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short sentence

English translation: Olga's knees turned to jelly....

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase: short sentence
English translation:Olga's knees turned to jelly....
Entered by: jerrie

05:04 Apr 2, 2004
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Slang
German term or phrase: short sentence
Er küßte sie sanft. **Olgas Kniee gaben nach wie eine gefällte Eiche**.

Nothing surprises me anymore!

So far I've got 'Olga's knees buckled as if hit by a ton of bricks'. Ouch!!

Maybe there's a better way to deal with that nonsense. By the way, the 'author' is not willing to change the sentence.

TIA, have fun!
Fantutti (X)
Local time: 15:05
Olga's knees turned to jelly....
Explanation:
Olga's knees turned to jelly (giving way like a felled oak)

Olga's knees gave way (buckled) beneath her like a felled oak

Olga's knees collapsed beneath her like a temperamental deckchair (!!!)
Selected response from:

jerrie
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:05
Grading comment
O.k., I go for the jelly solution, even though I much prefer the deckchair one. Thanks, Jerrie, and thanks to all of you!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4Olga's knees turned to jelly....
jerrie
4buckled/gave out...felled oak/toppled oak
davidgreen
1 +1And it starts with "It was a dark and stormy night."
jccantrell
2she felt the earth give way under her feet
Jonathan MacKerron


  

Answers


27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5 peer agreement (net): +1
And it starts with "It was a dark and stormy night."


Explanation:
Sorry.

No help, but a good laugh.

jccantrell
United States
Local time: 15:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  gangels (X): how about 'knees gave way like a cut-down weeping willow' How about a double-date with Olga? Are you game?
6 hrs
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
buckled/gave out...felled oak/toppled oak


Explanation:
Olga's knee buckled like a felled oak / buckled like a toppled oak
Olga's knee gave out with a mighty crash

...just to get the ball rolling for you...

davidgreen
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Olga's knees turned to jelly....


Explanation:
Olga's knees turned to jelly (giving way like a felled oak)

Olga's knees gave way (buckled) beneath her like a felled oak

Olga's knees collapsed beneath her like a temperamental deckchair (!!!)

jerrie
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:05
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
O.k., I go for the jelly solution, even though I much prefer the deckchair one. Thanks, Jerrie, and thanks to all of you!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gillian Scheibelein: definately the deckchair! But perhaps it is not supposed to be funny.
23 mins
agree  silvia glatzhofer: also prefer the deckchair, if it's supposed to be funny.
34 mins
agree  Guenther Danzer: Hmm, aber ich frage mich die ganze Zeit, wie eine gefällte Eiche noch fallen kann. Die liegt doch schon ;-)
2 hrs
agree  Textklick: I'll go for the jelly. Deckchair good but not if it's a book about abroad IUFMD
4 hrs
  -> As damply as driftwood, mate ;-))
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
she felt the earth give way under her feet


Explanation:
typical dime-novel jargon....

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
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