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Auszubildende zur Diplom-Betriebswirtin (BA)

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Stell Dir vor, es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin

English translation:

Suppose they gave a war and nobody came

Added to glossary by Steffen Walter
Jul 9, 2007 16:21
16 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

Stell Dir vor, es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin

German to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Anyone know if there is an English equivalent of this classic expression? If not, can anyone suggest a possible translation?

Please mark your answer so that I can tell if it's a phrase you know (and, better still, can find a Google hit for) or one you simply suggest, because I'd ideally like to use the "official" expression.

Many thanks for all your help!
Proposed translations (English)
5 +6 Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.
4 +6 Hmm, just think, war breaks out and nobody turns up
5 "Someday they'll give a war and nobody will come."
5 imagine there's a war a no one turns/ed up
3 Imagine there is a war and nobody shows up
Change log

Jul 9, 2007 21:23: Joseph Tein changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/2797">Jan Liebelt's</a> old entry - "Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin"" to ""Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.""

Jul 9, 2007 22:08: Marcus Malabad changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/578038">Joseph Tein's</a> old entry - "Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin"" to ""Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.""

Jul 11, 2007 10:25: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary" , "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"

Jul 11, 2007 10:28: Steffen Walter changed "Term asked" from "Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin" to "Stell Dir vor, es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin"

Jul 11, 2007 10:28: Steffen Walter changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/2543">Marcus Malabad's</a> old entry - "Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin"" to ""Suppose they gave a war and nobody came""

Discussion

Lancashireman Jul 9, 2007:
2) As you 'fully agree' with DM on this one, would you see the 'defensive aggression' as coming from other sources? 3) Do you think it appropriate to admonish answerers when closing a question ('Live and let live')?
Lancashireman Jul 9, 2007:
Three questions re your summing-up: 1) In requesting the "official" expression for a 'classic expression' and suggesting that contributors might 'find a Google hit', were you aware that they might seek to base their answers on evidence from Google?
Joseph Tein Jul 9, 2007:
Hi, Jan. Thank you ... and it's questionable that Bush got the majority of votes either time.

This was a very interesting, lively discussion. Good luck with your translation.
Jonathan MacKerron Jul 9, 2007:
Jan, doesn't matter how horrible "Suppose they gave a war and nobody came" may sound, it IS the original saying and garners over 16,000 googles

Proposed translations

+6
8 mins
German term (edited): Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin
Selected

Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.

This is the phrase I remember from the '60's '

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 50 mins (2007-07-09 17:12:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To answer Jan's comment ... my GUESS is that 'gave a war' is a variation of 'gave/give a party' which is a very common English expression. What if nobody came to your party? became What if nobody came to your war? This is purely my guess about the history of this phrase.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2007-07-09 18:27:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Comment on David Moore's comment - Since Jan asked for the 'official' expression, that's what I dug up (with my wife's help, actually, whose memory always astonishes me). Therefore we're NOT talking about elegant, correct, nicely worded undistorted gems for self-respecting ENS. In fact, I would guess (again, just my guess) that the people who coined the phrase wanted the shock effect of the unusual, ungrammatical construction.
Example sentence:

I think back to the '60s, when the wistful saying "Suppose they gave a war, and nobody came" was current. It was a noble sentiment. ...

Note from asker:
Great, but it sounds horribly (grammatically) wrong. Any idea what the "gave" bit is an allusion to?
Peer comment(s):
agree jccantrell : My thought, too.
2 mins
thank you
agree Susan Zimmer : I have to admit, as a movie title, it does have plenty of google hits....; Note@David -Joseph has already explained "to give a party" and how it's used in this sense - do you really want to object to creative freedom?
10 mins
Thank you, Susie
agree Stefanie Reinhold : Yes, agree: What if they gave a war and noone came? Vietnam era slogan http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15016.htm
10 mins
Thank you Stefani
agree writeaway : http://www.amazon.com/Suppose-They-Gave-Nobody-Came/dp/B0002...
19 mins
danke / merci
agree Jonathan MacKerron : right on bro; anyway, but this IS the original saying, despite loud protestations to the contrary!
19 mins
Danke, bro.
agree Craig Meulen : Peace!
19 mins
Thanks Craig.
disagree David Moore (X) : This is one case where the original IMO should never have got off the ground
1 hr
But it did get off the ground - and flew around for a while - and your objecting here won't change that historic fact.
agree Lancashireman
3 hrs
Thank you Andrew.
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Although I agree fully with David Moore (and Frank Lee's comment), and believe that a term shouldn't be accepted as the gospel truth simply because it is the most-repeated on the Internet (after all, Bush isn't automatically the best US president simply because he got the most votes), I feel that this is the most suitable answer for the context in which it appears in my text. Thank you everyone, but hey, there's no need to be so defensively aggressive if someone challenges your opinion. Live and let live, OK?"
34 mins
German term (edited): Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin

