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
Ihr Partner auch in Krisenzeiten
beleuchten
Jan 2, 2013 18:19
11 yrs ago
7 viewers *
German term

ich glaube, mein Schwein pfeift

German to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Do we have an equally colourful expression in BEnglish? Something better than e.g.
- well, blow me over
or
- knock me down with a feather?

Grüße
Cilian
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit
4 +1 Well I'll be blowed
4 blow me down
4 well I'll go to the foot of our stairs
4 it (x) knocked my socks off
3 I'll be a son of a gun
3 it blows you away/blew me away
2 +1 well raise my rent
3 Pigs might fly!
4 -4 I think off my rocker
References
Schweine können eigentlich gar nicht pfe...

Discussion

Lancashireman Jan 6, 2013:
"...an equally colourful expression in BEnglish?" I think you were telling porkies, Cilian.
CMFTrier Jan 4, 2013:
I agree that the final decision will probably be unavoidably subjective. For what it's worth, I like 'stone the crows', as Helen suggested. But my initial reaction was "Well, hit me with a ...". A Google search provides several 'colourful' alternatives for what you can be hit with, including a turkey, a frozen armadillo, a hot ukelele, a dead carp, etc! I think you'll just need to choose an option based on the overall register and target audience.
BrigitteHilgner Jan 3, 2013:
Well, I never! http://www.dict.cc/?s=Ich glaub mich knutscht ein Elch
Nein, die Arbeit an der ich momentan sitze, ist nicht so prickelnd ... da ist Ablenkung willkommen.
Alison MacG Jan 3, 2013:
Can you do impressions? Depending on the circumstances, you could try "I don't believe it!" in the style of Victor Meldrew.
AllegroTrans Jan 3, 2013:
The point here is that you will end up with umpteen suggestions but few "agrees" and no basis, other than your own judgement and preference, on which to make a choice.
Time to close the question now you have some starters.
David Hollywood Jan 3, 2013:
just read the whole discussion and I really would go with "I'll be a monkey's uncle" (posted without seeing yours so no points required :))
David Hollywood Jan 3, 2013:
of course any and all suggestions are legit but at the end of the day it's up to you :)
David Hollywood Jan 3, 2013:
I agree with Phil ... you're in a good position to get this one yourself but I would suggest "I'll be a monkey's uncle" just to add to the fray :)
Cilian O'Tuama (asker) Jan 2, 2013:
I didn't realise that the monkey's uncle was that old. It just sounded more recent to me.
Helen Shiner Jan 2, 2013:
More modern than 1926, is it?! http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/I'll_be_a_monkey's_u...
Cilian O'Tuama (asker) Jan 2, 2013:
Thanks Helen, Maybe something more modern, slangier, less archaic? Keep 'em coming.
Cilian O'Tuama (asker) Jan 2, 2013:
Thanks Brigitte I'd never heard your hamster version until I researched the whistling pig...
Mich tritt ein Pferd comes pretty close too.
Cilian O'Tuama (asker) Jan 2, 2013:
A thousand and one ways? It's an expression of surprise in German, and I'm simply wondering if there's an equally humourous/harmless/understandable phrase in UK&I-English.
Phil and Lonnie, please feel free to ignore the Q if that's your personal and subjective preference. I think this Q is perfectly legit, even without context.
BrigitteHilgner Jan 2, 2013:
ich glaub', mein Hamster bohnert Ja, ich weiß, das ist keine Lösung - aber das ist der Spruch, den ich kenne. Vielleicht sind britische Hamster und Schweine zu brav ...
Nur als Anregung:
http://www.dict.cc/?s=mein Schwein pfeift
http://www.dict.cc/?s=mein Hamster bohnert
Lonnie Legg Jan 2, 2013:
... I second phil.
philgoddard Jan 2, 2013:
Agree with Allegro I don't think there's any point asking us for suggestions. You know what it means, there are lots of places to look online for ideas, we have no context, and there are a thousand and one ways to translate it. If we submit ideas, your decision will be a purely personal and subjective one.
Helen Shiner Jan 2, 2013:
A weirder variant Heavens to Murgatroyd!
Helen Shiner Jan 2, 2013:
Pigs flying ... Stone the crows! Heavens to Betsy! I am sure we'll be thinking of suggestions all evening now, thanks Cilian.
Cilian O'Tuama (asker) Jan 2, 2013:
Thanks, but there is no context. I'm just looking for something equally innocuous/innocent and colourful as the German.
AllegroTrans Jan 2, 2013:
And... everything depends on your wider context, who (e.g. age group) is saying this, not to mention your target readership, etc. Possibilities range from the vulgar "well fxxx me" to the dated "gosh".
AllegroTrans Jan 2, 2013:
There are websites Where you can google a saying in English to get alternatives
This would be the best way to proceed
Cilian O'Tuama (asker) Jan 2, 2013:
I've just thought of: I'll be a monkey's uncle!
Getting there.

