I am a bit tired (euphemism-trigger-warning!) after watching the semifinal ARG-CRO, so I will just mention that:
a) vorgeworfen, from vorwerfen, means reproach, accuse, allege. Yeah, those damned propositional constructions in German don’t mean what they seem. Neither do they in English, for whataboutism’s sake! ( → look at, look for, look out, look over… Yes, I know there are better examples, but see my first sentence.) Vor dem Zug geworfen is more like it: a phrase, not a word.
b) unterwerfen means subjugate, submit, subdue. Do that to a bus! Or, even worse, get that done by a bus to you! Yikes!
c) nice try!
Thanks! So “Busuntergeworfen” would convey something more like “bus-subjugated” or “bus-crushed” rather than “bus-beneath-thrown”?
Okay, I think that still works acceptably. Especially as an instance of what might be called a “pseudo-teutonism”, analogous to “Denglisch” pseudo-anglicisms in modern German such as “Basecap” for “baseball cap”.
Deal? (if we as self-appointed ambassadors of our respective languages can assert the authority to make such a deal? )
Now now, I specifically reopened this discussion here so it wouldn’t make Aspenglow mad by continuing a hijack! I think that the fact that Trump-enablers are so reliably unter den Bus geworfen by Trump that we need a proper German term of art to describe the phenomenon is quite schadenfreudisch enough to justify inclusion in this thread.
…and even if derails weren’t allowed in the pit, this one’d still be ok because it’s about a big-ass German word, and there’s, like, a big-ass German word in the OP title, as well.
So totally legit
Just yesterday, when a robocall interrupted my enjoyment of a podcast on my phone, I realized (duh) that we almost never use our smartphones as phones anymore. They are a thousand things, but “phone” ain’t one of them (or near enough). “Handy” expresses what they are SO much better: a device that fits in your hand, that is handy (useful) in so many ways.
It goes back to the time when phones were not smart yet, the old simple Nokias were already called Handys. And the funny thing is that many Germans think it is the right English word! And yes, it is a very apt term indeed.
Now back to the important things: a single word for throwing somebody under the bus, preferably in German. For starters, it does not necessarily have to be German, English has for the effect of the throw the nice concept of roadkill, someone could coin something fitting starting from there.
But German, OK. That is a hard nut to crack, so I’ll start with some loose ideas, like in brainstorming, maybe @Treppenwitz will follow with better ideas from where I leave it.
First idea: you say throwing and came with the German equivalent werfen. That is natural, but as a professional interpreter I tell you there are better ways to proceed. And better words. I start with schubsen, which means to push, like when wanting to jump a line or what bullies do when starting harrasment. It’s good to use a word that has negative connotations when coining a new disparaging term. Keep that in the RAM and proceed to the
Second idea: There was a time when Germany had only two TV channels, and when one of those showed a football match, a film or something that everybody watched the streets went empty. They still call that a Straßenfeger (literally: a street-clean-sweeper) despite the phenomenon does not really happen anymore. I want to convey the idea that tanTrump does this (insert the word we are searching here) to everybody, so the Feger goes into RAM too.
Third idea: Every now and then, thank Goddot seldom, people push others into the subway tracks when the U-Bahn is approaching. The tabloids call them U-Bahn-Schubser (and a very timely resurfacing of the schubsen that is!). Now that is really despicable and reprehensive. As the victims are standing on the platform, they are also called Bahnsteigschubser (as Bahnsteig = platform).
So I suggest to start our brainstorming session with Bahnsteigfeger: platform sweeper. People who push everybody on the platform in front of the incoming subway train.
I am not completely satisfied, but it is a start. What do you think?
ETA: Reading my post again it seems to me that the last step may have been a step too far. Bahnsteigschubser or platform pusher are already good (or bad) enough, the -feger does not make the meaning clearer.