"Someday they'll give a war and nobody will come."

by Carl Sandburg -
Someday they'll give a war and nobody will come. - Carl Sandburg. Full spectrum madness An Empire out of control. By Shaukat Ajmeri, March, 2003 ...
www.dawoodi-bohras.com/spotlight/madness.htm

Someday they'll give a war and nobody will come. -- Carl Sandburg. Featured Links Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More ...
www.beyondintractability.org/articlesummary/10511/
etc., etc.
Peer comment(s):
agree Joseph Tein : I don't see any reason for bluntly disagreeing with this. It's a very reasonable suggestion in this context.
11 mins
disagree David Moore (X) : No self-respecting ENS would talk of "giving" a war...
43 mins
David, I am a very self-respecting ENS and wouldn't use this expression myself but this is the original and it seems fairly obvious it's a play on words relating war to a party.
Something went wrong...
+6
3 mins
German term (edited): Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin

Hmm, just think, war breaks out and nobody turns up

I immediately thought of it being said by a Ronald Raegan impersonator in Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes!

http://www.xent.com/pipermail/fork/2003-March/018100.html

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 mins (2007-07-09 16:26:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

(the first 12" I ever bought!)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2007-07-09 16:33:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

There are also a few hits out there with "Just imagine: ..."
Otherwise, those based on my initial version are also taken from the Frankie song.
Also a lot of Google hits for your German version - but what was the "original" source?

http://www.avfcblog.com/content/view/1594/70/
(an illustrative reference to my beloved Villa)


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2007-07-09 16:38:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Well, I've been shown up by Joseph here.
I can only plead that I was born the year that a certain film came out:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/suppose_they_gave_a_war_and_...

Now I understand the reference in my second link to San Franciso in the late 60s!
Consider this an Agree for Joseph's suggestion.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 39 mins (2007-07-09 17:01:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In fact, I find "gave a war" slightly strange and the Frankie version does sound better - but that's all beside the point.
Perhaps a question of different generations: when I was going to San Francisco, I took not flowers but a walkman and a fake ID. ;-)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Joseph Tein : This is a good translation, but not the original 'classic' phrase.
6 mins
agree Susan Zimmer : my favorite saying of all time, group ain't half bad either: found on Google: Just imagine: war breaks out and nobody turns up!
12 mins
agree writeaway : http://www.amazon.com/Suppose-They-Gave-Nobody-Came/dp/B0002...
24 mins
agree Craig Meulen : You have to give this one to Joseph, but yours is also a good quote. We have similar taste -"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" was the first album I bought ...
25 mins
agree Jonathan MacKerron : also lots of googles for "Suppose They Give A War And Nobody Comes"
1 hr
agree David Moore (X) : We are not here to distort language...so why should we countenance - and encourage - distortions...
1 hr
agree Klaus Stracker : Though I would replace Hmm, just think with Imagine
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr
German term (edited): Stell Dir vor es ist Krieg und keiner geht hin

Imagine there is a war and nobody shows up

I know this is not the best translation, but I also know there was a movie with a similar title...
Something went wrong...
1789 days

imagine there's a war a no one turns/ed up

What's all this 'give/gave a war' business? Nobody talks like that. I've heard this quoted hundreds of times in England - every time someone wants to raise a wry smirk among his listeners. It's always simply: "imagine there's a war a no one turns/ed up"

- try it - it rolls off the tongue. The 'there's' can be read as 'there is' or 'there was' or both together, which I think is the way it actually works in an English-speaker's mind.

Anyway, does anybody have a reference for the original quote? I need it for an essay.
Example sentence:

imagine there\'s a war a no one turns/ed up

Something went wrong...
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