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Glossary entry

Dutch term or phrase:

Daar valt niets anders voor te verzinnen

English translation:

That\'s the way it is

Added to glossary by MoiraB
Dec 13, 2007 07:58
16 yrs ago
2 viewers *
Dutch term

Daar valt niets anders voor te verzinnen

Dutch to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Text about how different types of company deal with internationalisation. This one is a 'drinkwaterbedrijf', a public limited company whose shares are directly or indirectly held by provincial and municipal authorities. A descriptive section based on an interview is followed by a series of individual quotes from the same interview. This is one of the quotes. I know what verzinnen means, of course, but can't work out what the whole phrase is getting at, so help appreciated.

“We werken nu veel meer met publiek geld dan in de tijd van de internationale privatisering. Doordat onze aandeelhouders publiek zijn, hebben we een natuurlijker monopolie in de markt. **Daar valt niets anders voor te verzinnen** en dat betekent ook dat we proberen vrij nauw aan te sluiten bij wat de overheid internationaal doet.”
Proposed translations (English)
3 +1 That's the way it is
4 +1 That's all there is to it
4 You cannot imagine anything else / There is no other leeway.
3 +1 There's no two ways about it
4 Nothing to do about that / no way to change this
3 +1 That's the simple truth
4 There is no ready alternative to this.
4 there is no doubt about it
3 That is the reality
2 Every other story would be a lie; telling a different story means telling a lie

Proposed translations

+1
30 mins
Selected

That's the way it is

I think the natural monoply they mention is quite a positive thing for them, and this "Daar valt niets anders voor te verzinnen" is some sort of apology for having this natural monoply, along the lines of "there's nothing we can do about that", but that's probably a bit too strong.

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Note added at 31 mins (2007-12-13 08:30:07 GMT)
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Sorry AMV, I hadn't seen your answer there.
Peer comment(s):
agree jarry (X)
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for the wealth of suggestions, but this one hits the right note for me."
6 mins

You cannot imagine anything else / There is no other leeway.

te verzinnen ... imagine not in a nice sense

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 mins (2007-12-13 08:05:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or no other option
Peer comment(s):
neutral jarry (X) : Not the most idiomatic solution I think
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
9 mins

That is the reality

I guess this expresses the intention. There must be other options, e.g. "Nothing can be done about that".
Something went wrong...
+1
11 mins

That's all there is to it

Rather more colloquial, perhaps...
Peer comment(s):
agree jarry (X)
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
13 mins

There's no two ways about it

Talking about their 'natural monopoly'.
Peer comment(s):
agree vic voskuil
1 hr
neutral Susan Hammons : I would advise amending this to "there are ..." or just "no two ways about it" and not have "there's" refer to "ways". It IS implied but since concord in number is off it irritates. IMHO!
2 hrs
Certainly an option. I'm not quite convinced this version could be taken as derogatory towards the interviewee.
neutral jarry (X) : Is used to say that something is definitely true, especially something unpleasant (Longman Dictionary of contemporary English), but I don't think that "een natuurlijke monopolie" is necessarily 'unpleasant'.
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
16 mins

Nothing to do about that / no way to change this

The sentence is a typical Dutch (Holland) expression and can have different meanings. I am pretty sure they mean that nothing can be done about the monopoly they have, but you might wait for an answer (or seek an answer) by a native Dutch speaker who is living in Holland.
Something went wrong...
+1
58 mins

That's the simple truth

or perhaps: those are the facts.

The company has no choice but to accept the facts and act accordingly.
Peer comment(s):
agree katerina turevich : those are the facts
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr

There is no ready alternative to this.

Resistance of grain storage insects to phosphine fumigant and ...... fumigant for the foreseeable future because of its low cost, its ease of use and its acceptance by all markets, ie, there is no ready alternative. ...
www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/xchg/dpi/hs.xsl/26_4801_ENA_Prin...

[PDF] IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Antonio Bundy ...File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Fourth, no ready alternative currently exists to prevent inmates from. engaging in the filing of false UCC liens. Accordingly, we must sustain the ...
www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/out/4MD07_5-22-07....

Does Money Need Laundering? -- 2001 (524): 3 -- ScienceNOWAnd besides, there's no ready alternative to cash. Credit cards? Think about the nasty bugs they could pick up as they're swiped through the machine. ...
sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2001/524/3

Peer comment(s):
agree Tina Vonhof (X) : Most appropriate in this context.
4 hrs
Thank you
disagree L.J.Wessel van Leeuwen : I agree to differ. So the person who used the expression sucked it out of his thumb?
10 hrs
No comment
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

Every other story would be a lie; telling a different story means telling a lie

In case you like to defend the companies policy or to confound competitors (as to the monopoly aspect)
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

there is no doubt about it

....and that means....
Something went wrong...
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