Anyone speak German?

but if you use it, correctly it is "Feuer frei" (frei starts with small letter, Feuer with capital letter)

QUOTE: Originally posted by jetjag Feuer Frei!

Thats a good song :)

Good one, goatmonkey.

maybe both sides should be saying "Scheisse"

"Take them out!" is idiomatic speech--those odd phrases and expressions peculiar to a particular language, which totally lose their meaning when translated verbatim into other languages. It would never hold the same meaning in German. Think of the response of General McAuliffe, acting cammander of the 101st US Paratroopers who were surrounded by Germans at Bastogne in December 1944, low on ammo and outnumbered, when called upon by the German commander to surrender--"Nuts!". Scribbled on paper. Just like that. The message was returned to the Germans, who had utterly no clue what it meant. "It means 'Go to Hell'!" was finally translated to them--that they understood!

Always remember the idiomatic discrepancies when translating things. Something more to the point, like "Toten (with umlaut over the "o") Sie!" ("kill them!") or "Schiessen Sie" ("shoot them!") would be more appropriate. Or perhaps even "Scheisse!!" (I'll let you look that one up!). If you could find a real German person out there, or someone fluent, you might actually find an equivalent German idiomatic phrase, which would be great. Also-ask around-make sure that "Take them out!" was an idiom that was even used in this country in the 1940's. Sounds a bit modern/Rambo era for me. Like saying "Waste them!"

Took German in Junior High/High School for 4 years. 29 years ago. A bit rusty ("rusty"--there's another one of them there little idiomatic thingies!)

It occurs to me that "Take them out!" might be construed as proposing a group date....which would just seem wrong under the circumstances!

My good man, take them out! Sounds like something a brit general would say

Sorry cant help you on this one,dont speak german.Once I tried to put Jagd(for Jagdtiger)in a translater..it said:One word..thats 39.95............39.95!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feuer Frei!

"Feuer!" would seem adequate ("Fire!) Or "Feuer! Jetzt!" ("Fire! Now!")

Unlikely.
It's more accurately translated as "Get ready! Go!"
It can be used in a combat situation, but usually when you're in cover, and about to leave it.

Fertig! Los! (Ready! Fire!) might be something a German would say in that situation.

Me again

Macht sie fertig! - Finish them off!
Los, macht sie fertig! - Go, finish them off!
Knallt sie ab! - slang for Shoot them!

All of them (especially the last one) are more appropriate for mobsters than soldiers, but the first one is indeed closer to "take them out" than anything I came up with.

Wow, thanks Marx. That's terrific. I like the Nehmen Sie sie aus - Gut them. (yes, like "eviscerate") translation, but the German figures are just Wermacht (I think). If I modify one into an SS officer, it might be more appropriate (although, the scene is supposed to represent one group of regular guys encountering another group of regular guys).

Yesterday, I posted the question on a German language forum at About.com and got the following responses (unfortunately, they didn't tell me what the english meaning was):

"Macht sie fertig!" or "Los, macht sie fertig!" and "Knallt sie ab! (more drastic)"

Just for fun, I ran them through the translator. You get: Power! You finished! and It slams off!

Anyway, I think that I'll use something along the lines of: Schiess! Schnell! SCHIESS! - Shoot! Quickly! SHOOT!

Thanks to everyone for all their help. I only joined a few days ago and have been looking around a lot since. This is a really great community.

Cheers.

Mr. Marx,

I was hoping a native speaker would drop in. I had a nagging worry that my high school German wasn't quite right.

Regards,

Native speaker here.

Honestly, I have trouble thinking of a fitting equivalent. None I can think of are close to the meaning, AND sound right coming from someone who is actually in the line of fire.
I would recommend "Feuer!" (fire), "Schiess!" (shoot, singular), or "Schießt!" (shoot, plural); the latter two could be varied by repeating them ("Shoot! SHOOT!!!"), or adding "schon" or "endlich" after it (now I can't think of a proper English equivalent. basically "Hurry up!").


For the sake of completeness, hoping not to offend anyone...
Nehmen Sie sie heraus! - implies that they are inside something, where they shall be taken out of.
Nehmen- 'EM heraus! - same, but the translation program didn't recognize "Em"
Schnell schnell schnell - correct, but simply means "Hurry up!"
Nehmen Sie sie aus - Gut them. (yes, like "eviscerate")
Schiesse - extremely formal, sounding more appropriate for the 19th century than WWII
Nehm' sie aus - dialect (should be "nimm") for the singular of "gut them"

Yeah! Nice one Phil. I was wondering how long it would take for someone to get that. I know, those comics were my favorite. I wish that I still had them too. I'll have to go rooting through the comic shop's used boxes. There must be some still kicking around.

