aus dem Talon ziehen

English translation: The matchmaker/marriage broker likely pulled Herrmann Kafka's name out of the stack

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:aus dem Talon ziehen
English translation:The matchmaker/marriage broker likely pulled Herrmann Kafka's name out of the stack
Entered by: Veronika McLaren

20:38 Jun 8, 2009
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino / cards
German term or phrase: aus dem Talon ziehen
I can't work out whether this is meant as a compliment or not! It's from a section on Kafka's family in a guide to Prague.

"Die Tochter wuchs ins heiratsfähige Alter heran und wurde schließlich einem Schadchen überantwortet, also einem jüdischen Heiratsvermittler. Dieser dürfte Hermann Kafka **aus dem Talon gezogen haben**."
Rachel Ward
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:31
The matchmaker/marriage broker likely pulled Herrmann Kafka's name out of the stack
Explanation:
...?
Selected response from:

Veronika McLaren
Local time: 06:31
Grading comment
Thanks Veronika!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2The matchmaker/marriage broker likely pulled Herrmann Kafka's name out of the stack
Veronika McLaren
4 +1must have pulled the name out of a hat
David Hollywood
3draw from the reserve pile of 'undealt cards'
John Fenz
2put forward
Barbara Wiebking


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


37 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
put forward


Explanation:
Maybe something like this? It seems like "der Talon" literally describes the cards that are left after the cards have been dealt out (see Veronika's comment) and is used in this sense both in English and German:

'Mr. Dawkins nahm das Kompliment mit philosophischer Ruhe entgegen und forderte die Herren der Gesellschaft auf, mit ihm einen Shilling zu wetten, daß er jedesmal eine beliebige Karte aus dem Talon ziehen werde.'
http://www.zeno.org/Literatur/M/Dickens, Charles/Romane/Oliv...

'At this stage, there is not enough information to choose between them - it depends on which cards are due to come out of the talon.'
http://www.dogmelon.com.au/solhelp/Pyramid Solitaire.shtml

In your phrase I guess it might mean something like "vorbringen" or "aus dem Hut zaubern"... :-)

Example sentence(s):
  • Hätten Sie mit Ihrem Veto Erfolg gehabt, das Sie bei jeder Gelegenheit und bei jedem Thema aus dem Talon ziehen (...), dann hätten wir, Frau Kollegin, überhaupt keine Handhabe gehabt.
  • As heiress of Castile, the question of Isabella's future marriage became a matter of increasing diplomatic activity at home and abroad. Portugal, Aragon, and France each put forward a marriage candidate.

    Reference: http://www.parlament.gv.at/pd/steno/PG/DE/XXII/NRSITZ/NRSITZ...
    Reference: http://www.wga.hu/tours/spain/isabella.html
Barbara Wiebking
Germany
Local time: 11:31
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
The matchmaker/marriage broker likely pulled Herrmann Kafka's name out of the stack


Explanation:
...?

Veronika McLaren
Local time: 06:31
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks Veronika!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Barbara Wiebking: Sounds smooth...
21 mins
  -> Thank you, kriddl!

agree  Helen Shiner: though I would use 'pack' rather than 'stack' which sounds like rather a lot of cards./You could perhaps use John's 'reserve' - pulled his name out of the reserve pack.
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Helen - sounds good that way.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
draw from the reserve pile of 'undealt cards'


Explanation:
He (the matchmaker) most likely drew Hermann Kafka from his reserve pile of 'undealt cards'.

Evidently, the matchmaker had an easy time pairing other couples, but for some reason had not been able to find a match for Hermann Kafka.

In a word, Hermann Kafka had been relegated to a "reserve pile"of possible marriage candidates. When Julie became his client, and who - it seems - was not immediately attractive to potential husbands for some unstated reason, the matchmaker turned **to his "reserve pile of 'undealt cards' and drew Herman Kafka's name**.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2009-06-09 01:42:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

per Helen: in order to avoid overtranslating, you might prefer to go with "reserve pile", as in "The matchmaker drew H.K. from his reserve pile", and leave out the rest.

John Fenz
United States
Local time: 06:31
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Helen Shiner: This seems a little over-translated.
1 hr
  -> To be sure:-) I thought the idea that Hermann Kafka came from the matchmaker's "reserve pile" of candidates should be made explicit. Then, since the nature of the "reserve pile" seemed ambiguous, I included "undealt cards". But I did overtranslate!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
must have pulled the name out of a hat


Explanation:
my read :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2009-06-09 03:46:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

i.e. Kafka

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2009-06-09 03:47:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

standard expression :)

David Hollywood
Local time: 07:31
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  robin25
2 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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.

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:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search