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English to German translations [PRO] Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
English term or phrase:old hat
"Old hat" as in "old-fashioned". I do not speak German, but I would like to know if the same metaphor exists in German, and how it is written. I am guessing that the same hat metaphor existed in the original German version of the text, and since there is no litteral translation in French, I would like to write: "" (explanation/translator's note).
Please note that since "old hat" is a plurisemic expression and since "alter Hut" cannot refer to people, more than one of this thread's postings contain relevant and interesting answers. This posting was picked for its comprehensivess and for Roland Peiler's global contribution to the thread. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I am translating this into French, so I found a way to structure the sentence so that "alter Hut" would refer to an attitude or creative ideas, and not to the man himself. Thank goodness for French's flexible and convoluted sentence structures! Context: the author was making a pun about his actual hat, but at the same time saying something about his personality. That's why I just couldn't switch to camel. ;-) Thank you all for your input! Even non-hat related suggestions were useful and helped me grasp the meaning. I will try to select the answer that is the best fit for ProZ's KudoZ Glossaries.
Hi "m": when we ask for context, we need more than one sentence! What were the lines leading up to this, what is the subject of the article/text? Cut and paste us the few lines around this quote perhaps ... :-)
Since, as mentioned, I do not speak a word of German, please write answers that I can understand. Otherwise, I won't be able to grade this thread and pick an answer.
"you don't really say of a person that he/she is old hat, you say this of a thing." => Thank you, BrigitteHilgner! I am translating a translation, so the German original might have said "old-hat attitudes/ideas" or something. The English translation turned out as "I am not old hat".
Actually, the meaning of the expression might very well be: "I am not old hat" => "I have original ideas" (in this context). The guy wears a hat too, hence the importance of keeping the hat metaphor.
Explanation: I agree with the translation, but the meaning is not reallt "old-fashioned", but more like "an old story", or "something that everybody knows already". So it's more "nothing new" instead if "old-fashioned".
xxxUrsula-M Local time: 09:08 Native speaker of: German
Explanation: das ist ein alter Hut = that's old hat
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 9 mins (2005-07-05 15:29:53 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
für Personen: \"zum alten Eisen gehören\"
I\'m not old hat = Ich gehöre (noch) nicht zum alten Eisen.
Roland Peiler Germany Local time: 15:08 Native speaker of: German PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Please note that since "old hat" is a plurisemic expression and since "alter Hut" cannot refer to people, more than one of this thread's postings contain relevant and interesting answers. This posting was picked for its comprehensivess and for Roland Peiler's global contribution to the thread.
Explanation: Als Ergänzung/Korrektur zu "alte Kamellen"
aus Quelle 2: ""Olle Kamellen" sind aber wiederum etwas ganz anderes: hierbei handelt es sich um "alte Kamillen", also überlagerte Heilpflanzen, denen der Apotheker nicht mehr die volle Wirkung unterstellt."
Explanation: Okay, the hat is gone, but in German, you don't really say of a person that he/she is old hat, you say this of a thing.
Literally (to avoid confusion) my suggestion means: I am not a person of yesterday. (Before all start howling - I know that one does not say this in English!)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs 45 mins (2005-07-05 19:06:31 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Rather tricky, your task - maybe the original is something as simple as: Ich bin nicht altmodisch. (I am not old-fashioned.)
BrigitteHilgner Austria Local time: 15:08 Native speaker of: German PRO pts in category: 64
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