(Bonus points for Canfield and Shapiro's nicknames )

Canfield - Bulldozer

Shapiro - Wildman

Used to love the Sgt. Rock comics as well as The Haunted Tank. Wish I still had all of those.

have to be careful of the online translators... someone recently translated something on one of those from English to spanish in a group build and what started as: I hope soon to start on my buffalo, as everyone else is so far ahead of me" ended up: "I go willingly in the way of the buffalo, those who resist will go ahead of me" (Literally, re: Battle of Britain Group Build)

Or I've seen some end up in such a ultra polite form it was funny... Like I was sitting at Camelot in Latin America or something haha....

I agree with the "Schiesse!" translation from what limited German I picked up... I seem to remember a political cartoon when I was staying in Dusseldorf that was a similar situation with the same resulting wording...

Thanks. That's the whole point. Not to annoy people of course, but for the outcome to be ambiguous.

great storyline! might annoy a lot of people! WHO WINS? WHO WINS?

Awesome! Thanks Drew.

Hi Canuck,

I get your point, I just doubt that the Germans would say the equivalent to "Take them out." They certainly wouldn't say, "Nehmen Sie sie aus" which is the equivalent of "My good man, take them out." To which a German soldier might have responded, "take them where?"

But, artistic license is to be encouraged. To make the phrase more suitable, you may want to try "Nehm' sie aus!" That's the same phrase, but in the form of a command.

Regards,

Thanks Drew. The artistic intent of the scene is to show the duality or mirroring of the two groups of three grunts encountering one another at the same time and firing at the same time with neither one having the upper hand. The outcome remains uncertain. So, I was hoping to to use the same phrase for each. I'll make it work somehow.

QUOTE: Originally posted by DanCooper Sorry guys, I had a couple of years German lessons when in High School (German is the thirt official language language in my country), althoug your translation is grammatically correct, they would heve never used it in such a situation, it sounds more like a foreman hurrying his people to unloud a truck or something. Unfortunately, I am not able to give you a suitable phrase instead.

I agree. The translation is very formal and probably not something that a German would say anyway.

I suggest: "Schiesse! Schiesse! Schiesse!" which is the informal, imperative (command) way of saying "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"

If I were in that situation, I'd probably be saying, "Shoot d*mn it! Shoot! Now!!!!"

Regards,

Good point, I haden't even thought of that. I looked it up and it seems that the M18 was developed late in WW2.

This is from http://www.olive-drab.com/od_infweapons_recoilless.php

The recoilless rifle was first used by the U.S. Army at the end of World War II.

The recoilless rifle combined a rocket propelled munition with a rifled barrel (unlike the smooth bore bazooka) firing a spin-stabilized round with anti-tank capability. The RR ammunition looks like an artillery round but with "swiss cheese" vent holes in the case allowing escape of the gasses that propel the round. The light recoil made it possible to fire them from the shoulder, a tripod, or smaller vehicles such as a jeep.
U.S. Recoilless Rifle Models

There were five major models in the family of Recoilless Rifles fielded by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps:

57mm M18 (WW II & Korea)
75mm M20 (WW II & Korea)
90mm M67
105mm M27 (Korea)
106mm M40 (Vietnam)

The M18 and M18A1 recoilless rifle were developed late in World War II for use like a bazooka as an anti-tank or anti-personnel weapon. It was light enough to be fired from the shoulder, although heavier than a bazooka. The M18 takes a 57 mm round effective against 1 inch armor up to a range of 4500 yards (meters) much more range and penetration than the bazooka. The M18 was used by Marines in Okinawa as well as in Korea until replaced by the more effective 3.5 inch M20 bazooka with its HEAT round...

Its still concievable that the scene could have taken place. Its not necessry for me to have absolute historical accuracy in my work but I certainly wouldn't want to have Korean or Vietnam era G.I.'s fighting the Germans.

So, it seems that my guys are using one of the first prototypes. Let's hope that the Ordnance Department Small Arms Engineers know what they are doing!

You see, this is why I love this hobby; you get to learn something new. Cool!

one question canuck, why would the GI's have a recoiless rifle in their jeep? that didnt come into use until around the late 50s-60s. just asking

Thanks Dan, I figured that would be the case.

Sorry guys, I had a couple of years German lessons when in High School (German is the thirt official language language in my country), althoug your translation is grammatically correct, they would heve never used it in such a situation, it sounds more like a foreman hurrying his people to unloud a truck or something. Unfortunately, I am not able to give you a suitable phrase instead.

eh "schnell" is so original its getting boring. Try mine ;
Nehmen Sie sie aus! - take them out!
-ERAD