If you book a Lufthansa flight online, this is your choice of titles:

Mr.
Mr. Dr.
Mr. Prof.
Mr. Prof. Dr.
Mrs.
Dr. Mrs.
Mrs. Prof.
Mrs. Prof. Dr.

Karl-Valentin-Brunnen, Viktualienmarkt, München, 24. November 2005

There should be a question after that. Steve at language hat has had a letter from a firm of solicitors – one must conclude that they are in the UK, and he is in the USA. He has been asked to remove a comment, publish an apology and full retraction, and pay damages. What advice would one give if advice could be given online? He would give further details in email.

Steve bei language hat hat einen Brief von Anwälten im Vereinigten Königreich bekommen. Er soll aus seinem Blog ein Kommentar entfernen, soll eine Entschuldigung in einer mit den Anwälten abgestimmten Wortlaut veröffentlichen und Schadensersatz bezahlen. Details gibt er per E-Mail.

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago:
Schulte, Lee, Paul (eds.) plus Gier, Evans, Wörterbuch Immobilienwirtschaft / Real Estate Dictionary EN>DE DE >EN, 2. Ausgabe, Immobilienzeitung, ISBN 3 9805824 8 5

(There are other ISBNs too – it seems to have undergone some changes and be about to go through some more, since it appeared in March 2005. Cheap at 69 euros (there is an even smaller version too).

Now it’s on the Kater Verlag site, so I don’t have to post a page or two. I’m not sure what section it’s in, but here’s the direct link. To see the scanned pages, you have to look at Entscheidungshilfe (see icon with magnifying class beneath the description of the contents).

I’m hoping this dictionary will be helpful with vocabulary describing buildings, some of which can’t be found in architectural dictionaries. I haven’t had a chance to test it properly yet. On the plus side I think he has a number of terms that bilingual law dictionaries ought to have but don’t. Notice on that scanned page that one alternative for Wohnungseigentum is commonhold – that latest Dietl couldn’t manage that. That’s an advantage of a dictionary prepared by people directly involved in a relatively narrow field.

Like all law dictionaries, people using it need to bring some knowledge with them. Sometimes definitions are given, but often there are several target words with no explanation of how they differ.

For example:

Kataster: land register; cadastre; plat book (US)
Katasteramt: land registry; cadastral office
Katasterkarte: index map; cadastral map (or plan)

The distinction between land register and cadaster is understandable. I suspect they overlap in some jurisdictions. Collins English Dictionary says:

cadaster or cadastre: an official register showing details of ownership, boundaries, and value of real property in a district, made for taxation purposes.

In Germany the (Liegenschafts)Kataster is more like a very precise map together with a descriptive part, although it does show the situation, size and use of plots, I think. The Grundbuch uses it as a basis.

A few other things that struck me:

Einfamilienhaus (detached) single-family house
(I would have thought it was just a house)

search: Suche, Durchsuchung
search criterion Suchkriterium
searches Law Einsichtnahme in das Grundbuch

But that meaning does not only exist in the plural.

commonhold (GB) Teileigentum; seit 2003 eine neue Form von Teileigentum ( Wohneigentum) in England and Wales; ein commonhold ist Teil eines freehold land (als commonhold land bei der Land Registry eingetragen); als commonhold wird auch das Prinzip verstanden, freehold properties in Teileigentum aufzuteilen
commonhold flat: Eigentumswohnung

curtilage: eingezäuntes bebautes Grundstück
messuage: Law Anwesen; Wohnhaus inklusive Nebengebäuden und Gartenland

Curtilage and messuage were suggested to me by a colleague – they are commonly encountered in conveyances, but for example Dietl has only messuage, not curtilage (one of the things I’d check Romain for first).

In summary, I think this dictionary is well worth its price. Some of the entries may necessitate further research, but that’s the case with most dictionaries.

I have just phoned Kelly in London, since they ignore my emails and I don’t want to get a ‘personal login’. Now they may understand that I don’t sell curtains or tables. The woman promised me that my address will be removed – it was added as a freebie for me. I can’t help thinking it’s just to increase web traffic for them, but one of my visitors was referred by that site and may have been looking for ‘Curtain accessories / Tables / Tables, Coffee / Tables, Dining’. My business name was ‘Margaret Marks legal and other translations and legal translation weblog’. The woman seemed most convinced by my statement, ‘If the worst comes to the worst, I will just have to live with it and simply refuse to sell anyone any tables’. The removal of my address will ‘go live in the next ten to fourteen days’.

Kellysearch listete mich vor ein paar Jahren als Verkäuferin von Vorhangzubehör und Tischen. Zwei E-Mails haben nicht geholfen, aber vielleicht ein Telefonat heute.

Barbara Ohms dritter Band mit Spaziergängen durch Fürth ist erschienen, diesmal Auf den Spuren der Fürther Juden. ISBN 3 9810702 0 8