It is currently 4:48 AM. I would love to go back to bed, but something is keeping me awake. The new Fox show Sleepy Hollow. My early morning restlessness is not caused by the obvious creepiness of the show.
It is caused by their abuse of the German language.
I love German. I have a Bachelors degree in German. I love the way the language can be so expressive of nuances which we miss in English. German can be maddeningly complex (it has 12 forms of ‘the’) and precise. My German is far from perfect or on the level of a native speaker, but the liberties Hollywood takes in representing the German language are too much to bare. The corrections I offer are for the three mistakes in culture, vocabulary, and grammar which stuck out to me. They are from the episode, “The Lesser Key of Solomon”.
1. “Hast du es, mein Freund?” (24:09)
This is a question which Ichabod Crane asks the Hessian bad guy. The issue I have with this question is that Crane uses the informal version of ‘you’ (du) rather than the formal (Sie). Admittedly, it could be argued that Crane uses the informal as an insult to the Hessian. When someone is not referring to an actual friend, ‘Du’ is the form of you which adults say to children or others who are beneath them, such as a teacher to a student. The addition of “mein Freund” (my friend) at the end of the sentence may make it seem like Crane’s use of the informal is correct, however, Crane is calling the Hessian in sarcasm. This makes the use confusing.
Correction: “Haben Sie es, mein Freund?”
Using the formal version of ‘you’ with the sarcastic ‘my friend’ at the end would have better shown the contrast in what Crane was saying and made the point more clear that the Hessian creep was no friend of Cranes.
2. “Malooch wird auf resteigen.” (27:08)
Not only does the actor who plays the Hessian mispronounce ‘Steigen’ (it should be pronounced with the ei in the middle like the English word eye), but then Crane repeats the line back incorrectly as well. Crane says, “Malooch wird auf verstehen.” Both sentences are wrong. For the Hessian, ‘resteigen’ is not actually a word and sounds like a butchering of the prefix ‘ver’. (PS. “versteigen” would also be incorrect, as it means to be eccentric or over the top). The word which they wanted to use was ‘aufsteigen’ which means to rise or ascend.
For a double German fail, Crane repeats back, “Malooch wird auf verstehen”. What he literally says is, “Malooch will understand about.” Other than being the incorrect vocabulary, this is a clear misuse of the preposition, ‘auf’ as Crane doesn’t provide a direct object for Malooch to understand. Perhaps, the crew wanted to use the word ‘aufstehen’ which can also mean to rise, but in a different context. ‘Aufstehen’ refers to getting out of bed in the morning or rising to one’s feet, but not ascending to power through the use of demons.
Correction: “Malooch wird aufsteigen.”
Keep it simple friends. Don’t throw in unnecessary prefixes or prepositions if you don’t need them.
3. “So soll es beginnen.” (Though it sounds like the actor says, ‘so sollt’s beginnen’) (33:20)
My first issue with this statement is that I cannot recall ever hearing a German native speaker use the verb ‘beginnen’. The more common word used to describe a beginning or start is the noun ‘Anfang’ or the verb ‘anfangen’. The larger issue is the use of the modal verb ‘sollen’. This is a verb which modifies the meaning of the verb ‘beginnen’. ‘Sollen’ is the English equivalent of ‘should’. So when the menacing Hessian should be saying, ‘it has begun and there isn’t anything you can do about it!’. What he is really saying, ‘it should begin, I think, I hope…’ and it creates a very disjointed feel to the scene. More importantly, it interrupts my suspension of belief and takes me out of the world of Sleepy Hollow.
Correction: “So fängt es an.” Or even better “Jetzt fängt es an! (Now it begins!)”
By removing the modal verb ‘sollen’, the line has a more imperative feel. It gives the character a greater sense of authority and increases the viewers dread. It makes the beginning of the end more imminent and unchangeable. Also, by using the verb ‘anfangen’ instead of ‘beginnen’, the writers get credit for using the more common German verb rather than the one which looks most English. If you are wondering, ‘fängt an’ is the correctly conjugated version of ‘anfangen’. ‘Anfangen’ is one of Germans fun and tricky separable verbs which kick the prefix to the end when used as the main verb. This, however, is a lesson for another time.
Now, I just want to go back to bed.
Continuing the adventure,
Jess
Jess Boctor 