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Hahn im Korb

English translation: rooster in the henhouse


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21:31 Dec 7, 2007
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
German term or phrase: Hahn im Korb
jemand der sich als einziger mann in gesellschaft meherer frauen findet
Barbara
English translation:rooster in the henhouse
Explanation:
*
Selected response from:

ntext
United States
Local time: 11:35
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2rooster in the henhouse
ntext
4 +1cock of the roostColin Newberry
4Fox in a chicken coupbasilgg
3He was ruling the roost
Textklick
3Sultan of the harem
Hilary Davies Shelby
3 -1sitting duck
Kcda
3 -1to be the only man at a hen party
sibsab


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
hahn im korb
to be the only man at a hen party


Explanation:
oder
to be cock of the walk

sibsab
Local time: 18:35
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Dr. Fred Thomson: cock of the walk
24 mins
disagree  Beth Jones: I'm sorry, sibsab, but I have to differ with you. 'Cock of the walk' = hero, winner (http://dict.die.net/cock of the walk/) & hen party is only a bachelorette party in B.E. But "H im K" is more general than that.
24 mins
  -> you don't have to apologize ;-)
disagree  Lyn Dunk: definitely not cock of the walk, sorry
1 hr
  -> but that's what the dictionary says
neutral  Hilary Davies Shelby: i'm afraid the dictionary is wrong in this context - cock of the walk just means a winner, someone better than the rest
14 hrs
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26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
rooster in the henhouse


Explanation:
*

ntext
United States
Local time: 11:35
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 32
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  SwissTell
15 mins
agree  MrsHoward
10 days
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
He was ruling the roost


Explanation:
Depends on the context, I guess. "Spare part" would be a bit of an English take, but I have never been as you say: "einziger mann in gesellschaft meherer frauen", as far as I can remember.

Textklick
Local time: 17:35
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Kcda: Yes a spare part not happy with lacking attention or a sitting duck who might be hoping he will not be the center of it! Pending context. :)
14 hrs
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
sitting duck


Explanation:
The feeble context allows me to take the freedom of interpreting it as sitting duck. Of course a hahn is not a duck but the links offer interesting insights to what might be meant. Princeton offers a brief explanation of the term. Some males might find a lot of female company intimidating whereas others desirable or even a blessing. God knows if the brief context is trying to imply the idea of being a victim or not.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2007-12-08 02:27:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Also another similar way of looking at it all broadly could be the target of female emancipation and criticism (victim=duck)! :)


    Reference: http://www.redensarten-index.de/suche.php?suchbegriff=der+Ha...
    Reference: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=sitting+duck&sub=S...
Kcda
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in TurkishTurkish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Kim Metzger: A sitting duck is an easy target or victim, not "jemand der sich als einziger mann in gesellschaft meherer frauen findet"
13 hrs
  -> Sie müssen es metaphorisch annehmen/ansehen. Ja, Militär technisch heißt es vielleicht “leichte beute” aber sitting duck kan mann auch anders verwenden/bewerten etc. Mann kann auch mit Wörtern schießen! :)
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
cock of the roost


Explanation:
Another one 4U


    Reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4369000/436...
Colin Newberry
Local time: 18:35
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  basilgg
420 days
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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Sultan of the harem


Explanation:
or "like a Sultan in his harem". This would depend very much on the context - if the man is a real flirt, and the women are flirting back, he will LOVE being the centre of attention. This is the type of context where this might work.

If, as others have suggested, he feels out of place, Textklick's "spare part" suggestion would be better!

Hilary Davies Shelby
Local time: 11:35
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
Notes to answerer
Asker: I like "Sultan of the harem" but on the other hand, being "Hahn im Korb" is more neutral, although still flattering from a man's point of view, if you know what I mean

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420 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Fox in a chicken coup


Explanation:
The expression is literally different, but the idea of an animal in an enclosed space potentially up to mischief is well captured by this. Fox in a chicken coup is also a real expression, and helps capture the colloquial nature of hahn in korb by virtue of being a common turn of phrase.

basilgg
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Changes made by editors
Dec 7, 2007 - Changes made by Johanna Timm, PhD:
LevelNon-PRO => PRO
FieldOther => Art/Literary
Dec 7, 2007 - Changes made by Johanna Timm, PhD:
Term askedhahn im korb => Hahn im Korb


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