank you Adrian. :)
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

look like a wet blanket

Trying to keep the wetness theme going...

Admittedly, I am using a lower confidence level, as this term is more specific (spoiling everybody's fun) than it needs to be (unless Rosemary has information on the context she hasn't revealed).

It should be noted that the German idiom seems kind of aged. Most will be familiar with it, but I doubt that many people will drop it into everyday conversation.

Something went wrong...
8 hrs

You look like a bear with a sore head

Another option...
Something went wrong...
16 hrs

You are pulling a face like three days of rain/ You have a face as long as a fiddle

Just go along with the Bremen Town Musicians :)) :

Rain:
http://stauffer.co.uk/bremen_musicians.html "Not long after, there was a cat sitting near the path, with a face like three days of rain."
https://en.berlinoschule.com/6-german-weather-expressions-th...

Fiddle:
https://www.bremen.eu/tale-of-the-bremen-town-musicians
"Before long they came across a cat sitting at the roadside with a face as long as a fiddle."
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a face as long as a fid...

Nothing wrong with a one-to-one translation here imho. "A face like three days of rain" is a nice simile.

Something went wrong...
3 days 18 hrs

Your face is like a wet weekend. You look just like a wet weekend

This is common to me but perhaps it is only common in BE?
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search