tobias m. schiel
Von der Rolle sein, lit. to be off the roll/reel, equiv. to have lost it, to be right out of it, to be all at sea; fig. to be beside oneself, to be (a little) off | Finally I come around to participating in one of Jennifer Nichole Wells‘ photo challenges, the “one word challenge:” this weeks’ word is film.
The little guy looked like someone I knew. Someone I knew from the times when most everything I had to do was reading detective stories, and writing about them. And figuring out how we all know what detectives look like without ever having seen one (it’s not the most public or popular occupation in Germany; detectives are shabby people in department stores waiting to snatch the occasional sock thief).
Well, the hat and the coat rang a bell, and I suspected there must be a gun, too. As chance would have it, there was also a very intriguing project suggestion at 100% Stuck in Plastic: Come up with three toy photographs in a narrative sequence, or, as ME2 put it: “3 images. An introduction, a cliffhanger, and an ending.” As things go, this ending may not necessarily be where the whole story ends…
Ah, and just one more thing: I set up a page where you will be able to see the story unfold (and probably change): Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go.
To be in over one’s head, lit. bis über den Kopf drinstecken, equiv. etwas wächst jemandem über den Kopf, fig. (English phrase) to be involved in a difficult situation that you cannot get out of
…and while I look at this picture, a German classic comes to mind: Der Zauberlehrling (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. It is about this magical broom not quite obeying the apprentice… Follow this link for this poem and its English translation.
In trockenen Tüchern, lit. in dry rags; in dry tissues; in dry sheets, equiv. cut and dried; home and dry, fig. all wrapped up, fully (and satisfactorily) taken care of
Den Wald vor (lauter) Bäumen nicht sehen, lit. to not see the wood for (all) the trees, fig. to be unable to see the obvious (because one is too close or too caught up in the details)
This was the original idea:
Jemandem den Boden unter den Füßen wegziehen, lit. to pull the ground from under sb’s feet, equiv. to pull the rug from under sb’s feet, fig. (German phrase) to threaten someone’s existence
…but it also looks like this guy is standing up on the cobblestone against all odds, so this also seems to be an appropriate contribution for the Weekly Photo Challenge.
“A light dawns on me” is how we say eureka! in German.
I am happy to continue the “Worlds Within Words” series with a contribution for Thursday’s Special at Lost in Translation. Paula wished to see profiles – and I think based on her description and the etymology, these pictures can also be regarded as a mini study of the concept.
Er lebt auf seinem eigenen Stern means “he’s living on his own planet” – almost literally, since Stern is a star. The figurative meaning is the same in German and English.
So much for translating… This is my contribution for Thursday’s Special at Lost in Translation where you can pick a word from this list: radiant | alimentary | frontal | arboreal | remote. I picked the first one, and maybe the last.
And there is also an alternative take.
The week’s Discover Challenge is Speak Out.
Dear readers, a keen dancer myself, I would like to ask you for a little dance… or get on the same page with you – whatever works for you.
The above picture is part of a series called “Worlds Within Words.” Exploring figures of speech I realize that idioms derive much of their appeal from allowing charming glimpses into different cultures: Isn’t it wonderful that Italians say lavish persons have holes in their hands and the Dutch advise you to tread carefully and not wear clogs on ice? I love that – it’s vivid!
So here is the score: Please help me out! I suggest two ways to do so:
I hope you can join me here – and have fun looking into the schedules of different trains of thought (could not resist this one).
As the pictures show graceful dancers, I also see them as a contribution for the Weekly Photo Challenge.
Einen an der Mütze haben almost does not translate literally. “To have something/someone at the cap” comes close; “einen” can be either something or someone.
The adequate translation is easy enough though, since the English language has at least as many colourful expressions as the German: “Not playing the full deck”, “The lights are on but nobody’s home” or maybe “Not she sharpest knife in the drawer” come to mind.
Wishing all of you a good start into the new year and a very happy 2017.
Euch allen wünsche ich einen guten Start ins neue Jahr und ein glückliches 2017.
This week, Krista at The Daily Post presents us with a “New Horizon” challenge: “Think ahead and show your work in a representative photo. If you set New Year’s resolutions, give them some thought a few weeks early. If resolutions aren’t your style, show us something that you want to achieve — it could be setting a new goal, making plans, or even tackling that pile of laundry waiting by the washer. The goal is to get out of the busy ‘now,’ and imagine your new horizon. Go!”
This is my contribution for Thursday’s Special at Paula’s Lost in Translation: Conceptual Photography. The idiom is the same in German, by the way: “Etwas unter den Teppich kehren.”
This is my contribution for Thursday’s Special at Paula’s Lost in Translation. It was “pick a word” again, and I went with the first one on the list: aquatic. | Tech specs: Sony A6000 with Nikon 55/2.8 Micro-Nikkor.
I was looking for something referring to ‘the news’ as a stage for this tiny reader when I stumbled upon last Friday’s copy of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (one of the quality newspapers in Germany, they say). I began fooling around with the miniature man and the front page, and arrived at this picture.
This is my contribution for the Weekly Photo Challenge – but I ought to say that much of my interest in tiny worlds was induced by Jennifer Nichole Wells’ photography.
…we all scream for: sunshine! So far the German summer must have been close to a polar bear’s dream of summer. But when I finally had everything in place for this contribution to Paleica’s Magic Mottos, the skies were actually quite blue. So here we are with Sommer, Sonne, Sonnenschein.
An entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge. For more experimenting and toying around with small animals in a life size world, see here.
A contribution for Paula’s Thursday Special: Life-Size. At first I did not know what this was all about. But then our pets got out of hand – that cat: You don’t pay attention for a moment and the next thing you know, she’s in the milk! Just sharing some photos of the weird menagerie. Life-size, of course.
empire of lights 