Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Rums

English translation:

Kerplunk! Wham! Bang!

Added to glossary by Rowan Morrell
Mar 17, 2007 13:05
17 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

Rums

German to English Art/Literary Slang Historical Trail Audio
Wir haben den ersten Traktor in [town] gehabt, einen 180er Steyr. Mit dem haben wir das Holz heraus gefahren. Das waren 400 bis 500 Festmeter Holz, die die Lawine mitgerissen hat.

Wir haben alles mit der Hand aufgeladen. Der Weg war noch nicht so gut wie heute. Es ging bergauf und bergab. Da sind wir hängen geblieben. Der Tunnel war noch verflucht klein. Rumms, da sind wir stecken geblieben. Kein Licht im Tunnel, alles war blockiert. Aber es ist alles gut ausgegangen."

Talking about the aftermath of a big avalanche. I can't find a translation for "rumms" anywhere, and don't have much of an idea what it means - what a bummer, maybe??? TIA for your assistance.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +6 boof / whallop / wham / thud !
3 +3 bang
3 +1 bang!
Change log

Mar 17, 2007 13:20: Marcus Malabad changed "Term asked" from "rumms" to "Rums" , "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"

Discussion

Proposed translations

+6
48 mins
Selected

boof / whallop / wham / thud !

Duden expresses it very well:
lautm. für das Geräusch, das bei einem dumpf tönenden Aufprall entsteht

Duden-Oxford gives:
bump; (lauter, heller) bang; (beim Zusammenstoß) crash

But considering this is about an avalanche and bearing in the mind the "dumpf" aspect, I think "bang" or "crash" are wide of the mark here. Hence the above suggestions ...

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-03-17 14:27:15 GMT)
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Then there's "whoosh!" as well ...
Peer comment(s):

agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : any of these would do : a onomatopoeia at its best:))
19 mins
agree Nicole Schnell
36 mins
agree Susan Keller : i would certainly go for one of these instead of bang
38 mins
agree gfish
55 mins
agree John Jory : wham is my preference
4 hrs
agree Lancashireman : 'Kerplunk' would be my preference
9 hrs
I'd certainly give 'kerplunk' an Agree. But what happend to the various colleagues who agreed with 'bang' etc.?
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Francis. Wham is great! Kerplunk wasn't bad either. I'll add both of those to the glossary, but I'll put in "bang" as well, because it would be appropriate in some other contexts. Wham is what I'm going to use here though. Thanks to everyone who contributed - appreciate your help."
+3
4 mins
German term (edited): rumms

bang

Correct spelling would be "rums" (interjection).
Peer comment(s):

agree Ulrike Kraemer
5 mins
agree Edith Kelly
9 mins
agree BrigitteHilgner : Es machte knall, es machte bumm ...
39 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
5 mins
German term (edited): rumms

bang!

I think it might be a variation on "rums", meaning the noise of an accident:

ums <Interj.>: a) lautm. für das Geräusch, das bei einem dumpf tönenden Fall, Aufprall entsteht: r., lag der ganze Segen auf der Erde; r., war der Wagen aufgefahren; r., ein Unfall!; b) Ausdruck für ein plötzliches Ereignis, eine schnelle Bewegung: Rums, in die Zelle zurück, ein neues Verfahren (Kempowski, Uns 138).

Duden

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2007-03-17 13:18:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"CRASH!"
Peer comment(s):

agree Ulrike Kraemer
5 mins
or "Crash", as you found
Something went wrong...
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