Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
ein Wink des Schicksals
English translation:
a sign from above
Added to glossary by
OlafK
Feb 9, 2004 16:25
20 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
Wink des Schicksals
German to English
Art/Literary
Das war ein Wink des Schicksals.
Sorry, no further context. Any ideas for an idiomatic translation? Thnak you
Sorry, no further context. Any ideas for an idiomatic translation? Thnak you
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +6 | a sign from above |
IanW (X)
|
| 3 +6 | The hand of fate |
Rebecca Holmes
|
| 5 | (it was) meant to be |
lone (X)
|
| 5 | It was fate beckoning. |
David Moore (X)
|
| 4 | sign of fate |
Alexander Onishko
|
| 4 | That was an omen. |
astauber
|
| 4 | fortune's nod |
Kim Metzger
|
| 4 | coincidence |
Ellen Zittinger
|
| 4 | It was a trick of fate. |
Laurel Porter (X)
|
| 3 | quirk of fate |
Kevin Fulton
|
Proposed translations
+6
2 mins
Selected
a sign from above
I'd say "a sign from above"
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Note added at 10 mins (2004-02-09 16:36:04 GMT)
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\"Today, I have brought the Subcommittee to the Valley not to discuss the Park’s past, but its future. As we all know, a number of constituencies believe that the 1997 Merced River Flood was a **sign from above **to the National Park Service to reverse course in the Valley, to remove roads, buildings and opportunities and access from the public and restore the Valley to a “wilderness zone” where only low-impact hiking would be permitted.
http://www.radanovich.house.gov/press/2003/testimony/YoseVP....
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Note added at 10 mins (2004-02-09 16:36:04 GMT)
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\"Today, I have brought the Subcommittee to the Valley not to discuss the Park’s past, but its future. As we all know, a number of constituencies believe that the 1997 Merced River Flood was a **sign from above **to the National Park Service to reverse course in the Valley, to remove roads, buildings and opportunities and access from the public and restore the Valley to a “wilderness zone” where only low-impact hiking would be permitted.
http://www.radanovich.house.gov/press/2003/testimony/YoseVP....
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks, erverybody. Sorry that I can't split points."
3 mins
Alexander Onishko
Veni Vidi Vici
Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian, Ukrainian to English, and 5 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
45
sign of fate
...
7 mins
(it was) meant to be
I will go out on a limb here and give it an "artistic translation"
Reference:
+6
9 mins
The hand of fate
The hand of fate gets 14,000 Goggle hits
Alternatively, in my current seriously sugar-deprived condition, "that's just the way the cookie crumbles" also comes to mind.
Alternatively, in my current seriously sugar-deprived condition, "that's just the way the cookie crumbles" also comes to mind.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
writeaway
: that is really funny-I was about to enter that's the way the cookie crumbled.
3 mins
|
|
Great minds think alike! Or am I not the only one on a diet???
|
|
| agree |
Aniello Scognamiglio (X)
: ja, man winkt doch mit der Hand, nicht?
22 mins
|
| agree |
vishoy
39 mins
|
| agree |
Steffen Walter
: here as well
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Brandis (X)
: well I had something along unpredictability and destiny in mind.
7 hrs
|
| agree |
Mario Marcolin
: nice
11 hrs
|
26 mins
That was an omen.
would be my suggestion.
30 mins
Kim Metzger
Mexico
Mexico
Native in English
Mexico
Committed to Quality and Service
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
22196
fortune's nod
From a poem by William Ellery Channing
"Most and mild, and kind
Who never spurned the needing from thy door,
(Door of thy heart, which is a palace gate);
Temperate and faithful, in whose word the world
Might trust, sure to repay, unvexed by care,
Unawed by Fortune's nod, slave to no lord,
No coward to thy peers, long shalt thou live,
Nor in this feeble verse, this sleeping age,
But in the roll of Heaven; and at the bar
Of that high court, where virtue is in place."
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/channing...
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Note added at 39 mins (2004-02-09 17:05:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Or: nod of fate
THAT man is brave who at the nod of fate
Will lay his life a willing offering down,
That they who loved him may know length of days;
May stay awhile upon this pleasant earth
Drinking its gladness and its vigour in,
The Passing of Cadieux\" by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay (1875-1928)
With deaths alternate strewed the sickening scene;
And Jove-born Pallas shared the Thunderer\'s state,
The shield of horror and the nod of fate.
By some nod of fate, only speed limits were left damaged as Xena guided them both safely home.
"Most and mild, and kind
Who never spurned the needing from thy door,
(Door of thy heart, which is a palace gate);
Temperate and faithful, in whose word the world
Might trust, sure to repay, unvexed by care,
Unawed by Fortune's nod, slave to no lord,
No coward to thy peers, long shalt thou live,
Nor in this feeble verse, this sleeping age,
But in the roll of Heaven; and at the bar
Of that high court, where virtue is in place."
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/channing...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 39 mins (2004-02-09 17:05:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Or: nod of fate
THAT man is brave who at the nod of fate
Will lay his life a willing offering down,
That they who loved him may know length of days;
May stay awhile upon this pleasant earth
Drinking its gladness and its vigour in,
The Passing of Cadieux\" by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay (1875-1928)
With deaths alternate strewed the sickening scene;
And Jove-born Pallas shared the Thunderer\'s state,
The shield of horror and the nod of fate.
By some nod of fate, only speed limits were left damaged as Xena guided them both safely home.
1 hr
quirk of fate
Another variation
Here's an old joke about a quirk of fate:
http://www.zakie.fsnet.co.uk/jokes/TextJokes/Desert_Island.h...
Here's an old joke about a quirk of fate:
http://www.zakie.fsnet.co.uk/jokes/TextJokes/Desert_Island.h...
3 hrs
Ellen Zittinger
Native in German
&
English
Educator/Realtor/Securities Rep/Agent
Native in: English , German
Works in: English to German, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
287
coincidence
wink of destiny,
stroke of good luck,
flash of good fortune
fate is beckoning
some possible options (depending on context!)
stroke of good luck,
flash of good fortune
fate is beckoning
some possible options (depending on context!)
14 hrs
It was a trick of fate.
Just another suggestion, much in line with some others (like quirk - although I've never heard it in exactly this context).
16 hrs
It was fate beckoning.
Almost a direct translation; also extremely idiomatic.
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