October 02, 2005

Strong as a Monkey -- (blurb ...in German. Attempted translation within.)

"Strong as a monkey" -- often used by the kids these days, this expression for strength is no approximation: a rather different kind of athlete is currently measuring its strength in Chongqing Safari Park in southwest China. This young chimapanzee by the name of Yuhui surely faired quite well in the weightlifting contest. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell whether the weights were actually made of iron or only of wood.

posted by stripe 19 years ago
  • wood.
  • Wood. Chimps are astonishingly strong though.
  • In other news, linguists found evidence for the last usage of the word "affenstark" - strong as a monkey - by a kid on a 1982 8-track tape.
  • ...einst gern benutzte Kraftausdruck...
  • So it would be "an expression for strength once used by youth" or something to that effect? Couldn't say it rang a bell from my any of my german training. Erm, anyway, I almost translated it as "Monkey Strength", until I realized it wasn't a Nommen.
  • A classic Straight Dope on the strength of chimps.
  • Yes. I rechecked it and it reads "once used by youth". I originally misread it as "used these days", too. That would have fit my impression of "Der Spiegel" and its up-to-dateness in lifestyle issues :-) 1200 pounds pulling strength? Note to self: Be extra-polite the next time I hit on ^h^h^h^h^h^h meet a chimpanzee. Btw, an "Kraftausdruck" is not an expression of strength but a four letter word. *g*
  • I do not care one fiddle-de-dee for the vaunted strength of the champanzee, for he's not as handsome or vain as me, nor can he fly like a honeybee.
  • This thread is rated PG for Strong language. And I think you get points for glossing Gewichthebewettebewerb correctly. That one left me dead in the water. Weight-whaaat??
  • I'm still not sure what that extra "e" in Wett[]bewerb is doing there, though.
  • "This thread is rated PG for Strong language." /collapse