Machiel van Veen (X) Feb 11, 2016:

Winning a contract? A contract is sometimes something one can win, a company can tender on a contract and win it. Just an idea.

Jonathan MacKerron (asker) Feb 11, 2016:

Thank you all for your input! This translation is a frustrating exercise, as one can only guess what might have been meant in the original - but along shall I plod...

Andrea Garfield-Barkworth Feb 11, 2016:

Nice one Alison Perhaps Winner's documents in the winner's file?

Alison MacG Feb 11, 2016:

@ Ramey Very kind! However, I'm not sure how it would work in Jonathan's second example.

Ramey Rieger (X) Feb 11, 2016:

Oh ALISON! You're brilliant!

Alison MacG Feb 11, 2016:

Winner's Documents - Could it refer to something like this?
CERTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNER:
The Potential Prize Winners will be required to complete and return a set of Winners’ Documents consisting of:
a statement of eligibility;
release of liability;
publicity release (except were prohibited by law); and prize acceptance form.
http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Batpod-Sweepstakes

9. GENERAL: Potential Grand Prize winner will be required to sign and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release and, where permitted by law, Publicity Release (“Winner’s Documents”) within fourteen (14) days after first notification attempt.
http://cornerstore.com/featured/officialrules

philgoddard Feb 11, 2016:

I wonder if the original language was French. It sounds a bit like "dossier", widely used to mean not necessarily a collection of documents, but "case" or "matter".

Andrea Garfield-Barkworth Feb 11, 2016:

I agree Ramey, without more context it is difficult to see which would apply, which is why I mentioned an alternative.

Having said that, we are talking about a sweepstake.

Ramey Rieger (X) Feb 11, 2016:

File/profile & winning/winner It comes down to in which league we're playing here, and which jargon is applicable. Documents can just as easily be missing in a profile, particularly in the investment business. As to winning & winner's, both terms are applicable in the examples below = winner's attitude/winning attitude.
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-8349-6560-8_2...
https://www.xing.com/profile/Alexander_Nachbaur

I am not in least certain my suggestion is correct, or that Andrea's is incorrect. they are both viable, depending on the context.

Andrea Garfield-Barkworth Feb 11, 2016:

Well documents appear to be missing. Which would add up to it being a file in my view as opposed to a profile. Plus it is "Gewinner" and not "Gewinne".
Interesting one.

Ramey Rieger (X) Feb 11, 2016:

So let's view the hype Is the accent on how FREQUENTLY people win, or how UNIQUE the winners are?
This would incidcate whether they are winning files or winner's files.

Andrea Garfield-Barkworth Feb 11, 2016:

There is a book you know by that name. Is that relevant at all?
http://www.amazon.com/Winners-File-Behind-Successful-Handica...
It's something to do with handicapping and gambling.

Jonathan MacKerron (asker) Feb 11, 2016:

The main problem here is that "Gewinner-Akte" does not really exist in German, but is rather a translation from whatever the original language was, which is unfortunately not known to me.

Ramey Rieger (X) Feb 11, 2016:

Winning entry winning profile, winning account - it seems to me that the 'Akte' is the registration and winning refers to a teaser adjective (everyone's a winner/the winning number/winning entry, etc.)

Ramey Rieger (X) Feb 11, 2016:

Hey Jonathan! I think we can agree on the 'winning' bit, but I wouldn't think it's winningS, but winning. Is there any indication that the 'Akte' has been built up over time? My first take is "winning profile"