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  3. Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

nicht mehr alle Kronen im Leuchter haben

English translation: have you totally lost it/gone out of your mind or what?

23:29 Feb 24, 2016
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Idiomatic language
German term or phrase: nicht mehr alle Kronen im Leuchter haben
The term is used in a derogatory context - "Ihr habt doch nicht mehr alle Kronen im Leuchter!" - by one character to another, whose behaviour surprises him, in a German novel. On Google, I find the phrase only as the German title of a Japanese computer game and not translated.
Timothy Strauss
Local time: 09:05
English translation:have you totally lost it/gone out of your mind or what?
Explanation:
to add to the fray

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Note added at 1 day51 mins (2016-02-26 00:20:28 GMT)
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you don't have all your cups in the cupboard, do you?

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Note added at 1 day51 mins (2016-02-26 00:21:01 GMT)
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would be an equivalent IMO
Selected response from:

David Hollywood
Local time: 05:05
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3Do you have a screw loose or something?
Michael Martin, MA
3 +2not the brightest tool in the shed
Johanna Timm, PhD
3 +1a sandwich short of a picnic
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth
4Have you gone completely mental?!
Cornelia Carson
3 +1have you totally lost it/gone out of your mind or what?
David Hollywood
3have you gone off your trolley?
Ramey Rieger (X)
3Doesn't have all buttons on
gangels (X)
Summary of reference entries provided
take your pick - there are literally hundreds of options
polyglot45

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Do you have a screw loose or something?


Explanation:
That's one I use occasionally. Of course, there must be about 10,000 expressions that get the point across equally well..

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 04:05
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 63

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Steinigel: Agree, there are so many. It's a play on "nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben". As Dougal (Father Ted) says, "The lights are on but nobody's home".
20 mins
agree  Lancashireman: Asker: "... said by one character to another, whose behaviour surprises him". So the emphasis should be on questioning the other person's sanity rather than their intellectual prowess.
2 hrs
agree  BrigitteHilgner
7 hrs
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45 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
not the brightest tool in the shed


Explanation:
ihr habt doch nicht mehr alle Kronen im Leuchter! - is a mash-up of two idioms:
nicht mehr alle Tassen im Schrank haben + nicht die hellste Kerze im Kronleuchter sein

So you need to come up with an equally funny mash-up of two English idioms that convey the same meaning..

I have 2 suggestions:

1.you are not the brightest tool in the shed
This is a mash up of “not the sharpest tool in the shed” and “not the brightest bulb in the chandelier” (or “not the brightest”), both idioms describing someone lacking in intelligence.
________________________________________
2. you are not clicking on all cylinders
This is a mash-up of “firing (or hitting) on all cylinders” (working at full strength) and “clicking with (someone)” (understood by someone suddenly).

http://malaphors.com/tag/mixed-idioms/page/24/


Johanna Timm, PhD
Canada
Local time: 01:05
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 90

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Donald Jacobson
18 mins
neutral  philgoddard: I don't think it has anything to do with Tassen im Schrank. It's just a play on Kronleuchter, so your mashups sound a bit odd.
24 mins
  -> how can you be so sure? That was the first thing that came to my (German speaker) mind
agree  Frosty: “not the sharpest tool in the shed” - I actually used that (German version) a couple of months ago to describe our local GPS delivery man! My neighbour, a former high-ranking Polizist, nearly split his sides laughing.
7 hrs
  -> Thanks Frosty! My point was that the idiom posted by the asker is not a common, but a mashed-up idiom, and that this should be reflected in the translation - or some of the meaning gets lost! But it seems I did not explain that well enough :-(
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
have you gone off your trolley?


Explanation:
I love this one!

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 70
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
a sandwich short of a picnic


Explanation:
Is a popular BE expression nowadays.


    Reference: http://de.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a+few+sandwich...
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth
Germany
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  polyglot45: my favourite so far
6 hrs
  -> Thanks polyglot
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Have you gone completely mental?!


Explanation:
Expresses the sentiment very genuinely, however it is less close to the literal meaning than some other suggestions.

You could use a slight variation of the 'lights on, but no-ones home' phrase I've heard before:
You don't have all your lights on upstairs!

In any case make sure it's an expression questioning their sanity, not their intellect. So that rules out the likes of 'not the sharpest tool in the shed' etc.

Cornelia Carson
Germany
Local time: 10:05
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Doesn't have all buttons on


Explanation:
The lights are on but nobody is home
Up the creek without a paddle
A day late and a dollar short

gangels (X)
Local time: 02:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 14
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
have you totally lost it/gone out of your mind or what?


Explanation:
to add to the fray

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day51 mins (2016-02-26 00:20:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

you don't have all your cups in the cupboard, do you?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day51 mins (2016-02-26 00:21:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

would be an equivalent IMO

David Hollywood
Local time: 05:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  seehand: with totally lost it
7 hrs
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Reference comments


15 hrs
Reference: take your pick - there are literally hundreds of options

Reference information:
http://www.ihbristol.com/useful-english-expressions/example/...

http://www.dribbleglass.com/Jokes/stupid.htm

polyglot45
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 12
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