German: an der Wand habenEnglish translation: pinned to the wall/pinned against a wall 
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| GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | | German term or phrase: | an der Wand haben | | English translation: | pinned to the wall/pinned against a wall | | Entered by: | Simon Johnson |
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German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters | | German term or phrase: an der Wand haben | Quotation from a businessman
"Diese Firma lassen Sie doch besser wieder, Ich habe diese Firma an der Wand, das ist doch eine unvergleichbars Firma." |
| | Clarification request(s) and responseJonathan MacKerron: 4:19pm Oct 9, 2006: Simon, I have the grosse Duden, but "an der Wand haben" is not listed
Stefanie Sendelbach: 5:18pm Oct 9, 2006: Could be that he has them on a list on his wall :)
Jonathan MacKerron: 6:52pm Oct 9, 2006: the original German is so dodgy that IMHO it is nearly impossible to find an acceptable translation
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| | Selected response from:
 Bernhard Sulzer
Austria
| Note from asker to answererThis was a very tight deadline so in the end I went for this one. Thank you all for your efforts.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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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.
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Note added at 53 mins (2006-10-09 16:41:58 GMT)
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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.
| Henry Schroeder
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of:  English
PRO pts in category: 16
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| Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks - We do use to have somebody up against the wall in UK in a fig. sense too but I would not be confident using it. I think I need DUDEN!
Asker: Thanks
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1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +1 |
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?
| Andrea Black
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 7
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| Notes to answerer
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2 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1 |
| put 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.
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Note added at 3 hrs (2006-10-09 18:53:12 GMT)
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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...
| Nicole Schnell
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 24
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| Notes to answerer
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The translation workplace 
