Flutgraben, floodway

floodway

an artificial passage to direct floodwater away from an endangered area, eg an overflowing dam, a town, etc.

a channel for diverting floodwaters

A channel for an overflow of water caused by flooding

Flutgraben

Die Nähe zur Elbe, insbesondere zum Überflutungsbereich des alten Elbarmes, des heutigen Niedersedlitzer Flutgraben, bestimmt die Entwicklung des Ortes

Flut-graben ... der Hauptbewässerungsgraben der Wiese; Rinne im Felde, in der Niederung einer Feldflur, durch den das Regenwasser abfliesst ... Gr., der das Wasser eines Baches ableitet

Impressum

On websites

Leo: Impressum einer Website
Wikipedia: Impressumspflicht

In the UK, as there is no legal obligation for websites to include an "Impressum", information such as the VAT number, registration details, etc. is actually often on the Contact Us page - so if a site has no other contact page, and the Impressum contains only a little legal information and the address, then Contact Us fits.

Examples of UK sites where the Contact Us page includes VAT no. etc:

- The Body Shop
- The Daily Mail
- Computer Weekly

Sometimes this information is on the Terms and Conditions page, but obviously this only works if the Impressum includes terms and conditions:

- Citipost
- Verko

If there is a separate contact page, and "Terms and Conditions" doesn't work, my favourites are:

Legal / Legal notice

This often includes the VAT no. etc (although it usually includes more legal information), e.g.

- Pearson Education
- Worcester Rugby Club
- The Law Society (lengthier)


Trading details

- Hunts Office Furniture
- GB Airways
- M.D.Guy & Son

The Fine Print
Informal version of "Legal"; also usually contains terms and conditions

- Body Active Clinics

I don't agree with the translation "Imprint", although it is used by many German companies in Britain, e.g. Bosch, Siemens, the German National Tourist Board, Bayer, etc. Finding "Imprint" on a UK company website is a sure sign that it has a German background. The first 50 Google hits for "Imprint", site:co.uk, include 11 Impressum-type pages from German companies, none from English companies, and lots and lots of hits related to book publishing, which is what imprints are all about - see Wikipedia: Imprint.

Examples from UK sites:
- Pearson Education
- Bossiney Books

See also:

Article at englishtalk.net

Britons richer than Germans

In 2008 UK GDP per capita (£23,500) will be higher than in Germany (£21,665), according to Analyst Oxford Economics. BBC

Formsprache

Die Verhältnisse der Figuren zueinander und der Figuren zum Raum sind nicht immer eindeutig - eine revolutionär neue Formsprache. link

Mit stilisierten Tieren fand der Künstler zu einer ähnlichen Formsprache wie Mataré im Rheinland. link

Weder Parolen noch Formsprache des Jugendstils haben seinem oeuvre sich eingeprägt. link

Die Architektur ist abgeleitet von der typischen Formsprache des TT, der Vermischung von kurvigen Formen mit scharfkantigen Winkeln link

related concepts: Farbsprache (colour), Bildsprache (imagery)

Possible translations:
design, style, composition, arrangement, compositional style/form

e.g.:

The designers had the task of combining typical Audi design characteristics, of elegance through simple but strong lines, ... link

Leaded and hand painted in the typical Art Nouveau style of swirling flowing lines. link

Some Useful Phrases

Useful Phrases for English Speakers in Germany, courtesy of Leo.

Repeat after me:

My threadbare overcoat was an embarrassment.
The coat will have to do for one more winter.
Whales cavorting in the river
fishy-back traffic
They invited friend and foe.
They agree like cats and dogs.
She is as good a warrior as you are
Paper doesn't blush.
She doesn't know her meters and bounds.
She believes that her house and telephone have been bugged.
With tender and loving care she follows him.
with rejoicings and embraces
We virtuously went to bed at ten.
He spoke about indifferent topics.
Cads' fighting when ended is soon mended
relation among traditionally linked fellow countrymen

UK accents and dialects

This site is really excellent:

Sounds Familiar? Accents and Dialects of the UK

Do you call a ‘bread roll’ a cob, batch, bread cake, barm cake or scuffler? How do you pronounce the words cup and plant? And are you sitting or sat at this computer? ... This site captures and celebrates the diversity of spoken English in the second half of the twentieth century.

... You can listen to 71 sound recordings and over 600 short audio clips chosen from two collections of the British Library Sound Archive: the Survey of English Dialects and the Millennium Memory Bank.

Books about language

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
499pp, Allen Lane
Guardian review
Times review
ITunes (unabridged) € 25.95
amazon.de €19.89
amazon.co.uk GBP 15.00 (reduced from GBP 25.00) - amazon video

Language Myths
by Laurie Bauer (Editor), Peter Trudgill (Editor), G.B. Trudeau (Illustrator)
amazon.uk GBP 6.49 (4 reviews, 4 stars)
amazon.de €9.99 (2 reviews, 3 1/2 stars)
In this book Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill have invited nineteen respected linguists from all over the world to address these "language myths"--showing that they vary from the misconceived to the downright wrong. more at penguin