geben sich die Klinke in die Hand

English translation: come and go in a continuous stream

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	sich die Klinke in die Hand geben
English translation:	come and go in a continuous stream

12:35 Jan 31, 2002

German to English translations [Non-PRO]

German term or phrase: geben sich die Klinke in die Hand

Die Besucher geben sich die Klinke in die Hand, meaning a stream of visitors holding the door for each other.

Gudrun Russo

come and go in a comtinuous stream

Explanation:
Source: Oxford-Duden dictionary

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-01-31 14:35:10 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Typo: should be continuous (sorry!!)

Selected response from:

Bob Kerns (X)
Germany
Local time: 07:33

Grading comment

Thank you! There were 3 answers, all from dictionaries, but I think the Oxford-Duden translation best renders the meaning of sich die Klinke in die Hand geben.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +6

there was an endless queue of visitors

Ingar A. Milnes

5 +2

to be continually coming and going

Julia Neyer

5 +1

come and go in a comtinuous stream

Bob Kerns (X)

there was a steady stream/flow of visitors

Mary Worby

Answers

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

to be continually coming and going

Explanation:
couldn't find anything better as for now....

Harper Collins Dictionary

Julia Neyer
Local time: 01:33
Native speaker of:

German
PRO pts in pair: 32

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

there was an endless queue of visitors

Explanation:
The term in question is a german idiom for exactly this. (They are not holding the door for each other, rather, they are handing each other the doorknob!)

See Langenscheidts German-Englisch

Ingar A. Milnes
Local time: 07:33
Native speaker of:

German,

English,

Norwegian
PRO pts in pair: 45

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

come and go in a comtinuous stream

Bob Kerns (X)
Germany
Local time: 07:33
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 1415

Grading comment

Thank you! There were 3 answers, all from dictionaries, but I think the Oxford-Duden translation best renders the meaning of sich die Klinke in die Hand geben.

4 hrs confidence:

there was a steady stream/flow of visitors

Explanation:
Or visitors flocked to the [insert appropriate noun here] throughout the [day/week/event/etc]

Just another option for the fun of it!

HTH

Mary

Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:33
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 2770

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

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

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations