https://www.proz.com/kudoz/german-to-english/idioms-maxims-sayings/3458113-stehen-mit-einem-fu%C3%9F-im-gef%C3%A4ngnis-mit-dem-andern-nagen-sie-am-hungertuch.html
This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
Evolventen
Siebträgermaschine

Glossary entry

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

Added to glossary by franglish
Sep 18, 2009 11:12
14 yrs ago
German term

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

German to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
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
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse
3 +2 have one foot in the frying pan and the other one in the fire
3 caught between the devil and the deep blue sea
3 damned if they do and damned if they don't
3 with the other they live from hand to mouth
1 +1 see in box
References
am Hungertuch nagen heißt, kein Geld zu...
Change log

Sep 18, 2009 13:34: Astrid Elke Witte changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Oct 2, 2009 07:32: franglish Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (1): Anne-Marie Grant (X)

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

franglish Sep 18, 2009:
thanks all for the feed-back! Just posted it, with Silvia's ammendment.
sirgay (X) Sep 18, 2009:
i've come up with 'pawnshop' now, which should be more palatable for native speakers of english...
Christina Bergmann 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) 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 Sep 18, 2009:
go ahead franglish 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 Sep 18, 2009:
with franglish best solution and avoiding any "foot-and-mouth diseases" ;-)

Please post as answer!
Caro Maucher Sep 18, 2009:
I like franglish's (second) suggestion too. It's not either...or..., it's both. One foot in jail, one in the poorhouse.
sylvie malich (X) Sep 18, 2009:
Okay, humour is hard to translate. What is the rest of the article about?
Anne-Marie Grant (X) Sep 18, 2009:
For a metaphor, Franglish's juxtaposition of the two institutions works well:
Drivers are either on their way to prison or the poorhouse
Christina Bergmann Sep 18, 2009:
sirgay's suggestion evokes a picture which is just as funny as the German.
franglish 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 Sep 18, 2009:
ja, das dachte ich mir auch ;-)
silvia glatzhofer Sep 18, 2009:
WOW! was für ein schiefes bild :-))))) den nagenden Fuß möchte ich gern sehen

Proposed translations

+2
6 hrs
Selected

have one foot in prison, the other in the poorhouse

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.
Peer comment(s):
agree Anne-Marie Grant (X) : very neat
2 hrs
Thank you, Anne-Marie!
agree Birgit Gläser
22 hrs
Danke Birgit, und schönes(!) Wochenende...
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+1
6 mins

see in box

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.
Peer comment(s):
agree Clive Phillips : How does a foot gnaw? Talk about mixed metaphor... I think you're right about what the writer was trying to convey, Christina.
54 mins
Something went wrong...
+2
2 hrs

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

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.
Peer comment(s):
agree sylvie malich (X) : Yeah okay, but to keep with the German author's intended humour wouldn't it be possible to mix your's with transatgees? "having one foot in the frying pan and the other in the deep blue sea? That is, without further context from the asker.
50 mins
agree Tomislav Patarčić
3531 days
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

i.e. caught between two unpleasant and unacceptable alternatives, as in the original German.
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

damned if they do and damned if they don't

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.
Something went wrong...
47 mins

with the other they live from hand to mouth

&

--------------------------------------------------
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...
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

6 mins
Reference:

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
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree writeaway
3 hrs
Something went wrong...