Author Topic: Please help a lazy copyeditor  (Read 1763 times)

Sarah

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Please help a lazy copyeditor
« on: March 07, 2008, 04:19:36 PM »
I'm editing a book right now in which the word "lager" is being used for concentration/extermination camp.  I don't have an unabridged dictionary (gasp!) and the Internet is proving unhelpful, so I'm taking the very scientific route of checking the FOT to see if they are familiar with this use of the word in English, i.e., lowercased and in roman.  I could always slither past the question by capping and italicizing it as a German word, but if it's standard in English, I don't have to.

So, what do you say? 


Matt

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Re: Please help a lazy copyeditor
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2008, 04:26:23 PM »
Lager is German for "camp," if this dictionary is to be believed:

http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/deutsch-englisch/Lager.html

In English, "lager" refers only to the type of beer, according to the fine people at Miriam-Webster.

I have no experience in German and I don't know what these "words" are that you speak of, but I felt like helping anyway. Hopefully someone smarter than me can set this straight. Good luck with the book!
It ain't ego, it's my love for you.

Sploops

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Re: Please help a lazy copyeditor
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2008, 04:27:28 PM »
Wiktionary - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lager
no. 3 says it was historial use to describe a concentration camp, for what that's worth

Sarah

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Re: Please help a lazy copyeditor
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2008, 04:28:25 PM »
Did you check an unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary, Matt?  If so, I'll take that as sufficient authority that it's not standard for "camp" in English.

Oh, and thanks to you both.

P.S.  The book is desperately depressing.

Matt

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Re: Please help a lazy copyeditor
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2008, 04:31:26 PM »
Did you check an unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary, Matt?  If so, I'll take that as sufficient authority that it's not standard for "camp" in English.

No, I just checked the standard website. If it helps, I also checked my handy Random House Dictionary from 1980, and it also has no camp-related definition for "lager".

All this lager talk is making me hungry, though. More Hamburger Helper for me!

Don't judge.
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Josh

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Re: Please help a lazy copyeditor
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2008, 04:39:02 PM »
No mention of such use in the New Oxford American Dictionary (2005).
"Alright, well, for the sake of this conversation, let's say the book does not exist."

Sarah

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Re: Please help a lazy copyeditor
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2008, 04:46:46 PM »
Hmm.  That's a more current source, certainly.  I'm thinking now that the translator (from Italian) chose to translate "il lager" literally, on the reasoning, I suppose, that "il lager" is not standard in Italian for concentration camp, and so the English should reflect the idiosyncrasy of the original.  But to me it only evoked--at first blush, anyway--images of beer, and so I'm thinking it's too quirky to retain, especially given the context.  I'll probably go with "Lager" at the first occurrence and then "Lager" thereafter.

A little taste of the drama of my days here.  Heady stuff, ain't it?