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Wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat gibt man den Spiess nicht mehr her.

English translation: once you get the hang of it

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat
English translation:	once you get the hang of it
Entered by:	Susan Welsh

Options:
- Contribute to this entry
- Include in personal glossary

16:55 Sep 2, 2010

German to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Cooking / Culinary / camp stoves

German term or phrase: Wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat gibt man den Spiess nicht mehr her.

Sorry for giving the entire sentence--but it's the entire sentence that I don't understand. This is an instruction manual for a lightweight camp stove, which has a skewer for cooking food over a tiny fire. We have already been instructed not to use the thing without sticking the skewer through the food, lest if fall off into the fire. (Some people evidently try to put the food on top of the skewer.)

I think that "wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat" means "once you get used to it," or something to that effect. But then comes "gibt man den Spiess nicht mehr her." I'm guessing that means "you'll never do without the skewer." But it doesn't really make much sense to me.

Any ideas?

Susan Welsh KudoZ activity Questions: 240 (none open) (12 closed without grading) Answers: 280 United States
Local time: 18:39

Play on words with "Drehspiess"

Explanation:
See discussion box above. And thanks very much for your message, Susan.

Selected response from:

Cetacea
Switzerland
Local time: 00:39

Grading comment

Thanks to all who made good suggestions, along the lines of what I already had as an approximation. This answer was the most helpful, because it showed me what was really going on in the sentence. I'm putting (only) the first, idiomatic phrase into the glossary, because it may be useful for future users.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

Once you get the hang of it you'll never want to stop using it

phillee

4 +1

Once you've worked it out - you won't (want to) go without

Jenny Streitparth

Play on words with "Drehspiess"

Cetacea

3 +1

Once you got it you will love using the skewer.

Melanie Mueller, PhD

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

Once you get the hang of it you'll never want to stop using it

Explanation:
"Wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat" means to understand how it works (usually something tricky).
The rest of the sentence is obvious but doesn't translate well into sales jargon.

phillee
Local time: 23:39
Native speaker of:

English

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Once you got it you will love using the skewer.

Explanation:
-

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2010-09-02 17:07:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Lol! Well, good luck using that most awesome skewer ;)

Melanie Mueller, PhD
Local time: 00:39
Native speaker of:

German

Notes to answerer

Asker: I guess something like this is right, but it seems so silly. Who is going to get so excited about a bloody skewer? (All I want is my dinner...) This is not a marketing brochure, but supposedly a user's manual. But, if that's what it means, that's what it means!

8 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Once you've worked it out - you won't (want to) go without

Explanation:
rhyming rhyming rhyming

Jenny Streitparth
New Zealand
Local time: 10:39
Native speaker of:

German,

English

1 day21 hrs confidence:

Play on words with "Drehspiess"

Explanation:
See discussion box above. And thanks very much for your message, Susan.

Cetacea
Switzerland
Local time: 00:39
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 20

Grading comment

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Wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat gibt man den Spiess nicht mehr her.

English translation: once you get the hang of it

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Wenn man den Dreh mal raus hat gibt man den Spiess nicht mehr her.

English translation: once you get the hang of it

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ProZ.com ideas

KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.