stehen mit einem Fuß im Gefängnis, mit dem andern nagen sie am Hungertuch

English translation: have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	stehen mit einem Fuß im Gefängnis, mit dem andern nagen sie am Hungertuch
English translation:	have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse
Entered by:	franglish

11:12 Sep 18, 2009

German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

German term or phrase: stehen mit einem Fuß im Gefängnis, mit dem andern nagen sie am Hungertuch

Hello everybody!

Could you help me out in translating this metaphor:

"Autofahrer stehen mit einem Fuß im Gefängnis, mit dem andern nagen sie am Hungertuch"

So far, I have been able to make out, "drivers have one foot in prison, and are struggling with the other". But since its a metaphor, it might mean something entirely different, and that's why I am banking on your expert advice.

Regards

Catherine_01

Catherine_01

have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

Explanation:
Christina's assumption that reference is made to the ruinous cost of speeding tickets, petrol etc. seems likely.
Silvia's contribution of "prison" in place of "jail" is excellent.

Selected response from:

franglish
Switzerland
Local time: 00:04

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +2

have one foot in the frying pan and the other one in the fire

Astrid Elke Witte

3 +2

have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

franglish

caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

transatgees

damned if they do and damned if they don't

transatgees

with the other they live from hand to mouth

sirgay (X)

1 +1

see in box

Christina Bergmann

Summary of reference entries provided

silvia glatzhofer

Discussion entries: 13

franglish

Switzerland

17:18 Sep 18, 2009

thanks all for the feed-back! Just posted it, with Silvia's ammendment.

sirgay (X)

15:10 Sep 18, 2009

i've come up with 'pawnshop' now, which should be more palatable for native speakers of english...

Christina Bergmann

Germany

15:07 Sep 18, 2009

Dear Sirgay, I might have to clarify: I don't think the German is intended to be funny - at least not with that game of words. I guess, it would qualify for a case of dangling modifier. Germans *often* do that unintentionally.
So, IF this German version was intentionally funny, I would go with your version.

sirgay (X)

15:00 Sep 18, 2009

to christina heger at 13.20:

well, german and english belong to the same germanic group of languages, so i thought smth equally funny was needed in english...

silvia glatzhofer

go ahead franglish

13:49 Sep 18, 2009

and post your suggestions as an answer; and if you make it "prison" and poorhouse, we would even have an alliteration. not that the german would deserve it ... :-)

Birgit Gläser

Germany

with franglish

13:36 Sep 18, 2009

best solution and avoiding any "foot-and-mouth diseases" ;-)

Please post as answer!

Caro Maucher

Germany

I like franglish's (second) suggestion too.

13:35 Sep 18, 2009

It's not either...or..., it's both. One foot in jail, one in the poorhouse.

sylvie malich (X)

Germany

Okay,

13:21 Sep 18, 2009

humour is hard to translate. What is the rest of the article about?

Anne-Marie Grant (X)

For a metaphor, Franglish's

13:12 Sep 18, 2009

juxtaposition of the two institutions works well:
Drivers are either on their way to prison or the poorhouse

Christina Bergmann

Germany

12:20 Sep 18, 2009

sirgay's suggestion evokes a picture which is just as funny as the German.

franglish

Switzerland

12:07 Sep 18, 2009

halfway between jail and insolvency, as Christina suggests. Or: Drivers have one foot in jail, the other in the poorhouse.

Christina Bergmann

Germany

11:18 Sep 18, 2009

ja, das dachte ich mir auch ;-)

silvia glatzhofer

WOW! was für ein schiefes bild :-)))))

11:15 Sep 18, 2009

den nagenden Fuß möchte ich gern sehen

Answers

6 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

see in box

Explanation:
Honestly, who wrote that?
Well, I guess the author is trying to say that drivers have one foot in prison - probably because they are driving fast and in a dangerous way -
and their driving style costs them lots of money (gas/petrol, possibly fees for driving too fast and so on)

Does that make sense?
What drivers is the author referring to anyway? Without this my answer is just based on probability.

Christina Bergmann
Germany
Local time: 00:04
Works in field
Native speaker of: German

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

have one foot in the frying pan and the other one in the fire

Explanation:
This is what spontaneously occurred to me on the basis of an English metaphor. I think it means, in any case, that they are disadvantaged twice over and cannot win.

Astrid Elke Witte
Germany
Local time: 00:04
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

2 hrs confidence:

caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

Explanation:
i.e. caught between two unpleasant and unacceptable alternatives, as in the original German.

transatgees
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
Native speaker of: English

2 hrs confidence:

damned if they do and damned if they don't

Explanation:
Going further away from the imagery of your text. The extent to which you can use it will depend on the context of the drivers' choices which we can't know from the section you quote.

transatgees
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:04
Native speaker of: English

47 mins confidence:

with the other they live from hand to mouth

Explanation:
&

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2009-09-18 15:03:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

with the other one firmly in the pawnshop

that's another way to convey the meaning of sb living in want...

sirgay (X)
Local time: 23:04
Native speaker of:

Russian

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

Explanation:
Christina's assumption that reference is made to the ruinous cost of speeding tickets, petrol etc. seems likely.
Silvia's contribution of "prison" in place of "jail" is excellent.

franglish
Switzerland
Local time: 00:04
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 12

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Reference comments

6 mins peer agreement (net): +1

Reference

Reference information:
am Hungertuch nagen heißt, kein Geld zu haben, in finanziellen Schwierigkeiten zu sein

ein Fuß im Gefängnis bedeutet soviel wie immer an der Schwelle zur Illegalität zu stehen.
Um eine ordentliche Übersetzung anbieten zu können, brauche ich mehr Infos, da ich den Satz so nicht wirklich nachvollziehen kann

silvia glatzhofer
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in category: 16

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stehen mit einem Fuß im Gefängnis, mit dem andern nagen sie am Hungertuch

English translation: have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

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stehen mit einem Fuß im Gefängnis, mit dem andern nagen sie am Hungertuch

English translation: have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

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Reference comments

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