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I really like that suggestion "our service knows no boundaries", unfortunately I've just delivered my translation but that would have been a very good idea. Hm, perhaps I could still contact the client.
if the company isn't playing with the 2 meanings of grenzenlos. I doubt it only refers to the actual borders in a marketing text. But it's your call. I think it means our service knows no boundaries.
LEO contains so many inaccurate and inadequate "translations" (which has something to do with their we-include-it-all philosophy) that this is not the right basis for comparison.
Proof you already have with the Telekom reference below.
grenzenlos -> Es gibt keine Grenze - grenzüberschreitend -> Grenze wird überschritten
The result of both is the same (being somewhere else) but grenzenlos better conveys the freedom you have by using the services of this company. Grenzüberschreitend - even if it is more accurate - just sounds too technical and dull. It also kind of conveys that you first have to cross a border - which means you'd have to make an effort (die Grenze überschreiten). Grenze is a negative statement that you don't want to re-affirm (as in grenzüberschreitend) but nullify (as in grenzenlos).
So, I consider this more of a deliberate choice, M00nshine.
that the German "Grenzenlos" is flawed as it is not an unlimited service but a service that crosses borders, which is why I hesitated to use it. I'm afraid that my original suggestion, confirmed by Steffen, is probably the closest to the admittedly flaky original.
is the sentiment wanted here. Only, in my humble opinion, it does not sound well to my ears as part of this particular marketing text - it may work in other instances though. I had already run through the obvious candidates before posting my question.
...which M00nshine already tried to answer in his opening statement (in the question itself). On a side note: "unlimited" is highly misleading. Unlimited minutes point to a German Flatrate and have nothing to do with any service. "unlimited service" could be service that you don't have to pay for (even if you don't have to pay for the hotline, you may have to pay later). "unrestricted" is "accessible at all times/to everyone", which doesn't make sense here either because it shifts the emphasis.
"transcend" and any "boundary" statements would be too idiomatic for me. But who knows.
I can’t believe that the client or his advertising department/agency has so much lack of language skills to confuse “grenzenlos” with “grenzüberschreitend”. Any proof for this „marketing metaphorism”?
I think M00nshine will be quite aware of what the customer wants or not. Also: If you leave everything up to the customer, they may translate the document on their own then.
"Grenzenlos" is a marketing metaphor for "grenzüberschreitend". Even the Telekom uses it like that - see my reference below.
wäre grenzüberschreitend, also etwas anderes als "grenzenlos". Grenzüberschreitender Service beschränkt sich nicht auf das Heimatland. Ein grenzenloser (unlimited/limitless/seuperior/exellent) Service bietet aber eine größere Leistungsvielfalt an, als üblich.
Ah, OK :) Could it be something along the lines of what I showed below (regarding the service itself)?
I also see kind of a difficulty here considering that the metaphor is no longer that vivid: A lot of EU "borders" you won't even recognize anymore. When I travel to the Netherlands or France or whatever, it's hard to think of Grenzen in its restricted sense in German. Guess the phone companies are lagging behind still (keyword: roaming)...
Sorry Björn that remark was meant for Johannes. @Brigitte I'm not completely sure whether the service is exclusive to one country in that it is an either/or situation. I think it is for any of the 31 listed countries at any time. I was looking for something like "limitless, unlimited" but conveying the sense of borders as in the German "Grenzenlos".
It's about: -Erreichbar unter landestypischen Shared Cost-Rufnummern -Demonstration von Präsenz vor Ort -Kundenfreundlich durch den Einsatz bekannter Servicenummern -Kostengünstig: Die Anrufer übernehmen einen Teil der Gesprächskosten
I don't quite understand the concept - is it either or (I use the service (WHAT service??) EITHER in Germany OR in France) or does it mean a connection from Germany into another country?
Do you view the NGO's use as meaning something different? "Without borders" is meant as international/state borders, IMO.
But considering what the term is used for normally, I said I believe I wouldn't use it :) Typically, it would be "Public Service Without Borders" or something.
Don't know whether you'll need something snappy, really. Even in German, it's a false promise (not grenzenlos) and I am simply thinking of all these legal suits involving false promises right now :)
Then, you might as well write: "We'll take care of it - wherever you are."
But like I said, may not be so nice, considering they are NGOs.
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Answers
27 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
boundaryless service by XY (or unlimited/limitless/unrestricted service by XY)
Explanation: Zunächst wäre zu klären, ob es sich bei "Grenzen" um eine Staatsgrenze handelt. Ich denke nicht, deshalb würde ich Ausdrück mit "border" und ähnlichem vermeiden.
True Service Is Boundaryless Boundaries only exist in the mind. “In true service there are no boundaries. When we serve others we serve ourselves and by serving ourself in truth we serve others” (source unknown). This seems like a nice quote, but it is in itself also creating a new boundary. The word ‘Service’ implies a concept that can be bordered, bounded, valued, measured, architected, designed, integrated etc. So by referring to concepts like ‘boundaryless service’ we actually seem to remove boundaries somewhere and reintroduce them elsewhere.
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peer agreement (net): -1