aftrapstip [football]

[alisonp]

My text is talking about playing fields, and how the grass tends to wear away in certain places:

"Dit is veelal zichtbaar bij voetbalvelden in het strafschopgebied en bij de aftrapstip."

My dictionaries give "aftrap" as "kick-off", but the centre circle doesn't tend to get worn, does it? And I only find 19 Google entries for "aftrapstip", which seems suspiciously low. Is there any possibility that the penalty spot could be meant instead?

(And if I am right and it is the penalty spot, would I then be better translating "strafschopgebied" as "goalmouth area" or something to avoid duplication of "penalty"?)

Many thanks!

 

[Peterdg]

The more common term is "middenstip".

 

[alisonp]

Thanks, so it is. But you think it *is* the centre circle/spot rather than the penalty spot?

 

[Peterdg]

Yes, I think so.

 

[YellowOnline]

Thanks, so it is. But you think it *is* the centre circle/spot rather than the penalty spot?

No doubt, as you do not kick-off a match elsewhere. As Peterdg said, the common word is middenstip. I guess that aftrapstip is a neologism.

Oh, and yes: the fixed places on a field get (logically) worn faster than any other place. The heaviest victim is the penalty spot, but the centre spot and the corners suffer a lot too.

PS. From the 19 Google hits you mentioned, 11 refer to the centre spot, 1 to the penalty spot, and 7 are unrelated.

 

[alisonp]

Okay, I'm convinced Thank you very much, both of you!

 

[ThomasK]

Just another hint, Alison: 'stip' is a synonym of 'punt' sometimes. That is why your 'punctual' is translated as 'stipt' in Dutch...