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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

der Zug ist für dich abgefahren

English translation:

you missed the boat

Added to glossary by OlafK
Feb 1, 2003 03:01
21 yrs ago
German term

der Zug ist abgefahren

German to English Art/Literary
figuratively speaking (in the sense of a lost opportunity). Sorry, again no particular context. I'd like to know how you'd say this in English.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +7 It's too late/too little too late
4 +9 missed the bus
5 +3 That ship has sailed! OR The horse is out of the barn.
4 +3 the train has left the station
5 +2 You've missed the boat! / He's missed the boat! / I've missed the boat . . . etc.
4 don't cry over spilled milk
4 you have missed the opportunity
4 kiss it goodbye
3 Time and tide wait for no man.
Change log

Jun 26, 2005 02:03: Kim Metzger changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Proposed translations

+7
5 mins
Selected

It's too late/too little too late

That's the literal meaning. I can't think of an appropriate English idiom at the moment.

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Note added at 2003-02-01 03:07:41 (GMT)
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Another possibility: You missed the boat
Reference:

Duden - Redewendungen

Peer comment(s):
agree Edward L. Crosby III : "Missed the boat" is spot on.
10 hrs
agree Melissa Field : w/ missed the boat for AE too
15 hrs
agree HelenY : missed the boat
16 hrs
agree Gary Schmidt : or "missed the boat"
16 hrs
agree jerrie : missed the boat..I remember this being used as advertising slogan by an Insurance Company..."don't miss the boat"
16 hrs
agree Jennie Sherrick, MA : ....boat
2 days 13 hrs
agree Nicole Tata : missed the boat
3 days 9 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks everybody for giving me a nice selection. But "miss the boat" seems to be the most commonly used, therefore I think Kim deserves the Kudoz because he came up with it first. I find "the train has left the station" quite interesting since it sounds like it has been translated from German. It would be interesting to find out the impact German immigrants had on AmE. Shame I can't write more detailed glossary entries."
+9
6 mins

missed the bus

Well of course it depends on the context, but if you want context-independent, I offer the English expression "Missed the bus" - came too late, the bus had gone, missed the chance.

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Note added at 2003-02-01 03:10:43 (GMT)
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Kim´s \"missed the boat\" works for me too.
Peer comment(s):
agree Anca Nitu : 'missed the boat"
1 hr
agree Edith Kelly : agre with Anca
5 hrs
agree jerrie : missed the boat
5 hrs
agree Armorel Young : yes, missed the bus v. common in UK
7 hrs
agree Dipl.-Kfm. Bernhard Aicher MBA
9 hrs
agree Cécile Kellermayr
9 hrs
agree Andrea Nemeth-Newhauser : Yes, very common AE.
11 hrs
agree Ron Stelter
15 hrs
agree Jennie Sherrick, MA
2 days 13 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
36 mins

the train has left the station

is also used
Peer comment(s):
agree Chris Rowson (X) : I think this is an AE/BE difference, this reminds me inescapably of Robert Johnson´s "Love in Vain". I grew up in rural England during the dismantling of the British rail system, when there weren´t that many trains leaving our stations any more. :-)
23 mins
agree Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M. : We say it, too. (AE)
4 hrs
agree Jennie Sherrick, MA : I like this too
2 days 12 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

don't cry over spilled milk

it's gone, oh well
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

you have missed the opportunity

depending on context
Something went wrong...
+3
5 hrs

That ship has sailed! OR The horse is out of the barn.

fun. thanks. The first one is said with greater Schwung usually than the second.

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Note added at 2003-02-01 08:14:25 (GMT)
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THIRD POSSIBILITY:
\"You\'re a day late and a dollar short.\"
Peer comment(s):
agree Richard George Elliott : The horse has bolted (Br E)
1 hr
nice, yes
agree Sylvain & Deyanira PROUT
14 hrs
agree Nicole Tata
3 days 3 hrs
Something went wrong...
12 hrs

kiss it goodbye

finito, thats all folks, done gone

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Note added at 2003-02-01 15:38:30 (GMT)
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the die is cast, tomorrow will be another day, easy come easy go,

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Note added at 2003-02-01 15:40:02 (GMT)
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c\'est la vie, forget it, get over it, snap out of it, why worry?
Peer comment(s):
agree conny : I like the very first
22 mins
thanks
disagree Adrienne Gutmans : To kiss something goodbye implies that you have had something either fleetingly or for a longer period of time and have lost it. It does not convey the meaning of the source German expression.
2 hrs
depends on the context, you've heard of context?
Something went wrong...
+2
14 hrs

You've missed the boat! / He's missed the boat! / I've missed the boat . . . etc.

This is a very common coloquial English expression. I've used it--and heard it--as long as I can remember! Some of the other responses are not really used. This is the most commonly used.
Peer comment(s):
agree Ellen Zittinger
29 mins
agree Anja Toddington
1 day 20 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 days 9 hrs

Time and tide wait for no man.

The time has left. The time is cunning. The train has left...
Something went wrong...
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