“Die Gesetzlosen” - ramble. In English, please.
“The lawless people” I’d think.
“The lawless people” is the literal translation, but if you want one that is similarly idiomatic in English, I guess “the outlaws” would be close.
Can you post the phrase in context?
The context wouldn’t help. It’s a translated title in which the key word is an invented (fictional) name and I am trying to figure out which title it might be. I’ve got it now.
Google MisTranslate was giving me “The Act Loose,” which was kinda-sorta-vaguely on track. Thanks for the pointers.
IMHO, pretty much the only meaningful translation, colloquial or not, would be: the outlaws.
gesetzlos literally means: lawless, thus die Gesetzlosen (noun) = the lawless ones or the lawless people.
What kind of context would that be used in? American old west figures? Wartime or disaster looters? Biker gangs? Bank or heist gangs? Or is it a more general term like “outlaw”?
Yeah, Google gives “lawless.” That’s almost perfect use for the title I found. thanks. (Not sure why it choked on the reverse translation… it doesn’t now. Maybe we taught it something? 
)
Strangely enough, whenever I hear the German expression Gesetzloser, I think of it as the German translation of outlaw (like in an American western movie, and slightly dated).
There also is a rather old society/social club in Berlin called Gesetzlose Gesellschaft (lawless society), but with a totally different meaning:
Here’s an interesting observation: The English Wikipedia article “Outlaw” has a much broader scope than the equivalent German version “Gesetzloser”, the latter dealing mostly with outlaws of the old American west.
ISTM to have some connotation of “outcasts” as well as “outlaws” - people who were outside society in general as well as being lawless.
My 2 pfennig worth.
Regards,
Shodan
Okay, while I have you all here, could I get a colloquial translation of this ad?
Gargle Xlate renders it “They knew I was spastic?” and that… just can’t be right.
This is nasty …
Translation: Did you know that I am a Spastiker?
I don’t even know the appropriate English translation of Spastiker here, but usually this refers to an individual suffering from cerebral palsy (or a similar condition). This also appears to be a spoof of a Deutsche Telekom ad. Very mean spirited and certainly not politically correct (although I don’t understand the context).
NM Double Post
As far as I know, it’s not a parody, but a real DT ad. But yeah, it’s pretty nasty and that’s why the translation threw me.
ETA: I think it might be a net parody (in very poor taste). Never mind (but thanks).
The only noun I can think of in English is “spaz,” but the connotation isn’t quite as bad in the U.S.–mostly through ignorance. I think making it the adjective “spastic” conveys it correctly.
(I know I had no idea spaz came from spastic back when I was a kid, and I continually meet people who still don’t know–some not even knowing what “spastic” means. I similarly did not know jipped [also spelled gypped] came from “Gypsy” or welched came from “Welsh.”)