German Idioms
Steve Sturdevant
translate several English idioms
When a defender controls an opponent's striker we might say:
" He had him in his pocket"
When a team can't reach a goal and then says " It wasn't worth it we
might say"
"That's sour grapes"
What is the equivalent German?
Michael Hemmer
> I was discussing Football with some German friends and couldn't
> translate several English idioms
>
> When a defender controls an opponent's striker we might say:
> " He had him in his pocket"
There's a similar German idiom for being by far superior to somebody
else (not restricted to sports): "jemanden in die Tasche stecken".
"Dich steck' ich (doch) (locker) (zehnmal) in die Tasche!"
"[You're so small that] I could put ten of your kind into my pocket."
Michael
Nick Worley
news:3ed31...@news.arcor-ip.de...
> Steve Sturdevant wrote:
> > I was discussing Football with some German friends and couldn't
> > translate several English idioms
> >
> > When a defender controls an opponent's striker we might say:
> > " He had him in his pocket"
Can't help with the German, but I once heard a commentator say "He [i.e the
defender] has him [i.e. the attacker] in his pocket". Then a second later
adds: "Literally".
That had me in stitches.
Regards
Nick
Steve Sturdevant
So, the German expression is similar. Funny they seemed not to know.
Michael Hemmer
> Michael Hemmer <mhemmer@nospam_samson.de> wrote in message news:<3ed31...@news.arcor-ip.de>...
>>Steve Sturdevant wrote:
>>>When a defender controls an opponent's striker we might say:
>>>" He had him in his pocket"
>>
>>There's a similar German idiom for being by far superior to somebody
>>else (not restricted to sports): "jemanden in die Tasche stecken".
>
Funny that *I* didn't think of this in the first place: there actually
*is* a German idiom "etwas/jemanden in der Tasche *haben*", which means
"to have something secured to oneself; to be sure to get it", e.g. "Er
hat sein Examen schon so gut wie in der Tasche/praktisch schon in der
Tasche" = "He's bound to pass the (final) exam."
When referring to a person, it has the notion of having persuaded or
convinced him or her so that you can be sure to have his or her support
(in a meeting or in an election, for instance). Though the expression
isn't used this way too often, it may have prevented your friends from
making the transfer to "in die Tasche *stecken*".
Michael
holger freese
for your example from football anyway. I think we would say, "Er lässt ihm
keinen Stich" (from playing cards = trick), i.e. he doesn't give him the
slightest chance to score or even get near the ball.
Greetings,
Ho
--
Ob ein Gedanke zum Blindgänger wird, hängt oft auch von dem ab, den er
trifft.
Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
holger freese
die Trauben wohl zu sauer" to express the same.
Greetings again,