# Need help fast! English to German translation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004 "2017-05-06T14:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/1 "2017-05-06T14:34:14Z")
I’m ordering a personalized German license plate for a friend’s retirement (he’s a BMW fanatic). His nickname is “Silver Fox.” Is “Silber Fuchs” the appropriate translation for the plate? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/2 "2017-05-06T14:41:32Z")
I think it’s just one word – “Silberfuchs”. [Silberfuchs (Begriffsklärung)](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silberfuchs_(Begriffskl%C3%A4rung)) in the German Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/3 "2017-05-06T14:52:09Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I think it’s just one word – “Silberfuchs”. [Silberfuchs (Begriffsklärung)](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silberfuchs_(Begriffskl%C3%A4rung)) in the German Wikipedia. And leaving the “s” off (“Silberfuch”) wouldn’t make sense, yes? Trying to fit letters on the plate 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/4 "2017-05-06T15:06:51Z")
I don’t know which letter you should drop to get it down to 10 letters on a number plate: perhaps “SILBRFUCHS”. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/5 "2017-05-06T15:09:15Z")
And one more . . . Would a “real” plate use the weird “B” and a backwards “E” and “R” ?? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/6 "2017-05-06T15:27:56Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > the weird “B” It’s called an Eszett. ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/7 "2017-05-06T15:28:11Z")
NO. The weird B, ß, is a double S. There are no backwards R and E. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/8 "2017-05-06T15:39:11Z")
By the “weird B” do you mean ß, a character called “Eszett” because it comes from “sz” being run together into one letter? I don’t know if it’s used on German number plates, but it would not be appropriate in “Silberfuchs”. The letter ß is also written as “ss” – it has no relation with the letter B. The only backwards E that I can think of is the Japanese katakana ヨ, which is pronounced as “yo”, and a couple of Cyrillic letters З (“z”) and Э (“e”). The only backwards R is the Cyrillic Я, pronounced as “ya”. They would not be on German plates, and you’d only use them to represent German words if you were being funny. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/9 "2017-05-06T16:16:01Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > And leaving the “s” off (“Silberfuch”) wouldn’t make sense, yes? Trying to fit letters on the plate 😃 Yes, would not make sense. Maybe leave out (some of) the vowels to make it fit. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/10 "2017-05-06T16:25:10Z")
Thanks, all! I went with “SLBERFUCHS,” he’s gonna love it! And, hey, it was so much fun playing around with plates that I ordered one for me: “UBERHOLEN” This truly is the smartest forum on the interwebs! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/11 "2017-05-07T02:34:48Z")
I was going to put “DAS BOOT” on my 740, but went with something else instead. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/12 "2017-05-07T18:48:14Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Thanks, all! I went with “SLBERFUCHS,” he’s gonna love it! > > And, hey, it was so much fun playing around with plates that I ordered one for me: “UBERHOLEN” > > This truly is the smartest forum on the interwebs! OMG, DO NOT park side by side anyplace!! SLBER FUCKS UBER’s HOLE Then some moron will ask you which one is which. “And that’s when the fight started” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-fast-english-to-german-translation/786004/13 "2017-05-08T20:12:18Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > By the “weird B” do you mean ß, a character called “Eszett” because it comes from “sz” being run together into one letter? I don’t know if it’s used on German number plates… It’s not; the plates are always in caps, and ß is only used in lowercase.