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das Blaue vom Himmel herunter versprechen

English translation: We can't promise you blue skies (good weather)....

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:das Blaue vom Himmel herunter versprechen
English translation:We can't promise you blue skies (good weather)....
Entered by: jerrie

08:33 Jul 12, 2002
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
German term or phrase: das Blaue vom Himmel herunter versprechen
I have found
- take the hind legs off a donkey
- swear that black is white

I’m not quite happy with the donkey, or the black and white bit...

Ideally I would like to have something that reads

We can’t promise you X, but we can promise you X.

This is the last line of a computer company ad...

Maybe it’s not a good idea to try and keep the blue or the sky, but it kinda fit here because the company is sponsoring the Travemünder Woche and well... I thought I’d try to find something along those lines... as of yet... no luck... all my thoughts sound totally unidiomatic...
Thanks for your input!
Gunilla Zedigh
Germany
Local time: 18:48
We can't promise you blue skies (good weather)....
Explanation:
but we can definitely bring you a bit of sunshine.

We can't guarantee blue skies but we can certainly give you sunshine.

(It may be raining outside, but in my heart it's spring/Bring me sunshine etc...xmillion song lyrics to suggest that you don't need blue skies to be happy)

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Note added at 2002-07-12 11:58:25 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

An example:
\"I wish we could promise blue skies and calm seas but no. What we do have is a ...\" (taken from a weather site!)
Selected response from:

jerrie
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:48
Grading comment
thanks for all the input! gz
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4to promise someone the moon
Cilian O'Tuama
4 +2We can't promise you the moon. Will the earth do?
Rowan Morrell
4 +1we cannot promise you the earth / the moon, but...
Serge L
4 +1we don't make promises that we can't keep
Jonathan MacKerron
4we can't make pigs fly, but
Klaus Dorn (X)
4We can't promise you blue skies (good weather)....
jerrie
4We won't promise the sky, but we will promise
Dr. Fred Thomson


  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
to promise someone the moon


Explanation:
-

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Note added at 2002-07-12 08:40:09 (GMT)
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I think \"to take the hind legs off a donkey\" should read \" to TALK the ....\", but that means something completely different, i.e. to be a real chatterbox or to have the gift of the gab

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Note added at 2002-07-12 11:35:40 (GMT)
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to promise someone a miracle is also a commonly used phrase

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Note added at 2002-07-12 15:46:47 (GMT)
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or

to make an empty promise (e.g. we don\'t make (any) empty promises)

Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 18:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 109

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  gangels (X)
2 hrs
agree  Susan Geiblinger
8 hrs
agree  Сергей Лузан
13 hrs
agree  Illona Morris
21 hrs
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
we cannot promise you the earth / the moon, but...


Explanation:
according to my Dutch-English dictionary, both should fit, but so far, I have only heard "to promise the moon".

HTH,

Serge L.


    van Dale N - E
Serge L
Local time: 18:48

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Сергей Лузан: the moon
13 hrs
  -> The moon, indeed...
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
We can't promise you the moon. Will the earth do?


Explanation:
As others have said, the phrase means "to promise the moon". I don't know whether the above phrase would work, but I thought it seemed kinda catchy.

Rowan Morrell
New Zealand
Local time: 04:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 11

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sabine Tietge
2 mins
agree  Kralicky
15 hrs
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
we can't make pigs fly, but


Explanation:
an English idiom - something that's impossible "I can see the pigs flying around the room..."

Klaus Dorn (X)
Local time: 19:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
we don't make promises that we can't keep


Explanation:
might fit depending on your context or 'we are committed to keeping our promises'

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Note added at 2002-07-12 12:32:14 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

another variation:
\'we can\'t promise you miracles but....\'

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 63

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  sylvie malich (X): I like this
53 mins
  -> thanks
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
We can't promise you blue skies (good weather)....


Explanation:
but we can definitely bring you a bit of sunshine.

We can't guarantee blue skies but we can certainly give you sunshine.

(It may be raining outside, but in my heart it's spring/Bring me sunshine etc...xmillion song lyrics to suggest that you don't need blue skies to be happy)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-07-12 11:58:25 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

An example:
\"I wish we could promise blue skies and calm seas but no. What we do have is a ...\" (taken from a weather site!)

jerrie
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 44
Grading comment
thanks for all the input! gz
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
We won't promise the sky, but we will promise


Explanation:
Promise the moon is heard more often, but promise the sky is also idiomatic.
Change the "can't" to "won't" and it sounds better.

Dr. Fred Thomson
United States
Local time: 10:48
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 22
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