Großleben vs. Kleinleben

16:16 Jul 18, 2016 

No worries, there are certainly more important things to take care of than closing questions on KudoZ (hence, my nebulous "off the grid" statement, since I didn't know if you were sick, working on translations, etc.)

Hope everything worked out fine. Best

19:55 Jul 13, 2016 

Don't worry and I hope your son get well soon. Chamomile baths are great to soothe the itching.

19:53 Jul 13, 2016 

I'm so sorry - my son had chicken pox and I guess I let that get in the way. I hope it didn't make me seem ungrateful.
Thank you so much for all your help. I went for large life policies and small life policies as I'm pretty sure it was to do with insurance. Insurance was mentioned shortly after in relation to the character.

19:43 Jul 13, 2016 

Björn. Must not be very important or something got in the way.

18:14 Jul 13, 2016 

Wondering, too, Ramey.

05:58 Jul 8, 2016 

Could you please give us a fewmore lines prior to and following the target sentence? Also a bit of information as to the tone of the film, who was/is the target audience, genre....

04:09 Jul 8, 2016 

While there are a few - albeit pretty old (prior 20th century) - references to "Großleben" in the sense of "großspurig leben," there is virtually no justification for using "Kleinleben" as an antonym for the same purpose.

Kleinleben as defined by the German equivalent of the American Heritage Dictionary:
"KLEINLEBEN, n. bei Göthe: so ward ich, bei unermüdet fortgesetzter bemühung, auf das kleinleben der natur (ich möchte dieses wort nach der analogie von stillleben gebrauchen) höchst aufmerksam. 25, 102. neuerdings viel gebraucht, z. b. man lernt aus denselben (erzählungen) das kleinleben des krieges kennen (gegenüber den geschichtsbüchern). Immermann Münchh. 1, 228; das deutsche kleinleben. Gödeke grundr. 1054."
http://woerterbuchnetz.de/DWB/?lemid=GK07170

This kind of "Kleinleben" (microcosm) is part of expressions such as:
"Das Kleinleben des Waldes"
"Das Kleinleben einer Stadt"

"Großleben" is also a proper name as part of a German town.

The only viable option that could incorporate both "Kleinleben" and "Großleben" is insurance.

"Ein Handbuch für den Großleben-Versicherungsvertreter"
https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/J2754IKEPVE...

19:42 Jul 7, 2016 

I think you're correct. See this old newspaper from 1972:
"Allein auf die Sparte 'Großleben' (über 3000 Mark Versicherungssumme) entfielen 50 Mrd. Mark, das sind 81 Prozent des gesamten Neuzuganges. Weniger gefragt waren Kleinlebensversicherungen (unter 3000 Mark), [...]"
http://archiv.preussische-allgemeine.de/1972/1972_08_12_33.p...

Two examples:
"These are very common questions in regards to burial insurance, also known as final expense plans. These plans are small life insurance policies that are designed specifically to handle the last expenses a person’s family must handle for them."
http://burialinsuranceplans.org/

"Small life insurance policies can pay for your funeral and final expenses."
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insurance/who-needs-life-ins...

12:36 Jul 7, 2016 

Actually, it might have something to do with insurance. There is mention of him insuring people but no-one ensuring him against himself either just before or just after.

11:46 Jul 7, 2016 

This is from a film from 1957. There isn't much context. It is a very strange film but, as far as I can tell, the man has just been called in to talk to his boss. He may or may not have been ordered to follow someone all day (it is very unclear) and that might be what the 'hinter kleinen Leuten her laufen' is referring to. Sorry I can't be clearer.

10:45 Jul 7, 2016 

Is this from the play?

09:52 Jul 7, 2016 

Axel's reference tells us exactly what these terms mean in relation to life insurance policies. Is your character selling life insurance? (from "Kleinleben bis 20 Tausend" I assume that he is, but we do need to know!

09:18 Jul 7, 2016 

;-)