Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Totgesagte leben länger

English translation:

Reports of His death are greatly exaggerated

Added to glossary by Bettina Grieser Johns
Apr 8, 2013 13:39
11 yrs ago
3 viewers *
German term

Totgesagte leben länger

German to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
This is the title of a book summary. The book is called 'Hat Gott noch eine Zukunft?'

The summary is as follows:

Was hat Gott mit Fußball, Genetik oder dem Internet zu tun? XX spürt ihn an Orten auf, an denen
man ihn zunächst nicht vermutet. Er untersucht, wie Gott unter den Menschen lebt, indem er fragt: Wie wird Gott von den Menschen in der Welt gelebt? Was fangen sie mit ihm an, wenn sie glauben? Dabei findet er Erstaunliches – Gott kann man tatsächlich überall im Alltag entdecken, wenn man sich die Zeit nimmt, ihn zu suchen.

What I have found so far either doesn't fit the context (There's life in the old dog yet) or is clumsy (e.g. people reputed to be dead live longer) - does anyone have any ideas? Grateful for your help, as ever!

Discussion

Bettina Grieser Johns (asker) Apr 8, 2013:
Super, great idea, thanks to both of you!

Proposed translations

+10
7 mins
Selected

Reports of His death are greatly exaggerated

From Mark Twain

God is <insert *not*> dead <insert *yet*>
So it looks something like:
        not      yet
God is ^ dead ^
From Nietzsche

Both may be too flippant for your purpose, but I haven't had enough coffee for extended cogitation yet.
Peer comment(s):

agree Lancashireman : Snap
1 min
Top of the morning to you, Andrew. :)
agree Eleanore Strauss
7 mins
Thanks, ElliCom :)
agree Trude Stegmann : Respect! :)
12 mins
Thanks, Trude :)
agree Nicole Schnell : Darn good!
14 mins
Danke sehr, Nicole, :)
agree mill2
14 mins
Thanks, mill2 :)
agree Frosty : Applies also to a great many old rockers - it's surprising how many Grufties still manage to clamber onto a stage somewhere!
17 mins
And some of them can even still sing! Thanks, Frosty :)
agree BrigitteHilgner : I'm a great fan of Mark Twain!
20 mins
Danke, Brigitte :)
agree Cetacea
48 mins
Danke, Cetacea :)
agree David Moore (X)
2 hrs
Thanks, David :)
agree RegineMac : I like it!
2 days 1 hr
Thanks, RegineMac :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks to everybody for their input and many brilliant ideas! In the end I went for this one, which I personally liked best, but I forwarded most of the others to the client and let them make the final choice - they have read the book, too, I haven't. Thanks again!"
9 mins

Reports of death greatly exaggerated

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

Origin

Mark Twain quotation after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal.

Mistaken publications of obituaries aren't as rare as you might expect. ...
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/368850.html
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13 mins

Those Declared Dead Live Longer

is sometimes used
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+2
24 mins

There is life in the old god yet

I am always one for puns, so I have to suggest this one. The book does not seem to be overly serious, so you might want to think about it. I know you already talked about the original turn of phrase and I don't know if you already dismissed it privately.
Note from asker:
So do I - it's a shame I can't have two titles!
Peer comment(s):

agree Rebecca Garber : ooohhh, I like this one, too.
4 mins
thank you, rebecca, thank you, Bettina.
agree Cetacea
31 mins
thank you, catacea!
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8 hrs

Once Left For Dead, Now Thriving

Sounds like a miracle rescue but could work here, too.
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