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    German missing

    expectancy vs. expectation - two different translations needed

    Subject

    expectancy vs. expectation - two different translations needed

    Sources
    ..."If you and I friends, there is an expectancy that exists within our relationship. When we see each other or are apart, there is an expectancy of being together, of laughing and talking. That expectancy has no concrete definition; it is alive and dynamic and everything that emerges from our being together is a unique gift shared by no one else. But what happens if I change that expectancy to an expectation – spoken or unspoken? Suddenly, law has entered into our relationship. You are now expected to perform in a way that meets my expectations. Our friendship is no longer about you and me, but about what friends are supposed to do, or the responsibilities of a good friend."
    Comment
    My question is not about the text but just about the two words: I can't really think of a way to make a difference between "expectancy" and "expectation" in German - does anyone have any suggestions?

    Would "Vorfreude" for "expectancy" as in the passage above be too much as a translation? It's not "anticipation" after all...

    Thanks a lot in any case!!!
    W.
    Author Wissenmussling (939063) 11 Feb 18, 20:22
    Comment
    Could you work with Hoffnung maybe?

    This is an unusual use of "expectancy" in English. The author is trying to make a fine distinction.
    #1Author wupper (354075) 11 Feb 18, 20:38
    Comment
    This is not only an "unusual" but I would say a "wrong" use of "expectancy" in English. The entire text should be using "expectation" here, not "expectancy".

    To me, "expectation" is more goal-oriented: it's about that thing you expect. "Expectancy" is a state you are in, namely, that state of expecting something, irrespective of what your goal (expectation) happens to be.

    Here is a contrived example (nobody would say this in reality) to illustrate the difference:

    "Kate Middleton is in a state of expectancy; her expectation is a future sovereign."

    And a footnote: Prior to the late 1960s in the U.S., the word "pregnant" was considered a bit too risque for polite conversation, not quite vulgar, but deserving of a euphemism, as all bodily functions were. So, people would say of someone, "She is expecting," meaning, "She is pregnant." In no other sentence in AE that I am aware of could you use "expecting" without a direct object, other than this one case.
    #2Author Peter <us> (41) 15 Feb 18, 10:57
    Sources
    https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Erwartun...

    "durch bestimmte Erwartungen geprägte Haltung"
    Comment
    Ich werfe, nach Lesen von #2 und des "contrived example", das Wort "Erwartungshaltung" für "expectancy" als meine 0,02 € in die Debatte... eine solche mag ja durchaus in einer Beziehung vorliegen können.
    #3Author weißnix (236288) 15 Feb 18, 11:32
    Comment
    edit
    #4Author Pippilotta007 (1196225) 15 Feb 18, 11:43
    Comment
    Hm, schwierig.
    Erwartungshaltung bringt definitiv eine wichtige Nuance mit rein, würde ich allerdings rein subjektiv im konkreten Kontext eher mit expectation assoziieren.
    Und wenn man mit Adjektiven arbeitet, z.B. freudige Erwartung für expectancy (zumindest in diesem Kontext) vs. konkrete Erwartungen für expectation? Nur so eine Idee... Etwas Besseres fällt mir gerade auch nicht ein.
    #5Author cuyamara (1053003) 15 Feb 18, 12:28
    Comment
    "(diffuse) Vorfreude" / "(konkrete) Erwartung" fände ich passend.
    #6Author Pippilotta007 (1196225) 15 Feb 18, 12:41
    Comment
    There is a German word 'Exspektanz' which you might revive simply for the purpose of creating an opposition with 'Erwartung'. The opposition in your English text is not conventional either, but contrived.

    Views vary on what the difference between 'expectancy' and 'expectation' actually is. But most would agree that you can't have an expectancy 'of something': expectancy is an absolute state.

    (Both words have technical meanings too, but we're not concerned with those here.)
    #7Author escoville (237761) 15 Feb 18, 13:14
     
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