abbynicole27

I'm engaged and going to be travelling with a friend this summer, to Austria and Italy, and just wondering how to say "I'm engaged" in these languages. I spent 6 months living in France, and had the occasional extremely persistent Frenchman trying to talk with me, so I figured it would be good phrase to know so I can just walk away without seeming too rude. I know I can flash the ring, but the phrase would probably be good to know as well.
Thanks for your help!
-Abbynicole

Patrick

"bugger off, creep" would probably work.

Patrick

Sorry, I can't imagine what made me say that. Must be the St. Patrick's Day Guinness talking.

abbynicole27

I prefer to just ignore them completely, but I thought maybe knowing I was taken would be an extra discouragement. Unless they're completely creepy and persistent I'd rather not swear at them.

DonnieD

I'd like to venture a guess as a tribute to my high school Italian teachers, 30+ years ago ...

Sono fidanzata

I defer to the native speakers on this board.

jahoulih

I'm not a native speaker, but I concur with DonnieD. For Germans, try "Ich bin verlobt."

Mathieu

And you think saying "I'm engaged" is going to work ???

Any hot blooded male worthy of chasing after your seductive charms would certainly not let a phrase like that that deter them (ask me !

However, " You must come and meet my wrestler husband back at the hotel " might better do the trick. (And thats not coming from any personal experience ... )

Brisbanite

Italian: Sono agganciato

Brisbanite

German: Ich werde engagiert

Grasshopper

Mathieu, You're too funny.

I do agree though. I'm engaged might be just a challenge. How about a simple but consistent "no thank you"?

KT

Brisbanite, where did you get that? Agganciare means to engage in the sense of engaging the enemy in battle or to be physcially linked like railway cars, but I've never heard it applied to being engaged to be married.

How about "Ho una malattia " (I have a disease)?

kismetchimera

Just tell the Casanova that your husband or fiancee is a famous Boxer..

If you just say Sono Fidanzata , the guy may reply o What, I am also Fidanzato..

LoveItaly

Hi abbynicole, may I gently suggest that if you are mature enough to be engaged you are mature enough to ignore or get rid of any "romeo" without having to explain anything.

And why worry abuout being rude to some man who is being rude to you?

Dress with dignity, act with dignity, be aware of your surrondings etc. and ignore anyone who is coming on to you in an inappropriate way. Body language etc. can actual communicate more then knowing a comment in a foreign language.

Have a fun and safe trip!

suze

I'm another in the "just say no" school of thought. Here's my reasoning... Stopping to chat and explain you are engaged, have a boyfriend or husband, blah blah blah, is basically just making further conversation (and possibly eye contact or giving off body language) with this man who you are supposedly not interested in.

Secondly, I'd think twice about "flashing" valuable jewelry when traveling.

logos999

If you say "Ich bin verlobt", (Im engaged) his answer usually would be: "Gehen wir zu mir oder zu dir?"

abbynicole27

Thank you for the advice - I am mature enough to handle it - I did when I was in France last time.
I certainly don't encourage conversation with strangers (actually, I'm an introvert, so I HATE talking to strangers), but unfortunately my inate Canadian politeness gives me difficulty in completely ignoring someone who is trying to talk to me.
So, I just figured if I just say "I'm engaged", that will satisfy my (slightly obsessive) fear of being rude, and I can just ignore them completely after that, like I usually do.
So, what I'm getting is Sono fidanzata and Ich bin verlobt ?
Thanks for the help,
-Abbynicole

logos999

@Brisbanite

"Ich werde engagiert" is:
Im getting the job

Wonder what his answer would be?

abbynicole27

Oh and Suze - thank you for the advice about jewellery - I wasn't sure on that one either. Should I maybe leave it at home?

LoveItaly

abbynicole, rather then wearing your no doubt beautiful engagement ring to Europe why don't you think about buying an inexpensive gold wedding band.

That way you will not have the worry of something happening to your engagement ring and the Romeos out there will think you are married.

Some single women do this. Have a fun and safe trip!

bob_brown

German and Austrian women usually don't have diamond engagement rings like in America. So there is a good chance an American engagement ring will have no impact.

Most educated Germans and Austrians speak some English; in fact I am constantly amazed at how much they know. For example, our waitress in a restaurant in Munich turned out to be highly fluent once she got over her reluctnce to speak English with us. She became downright chatty.

German phrases like Lass mich in Ruhe. might work. Ich möchte nicht weiter mit Ihnen sprechen." could work. But that implies some knowledge the language.
If you get more conversation, what do yo do then?

I would simply say it in English, like Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you.

Saying you are engaged is not going to slow up a real jerk one bit. Neither is anything else except to clear out.

My reaction is that you would have to put yourself in a position to be approached, and I have generally observed that on the street no one is going to impede your progress.

So just where do you plan on being to attract men so that they can approach you and talk to you?

But flashing a ring is not going to work one whit in my estimation for several reasons. First, it might not be recognized for what it is in America. Secondly, the guy might not care whether you are engaged or not.

In Italy, good luck. A married man could well figure you are his next affair mate. A 62 year old friend of mine, single all her life, finally got tired of some persistent Italian joker and jabbed him in the ribs with her umbrella. He got the message.