off topic - looking for help from native english speakers

[Tobiyogi]

Dear Civfanatics,

I am about to translate a book from eng>german, it's about autoimmune diseases, but the topic is clear to me. On the other hand, I sometimes bump into typical expressions that I do not fully understand, and where dictionaries cannot help me.
I suppose there are lots of native speakers around, and would love to get some short help. No need to speak german nor to understand medical topics, it's all about explaining me in short words, what expression XY could possibly mean.

Thanks for your help, if you want to do this.

The author is an American PhD but I would reckon he uses quite common language.

 

[Tobiyogi]

First expression he uses all the time:

"That ist the hallmark of the disease. It's a state-of-water problem."

Does this simply mean, a problem related to water? Judging from the broader context, could also be a problem related to water retention / management.

 

[Tobiyogi]

In a chapter where he talks about the fact, that food allergies were practically unknown 50 years ago, he claims:

"Peanuts at the ball game were still a popular treat."

Does this mean, that there is a sporting event at school where all the kids got little packages of peanuts?

 

[krikav]

Not english native.
Don't understand the first one about water, but that one about peanuts I get.

He says that since allergies where to uncommon, it was commonplace for peanuts to be a snack that one could buy and eat at events.
Similar to popcorn at the cinema.

"Popcorn is a popular treat when people to go cinema."
Ball game I think is just some sports event, soccer/football/baseball, but which doesn't matter.

 

[Lennier]

Apparently Bank of America thinks you can still get peanuts at baseball games.

As for the first, by state of water, they might mean solid/liquid/gas. Or whether it’s contaminated or not. I’d need more context.

 

[lymond]

Ball game means baseball. Peanuts in the shell is a classic treat at professional baseball games for over a 100 years.

(Classic song called “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” which refers to and is actually still sung at major league baseball games)


“State of Water” appears to be scientific or medical in nature as opposed to idiom. I think Lennier Is probably right here. Solid, liquid, gas is only thing that makes sense - without context.

edit: I googled the phrase to see if I could find the context. I quickly found something that probably makes more sense....again, not knowing the context of the text you are referring to here. State-of-water may refer to the scarcity of water in a region which could lead to droughts and bad sanitation. This could lead to diseases like cholera, typhoid and water-borne illnesses. I think it may also refer to water quality.

 

[Tobiyogi]

@Lennier @lymond

The second phrase is clear to me now (i thought something similar, wanted to make sure)

The state-of-water problem refers to the cause of arthritis, to something that happens inside of the bodies cells which cannot hold their water in a specific structure and make those liquids leak in the surrounding tissue.

For reasons I’ll discuss later, the joint’s ability to maintain water in its proper cellular state is disturbed. That is the hallmark of the disease. It’s a state-of-water problem.

 

[Tobiyogi]

It might simply mean: a problem caused by the condition (state) the water is in (obviously a poor / not-appropriate condition).

Here is another context:

One way of looking at this situation is to say the woman had breast cancer. Another way is to say this was a problem related to the state of water in her breast cells.

I was confused by the hyphenating. In this last sentence, it seems more obvious to me that he refers to the condition of the cell water.

 

[Anysense]

That could be a medical term or slang, something that can be very difficult to google. You could try a medical dictionary, don't expect to find there everything you need, still it can save you a lot of time. The best albeit very long way is to read books on the subject (in English); something meant for students, where they actually explain things rather than just use terms expecting the reader to understand it.

 

[Qactus]

Given the context, I'm pretty sure your initial hunch about water retention was correct. Intracellular water does not really exist in liquid form because of the strong interaction with the large protein molecules, but neither is it solid (that would be ice). Rather it adopts a gel-like state. If you puncture a cell with a micropipette water won't leak for example. So it could well be described as a fourth state (in addition to solid, liquid and gaseous). And that state (or disturbances of it) may have all sorts of medical implications regarding the processes inside the cell.

 

[Tobiyogi]

Nice explanation. The author talks about this exact gel-like state inside of the cells. So from what i have learnt in physics, I would compare that to a "state of aggregation"? In this case, like you say, it would be a fourth one that is caracterized by something between solid and liquid.

 

[lymond]

That would be plasma, no?

 

[drewisfat]

Cellular water is more viscous than normal water by several orders of magnitude, so he's referring to that. I wouldn't focus so much on it being "a 4th state", just a liquid with properties that are markedly different than water sitting in a beaker. What's may be relevant to arthritis is whether ions are able to dissolve or what have you to the extent they should normally. Diffusion rate should be much, much more controlled in cellular water.

There's actually been some interesting science that there are two liquid states of water naturally, because certain physical properties did change a bit based on the temperature. But this reference shouldn't be confused with a more manufactured state from being in a cellular environment.

Plasma involves electrons getting ripped off, more like an extreme gaseous state.

 

[Tobiyogi]

Yes, normally it is gel-like, or cytoplasma, but the problem is here that it becomes too liquid and looses its appropriate structure, its ability of rentention and then it is the so-called state-of-water problem. I will translate quite generally, not speaking about aggregation or so.

 

[Anysense]

That would be plasma, no?

Thats a medical term, a physical one is colloid. It is not state of aggregation, though, but a sort of complex substance, where something else is dispersed in a liquid.

 

[Tobiyogi]

I will probably have further questions as the translation progresses (have finished 50 of 150 pages by now), thanks for your answers so far!

 

[Fine_Distinction]

Hi Tobiyogi, I was trying to send you a DM on this subject but the system does not let me - can you contact me? I am allowing DMs

 

[Tobiyogi]

Hi Tobiyogi, I was trying to send you a DM on this subject but the system does not let me - can you contact me? I am allowing DMs

I have written you a PM (start a conversation) some days ago. Did you get it?

 

[Snowbird]

RE: state of water thing.

Personally, I think it is outdated term (or very British, or both). If you need more clarification try googling - state of water in cell or something close.

Example of possible result:
"Intracellular water is in a more ordered state (coherent. [3714]) than pure water," (London southbank university page)

 

[Tobiyogi]

The translation is finished, thank you everyone for your help.