Proposed translations

+3
1 day 6 hrs
Selected

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit

Well, paint me purple and call me Barney!
Well, fan my brow and call me cousin!
Well, slap my ass and call me Sally!
Well, dip me in shit and roll me in breadcrumbs...!

zugegebene maßen nicht alle auf meinem Mist gewachsen- stole them here :-):

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-1503...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day7 hrs (2013-01-04 01:23:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

*zugebenermaßen* :-)
Note from asker:
Thanks. Now that's more like it. Reminded me of Dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians/bears.
Peer comment(s):
agree CMFTrier : These definitely seem to be colourful images!
6 hrs
yes... so much fun browsing that site!
agree Cetacea : Zuge*ge*benermassen very colorful! :-)
10 hrs
Mannomann! Es war spät...!
agree Lancashireman : Points here, Cilian. Both QE2 and the Taoiseach liberally pepper their public pronouncements with 'butt' and 'ass'.
20 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "My personal subjective preferences. Thanks everyone."
2 mins

I'll be a son of a gun

... I would imagine!
Note from asker:
on the bayou? :-)
Something went wrong...
4 mins

blow me down

-
Example sentence:

http://www.think-global.com/tools/sb/deen/dict_DE-EN.php.htm

Note from asker:
Thanks, but this is not very different to my initial two boring suggestions.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

well I'll go to the foot of our stairs

OK, something colourful, but VERY northern English

This originated in the North of England. It did travel to others parts of the UK during the 20th century, notably the Birmingham area where it was commonplace, but not much further, and is little known in other parts of the English-speaking world. It is now less used than previously, although it is still staple fare for any writer wishing to write a part for a stage northerner.

There are also less well-known alternatives with the same meaning - 'the back of our house' and 'the bottom of our garden'. All the variants were too low-status and colloquial to have been written down and I can find no printed examples of it until the late 20th century. The expression is certainly older than that and I have a clear recollection of my parents using it in the West Midlands in the 1950s and I would guess that it is older still.

Beyond that there's little more to tell. Exactly when the phrase was coined, by whom, and what it refers to, I don't know.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-foot-of-our-stairs.ht...
Note from asker:
I think I'm looking for a COLOURFUL way of saying "I can't believe that just happened". Sorry if I led anyone astray.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

it (x) knocked my socks off

Another suggestion. I do not know how much this is used in the UK, though. It's common here. Best wishes for 2013!
Note from asker:
Thanks, but I'm looking for similar register.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

it blows you away/blew me away

Sorry - can't see discussion entries, so this may already have been suggested.
Note from asker:
Thanks, but I'm looking for similar register.
Something went wrong...
-4
2 hrs

I think off my rocker

Imho
Note from asker:
Maybe you meant to write: I think I'm off my rocker. ?
Peer comment(s):
disagree Kim Metzger : Doesn't make any sense, I'm afraid.
36 mins
disagree Cetacea : Doesn't make any sense, neither literally nor figuratively.
13 hrs
disagree CMFTrier : As Cilian noted, maybe you were aiming for 'I think I'm off my rocker'? But this wouldn't fit in the context either.
1 day 9 hrs
disagree Lonnie Legg : w.CMFT.
3 days 17 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
15 hrs

well raise my rent

O-Ton Blazing Saddles....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2013-01-03 09:36:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

you must be kidding/get outta here/don't even go there/have you gone completely mad (bonkers)/are you imagining things/have you lost your marbles/are you off your rocker/stop talking rubbish/cut it out/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2013-01-03 09:42:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

oh lordy/lordy be/I'm speechless/my my/do tell/dumbfounded/shut up/you don't say/wishful thinking/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2013-01-03 11:43:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Oy vey!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2013-01-03 11:44:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

shiver me timbers!
Note from asker:
I think it's something along the lines of "Well, raise my rent!" that I*m looking for.
Peer comment(s):
agree Cetacea : Any quote from Blazing Saddles gets my vote. ;-)
1 hr
neutral AllegroTrans : But is this British English (as asked for)?
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
21 hrs

Pigs might fly!

If you need an expression of disbelief, why not this?
Note from asker:
OK, so I'll win the lottery. Pigs might fly.
Something went wrong...
+1
21 hrs

Well I'll be blowed

I think this nearest conveys the surpise combined with aceptance of what is hard to believe. Also "well blow me.."
Note from asker:
Thanks. I'm not looking for the most common English expression, but the one that comes close(st) to the German.
Peer comment(s):
agree CMFTrier : At least everyone (I guess) has heard this before - if that's the kind of phrase you're looking for?
14 hrs
Frankly I do not understand the questioner's request to have not the commonest expression but the one that closest to German. Obviously, the nearest in German is something with pigs but there is no such expression sofaras I know in English
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

6 hrs
Reference:

Schweine können eigentlich gar nicht pfeifen. Wenn etwas Unerhörtes passiert, beschreibt man das gerne mit einer Redensart, die ebenfalls Unerhörtes beschreibt. Und weil die Schweine zwar quiken, schreien und grunzen, aber eben nicht pfeifen können, sagt man „ich glaub, mein Schwein pfeift“, wenn man ganz empört ist und weil eben so etwas Unterhörtes passiert ist.

Es gibt einen englischen Ausdruck, der heißt „to teach the pigs to play the flute“, also „einem Schwein beibringen, Flöte zu spielen“. Das ist wahrscheinlich auch damit verbunden: Etwas ganz Unmögliches wird herangezogen, um das Empörende, Seltsame, Überraschende dieser Situation zu beschreiben. Das findet man auch bei einer Reihe von Ausdrücken, die gar nicht so alt sind. Die entstanden erst in den 70er-, 80er-Jahren als sogenannte Sponti-Sprüche. Da gab es Ausdrücke wie „ich glaub, mein Hund spielt Halma“ oder „mein Hamster bohnert“ oder „mich knutscht ein Elch“.
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search