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door het oog van de naald

English translation: A narrow escape or

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Dutch term or phrase:door het oog van de naald
English translation:A narrow escape or
Entered by: Pieter_H

07:36 Dec 5, 2001
Dutch to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / conversation
Dutch term or phrase: door het oog van de naald
I've tried translating this literally, but it doesn't seem to add anything to the sentence:
'X stelt dat het maar goed is dat Y is opgepakt: Y is door het oog van de naald gekropen'.
Lucy Spring
A narrow escape or "a close shave"
Explanation:
Hi lucy I'm not quite sure whether Svein's answer fits into you context, and I'm not sure whether you blindly can translate it - it's an idiom.

But meaning of it s that "Y" had a very narrow escape, or "a very close shave".
Perhaps other expressions are possible.



Regards,

Pieter_H

Ref.
Selected response from:

Pieter_H
Norway
Local time: 09:34
Grading comment
Well, I hate to disagree with so many of you, but when I looked under 'oog' in the Van Dale (rather than under 'naald'), it gave me 'narrow escape' or '...by the skin of one's teeth'. Basically, what they're saying is that if he hadn't been caught when he was he have ended up committing a worse crime.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5through the eye of the needle
Sven Petersson
4 +1"has proved to be very elusive"
Dave Greatrix
5close call
Leo van Zanten
4 -2A narrow escape or "a close shave"
Pieter_H


  

Answers


3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
through the eye of the needle


Explanation:
From the Bible. See reference!


    Reference: http://www.examiningthescriptures.com/eyeneedl.htm
Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 09:34
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -2
A narrow escape or "a close shave"


Explanation:
Hi lucy I'm not quite sure whether Svein's answer fits into you context, and I'm not sure whether you blindly can translate it - it's an idiom.

But meaning of it s that "Y" had a very narrow escape, or "a very close shave".
Perhaps other expressions are possible.



Regards,

Pieter_H

Ref.


Pieter_H
Norway
Local time: 09:34
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch, Native in NorwegianNorwegian
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
Well, I hate to disagree with so many of you, but when I looked under 'oog' in the Van Dale (rather than under 'naald'), it gave me 'narrow escape' or '...by the skin of one's teeth'. Basically, what they're saying is that if he hadn't been caught when he was he have ended up committing a worse crime.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Sven Petersson: I beg to differ! The emphasis is not on "narrow" or "close", but on "difficult". Consult your Bible, priest and/or architectural books about fortification.
2 hrs
  -> Svein,I checked both Kramers and Van Dale, and both campe up with the same answer. Its'an idiom and it is their UK-equivalents I quoted. If they are are wrong, then I am wrong. I don't think a litteral translation is applicable in this case.
disagree  Dave Greatrix: Sven's right
12 hrs
neutral  Chris Hopley: Sven, the emphasis in this parable is not on "difficult", but on impossible *unless* you trust in God. The idiomatic usage is therefore a bastardisation of the original meaning and should be translated loosely.
14 hrs
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17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
"has proved to be very elusive"


Explanation:
Hi Lucy,

Do you not think it is in the sentence?

X is saying that it is just as well that y has been caught, because he has been difficult to get in the past.

Dave Greatrix
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:34
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 27

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Chris Hopley
3 hrs
  -> Cheers, Chris!
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1 day 8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
close call


Explanation:
barely escape from something bad/disaster.

Leo van Zanten
United States
Local time: 00:34
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
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