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August 3

Karl Friedrich Ludwig von Watzdorf

There is a brief article on Karl Friedrich Ludwig von Watzdorf under de:Karl von Watzdorf but the German Wikipdia biography has few details.

There is a biography on this man in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie:

W. Lippert (1896), "Watzdorf, Karl Friedrich Ludwig von", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 41, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 270–272

But Google translate does a poor job on it what for example what does

"19. December 1801 Kammerherr, nahm 1806 am Feldzug in Thüringen gegen Napoleon theil, war 1809 Generalintendant der sächsischen Truppen im österreichischen Feldzug,"
Google translation "19th December 1792 Privy council of war, 19 December, 1801 Chamberlain, adopted in 1806 in the campaign against Napoleon in Thuringia in part, was 1809 general director of the Saxon troops in the Austrian campaign,"

mean? It would be help the project, if the modernised text, could be added to de:Karl von Watzdorf to fill out that biography, or a translation of the biography from Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie was added to the English version. -- PBS (talk) 20:35, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Became a chamberlain on 19 December 1801; served in the war against Napoleon in Thuringia in 1806; was General Inspector of Saxon troups in the Austrian campaign in 1809." (Not quite sure how to translate "Generalintendant"; there's an article at de:Intendantur that might be relevant.) Fut.Perf. ☼ 20:40, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Generalintendant" might be translated as Quartermaster general, but I'm not completely sure. In Germany, the Generalquartiermeister job moved from logistics to operations, and the Generalintendant moved into that role. I think. ;-) --Stephan Schulz (talk) 22:52, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks -- PBS (talk) 07:55, 4 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The ADB biography of 1896 uses the orthography in use up to the orthographic conference of 1901. You might find it easier to translate the SAEBI biography of 2004. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 22:36, 4 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Grand fromage

Is grand fromage an actual French expression or just a humorous translation of the English? 109.147.188.241 (talk) 23:09, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

As in "Big Cheese"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:12, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No. Though there is the "grosse légume" (the big fat vegetable :-). ---Sluzzelin talk 23:37, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In Italian you have un pezzo grosso, a big piece. I think, but am not sure, that this is "piece" in the sense of a chess piece or a piece in some other warlike game, not an invitation to add what the person referred to is a piece of. --Trovatore (talk) 23:53, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

That is a good translation, Trovatore! Various sites make a connection to "pesce grosso" (big fish, which also exists in French (gros poisson). See for example Treccani's entry here. ---Sluzzelin talk 00:03, 4 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Which of the OP's two questions are you answering "No" to? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:44, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The first one (that is "le grand fromage" in the sense of bigwig is not an actual French expression). ---Sluzzelin talk 23:46, 3 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think the french would call this "le grand fromage", but somehow I don't think that's what the OP is after...--Jayron32 00:50, 4 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Andrew Jackson, in the main foyer of his White House, had a big block of cheese. The block of cheese was huge, over two tons, and it was there for any and all who might be hungry," he said. ---Sluzzelin talk 00:55, 4 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Inspired by the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese, I see. Good stuff. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:57, 5 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]