an der Wand haben
English translation: pinned to the wall/pinned against a wall
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| 15:48 Oct 9, 2006 |
| German to English translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Bernhard Sulzer United States Local time: 08:40 | ||||||
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| Discussion entries: 3 | |
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Answers
9 mins confidence: 
to have them (this company) on the ropes Explanation: This is a wild guess. Duden: jmdn. an die Wand drücken (ugs.; einen Konkurrenten o.Ä. rücksichtslos beiseite, in den Hintergrund drängen) I can't find "an die Wand haben" and I have never personally heard the phrase. It could be a simpler way of saying "an die Wand drücken", which makes sense in the context. Whether my translation is the best, is hard to tell. My energy has been expended on figuring out the meaning. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 53 mins (2006-10-09 16:41:58 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- What is really suspicious about your phrase is that it does not appear in google in any context similar to yours. Es gibt viele Bilder, die Leute an der Wand haben, but that is the only context in which I find your phrase. Given Johnathan has checked in the monstrous Duden and I have checked in the smaller Duden and Google, it could well be that your businessman has simplified the phrase by using the verb "haben" instead of "drücken" - a very common occurence in corporate parlance. "up against the wall" would also be a good one if I am correct in my supposition. |
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1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1pinned to the wall/pinned against a wall Explanation: in the proposed context. also see: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957779,00.h... |
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2 hrs confidence:
don't trust Explanation: Just a guess. Do you have more context? After reading the first sentence, which sounds rather cautionary, I thought of "auf dem Kieker haben", when I read the "an der Wand" part. Could the "unvergleichbare Firma" be meant facetiously? |
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2 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1put someone on the spot Explanation: "An die Wand stellen" - for execution (old style). Example: "Für ihn galt es, dem König den Garaus zu machen, seine Familie ins Exil zu schicken und ein paar Minister an die Wand zu stellen." "»Ich sag ihm bloß, daß sie ihn an die Wand stellen werden. Wenn er unerlaubt der Truppe ferngeblieben wäre oder wenn er sagenwirmal seinen Truppentransportzug verpaßt hätte, dann hätte die Strafkompanie ausgereicht" ________ Synonym "Auf der Abschussliste haben" Not sure if my suggestion is the best translation, though. (CL2) ________ You are dealing with pretty lousy German here. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2006-10-09 18:53:12 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Found the translation in Langenscheidt and Webster's (jmdn. auf der Abschussliste haben" (US English), maybe there is a better term. Reference: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:OOIHYt9WH_EJ:www.radiois... Reference: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:xFc_Vghlzg4J:www.buecher... |
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