Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
Licensing (April 2026)
The following sentence from “Bringing NASA down to Earth” by Tom Huntington (Invention and Technology, Fall 2008, Volume 23) is about a licence:
“While NASA opted instead for solid fuel in its spacecrafts, scientists Ronald Moskowitz and Ronald Rosenweig of Avco Space Systems licensed the technology and founded Ferrofluidics Corporation (now Ferrotec).”
The translator wrote in German: “Während sich die NASA stattdessen für festen Brennstoff in ihren Raumfahrzeugen entschied, lizenzierten die Wissenschaftler Ronald Moskowitz und Ronald Rosenzweig von ‘Avco Space Systems’ die Technologie und gründeten die ‘Ferrofluidics Corporation’ (heute Ferrotec).”
What is interesting, here, is the use of the verb “license” and its German equivalent, “lizenzieren”. In general, both verbs mean “to grant someone a licence”. However, this meaning doesn’nt make sense in the above context because Ronald Moskowitz and Ronald Rosenzweig were not the licensors but the licensees of the ferrofluids technology. That the English verb “license” can apparently also mean to receive or acquire a licence from someone is usually not evident from dictionaries. The only dictionary I could find was dictionary.cambridge.org: in addition to the pattern “license something to somebody”, they also give “license something from somebody”.
In German, though, only the first of the two patterns works. “Etwas lizenzieren” is to grant somebody a licence for something. As this meaning doesn’nt fit, here, the German translation needs to be corrected, for example: Während sich die NASA stattdessen für festen Brennstoff in ihren Raumfahrzeugen entschied, erwarben die Wissenschaftler Ronald Moskowitz und Ronald Rosenzweig von ‘Avco Space Systems’ eine Lizenz für die Technologie und gründeten die ‘Ferrofluidics Corporation’ (heute Ferrotec).