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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

wissen halt was Ordnung ist

English translation: know a thing or two about the real meaning of order

15:33 Apr 10, 2008
German to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
German term or phrase: wissen halt was Ordnung ist
The full context is something written under a photo of mice sleeping in a row:

"Alle in einer Reihe.
Mäuse wissen halt was Ordnung ist. :P"

The last thing, of course, is a type of smiley face, not a colon and a P!

I just can't quite get the meaning of the phrase above. How would you translate it? Thank you!
BrettMN
Local time: 05:22
English translation:know a thing or two about the real meaning of order
Explanation:
for starters
Selected response from:

Jonathan MacKerron
Grading comment
Thanks! I think this one comes closest, perhaps with franglish's suggestion here being even a bit better
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3nothing random about these mice!
Ken Cox
3 +2know what it means to be organized
Darin Fitzpatrick
2 +2know a thing or two about the real meaning of order
Jonathan MacKerron
3 +1mice know how 'keep order'/ mice have "their ducks in a row"
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
3Mice know how to be orderly
BrigitteHilgner


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +2
know a thing or two about the real meaning of order


Explanation:
for starters

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 76
Grading comment
Thanks! I think this one comes closest, perhaps with franglish's suggestion here being even a bit better
Notes to answerer
Asker: This is actually the direct link to the photo: http://flickr.com/photos/fireflames/2078518582/

Asker: "Mice do know something about being orderly" - how does that strike you?


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Bernhard Sulzer: tidy, one next to the other: http://flickr.com/photos/fireflames/
12 mins
  -> thx
agree  franglish: "do know something about the order of things"?
14 mins
  -> nice
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
know what it means to be organized


Explanation:
or:
"know how to be organized"
"do organization right"
"know how to stay in line"

ad infinitum, ad nauseum ...

Darin Fitzpatrick
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  mill2: stay in line is good...
9 mins
agree  dolmetscherin: like it!
1 hr
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Mice know how to be orderly


Explanation:
My take. :-)

BrigitteHilgner
Austria
Local time: 12:22
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 23
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25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
nothing random about these mice!


Explanation:
if you don't mind a free translation

Ken Cox
Local time: 12:22
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 36

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Uta Kappler: Love this one!
25 mins
agree  Bernhard Sulzer: that's what I call a nice ... I mean a mice caption!
5 hrs
agree  hazmatgerman (X): So do I.
21 hrs
neutral  BrigitteHilgner: It sounds great - but this is not the meaning - and there is something called "random order" which can be very orderly.
21 hrs
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30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
mice know how 'keep order'/ mice have "their ducks in a row"


Explanation:
noch 'ne Variante

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2008-04-10 20:07:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

better:" they just know how to keep order" (to include 'halt" here see my explanation in the asker box)

Ingeborg Gowans (X)
Canada
Local time: 07:22
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 31

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Samuel Gray: "They just know ..." is excellent. "Halt" is very similar to "ya know" or "I s'pose" or "I guess" in colloquial English. [Poster lived in Austria/Bavaria for 3 years]
1 day 7 hrs
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