on the fly
without planning
TRANSLATION
on the fly = spontan, ohne Vorbereitung, so nebenbei, improvisiert
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
“To learn about the virus as it advances, economists must judge its economic toll ON THE FLY.”
The Economist
------
on the fly
informal
- If you do something on the fly, you do it quickly, often while you are doing something else, without preparing and without thinking too much about how it should be done
The Cambridge Dictionary
—
ORIGIN
Mid 19th century - to do something on the fly derives from baseball:
“When the catcher sees several fielders running to catch a ball, he should name the one he thinks surest to take it, when the others should not strive to catch the ball ON THE FLY, but only, in case of its being missed, take it on the bound.“
The American Boys Book of Sports and Games,” New York, 1864
—
FLY IDIOMS
- sparks will fly = Da werden die Fetzen fliegen
- fly in the face of reason = gegen jede Vernunft sein
- to be a fly on the wall = Mäuschen spielen
- There’s a fly in the ointment = Da ist ein Haken an der Sache
—
THERE’S A FLY IN MY SOUP!
“Waiter… jokes” are attributed to the notoriously rude waiters at Lindy’s Restaurant in New York. Lindy’s was started in August 1921 by Leo Lindemann and was as famous for the backchat of its waiters as for its clientele of comics, gangsters, show-biz stars and other celebrities, always entailing criticism of the customer and/or the food.
Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!
Don’t say that, Sir. Everyone will want one.
Waiter! There is a fly in my soup!
What did you expect for this kind of price, an eagle?
Waiter, what’s the meaning of this fly in my teacup?
I wouldn’t know, Sir. I’m a waiter, not a fortuneteller
Waiter, there’s a fly swimming in my soup!
So what do you expect me to do, call a lifeguard?
Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!
It’s OK, Sir, there’s no extra charge!
Waiter, waiter, there’s a dead fly in my soup!
Oh no! I warned him not to drink and swim.
Waiter, there’s a dead fly in my soup!
What do you expect for $1? A live one?
What’s this spider doing in my soup?
I think he’s trying to catch the fly, Sir.
—
TRANSLATION WARNING!
bow-tie = Fliege
(trouser) fly = Hosenschlitz
—
Waiter! You’ve just spilled soup on my trousers!
Indeed Sir. Now there’s soup in your fly.
——
Practice OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:
“There’s no time for preparation, we’ll just have to do this ON THE FLY.”
——
VIELEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:
https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3
Paul Smith
Did you
know?
on the fly
informal
- If you do something on the fly, you do it quickly, often while you are doing something else, without preparing and without thinking too much about how it should be done
The Cambridge Dictionary
—
ORIGIN
Mid 19th century - to do something on the fly derives from baseball:
“When the catcher sees several fielders running to catch a ball, he should name the one he thinks surest to take it, when the others should not strive to catch the ball ON THE FLY, but only, in case of its being missed, take it on the bound.“
The American Boys Book of Sports and Games,” New York, 1864
—
FLY IDIOMS
- sparks will fly = Da werden die Fetzen fliegen
- fly in the face of reason = gegen jede Vernunft sein
- to be a fly on the wall = Mäuschen spielen
- There’s a fly in the ointment = Da ist ein Haken an der Sache
—
THERE’S A FLY IN MY SOUP!
“Waiter… jokes” are attributed to the notoriously rude waiters at Lindy’s Restaurant in New York. Lindy’s was started in August 1921 by Leo Lindemann and was as famous for the backchat of its waiters as for its clientele of comics, gangsters, show-biz stars and other celebrities, always entailing criticism of the customer and/or the food.
Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!
Don’t say that, Sir. Everyone will want one.
Waiter! There is a fly in my soup!
What did you expect for this kind of price, an eagle?
Waiter, what’s the meaning of this fly in my teacup?
I wouldn’t know, Sir. I’m a waiter, not a fortuneteller
Waiter, there’s a fly swimming in my soup!
So what do you expect me to do, call a lifeguard?
Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!
It’s OK, Sir, there’s no extra charge!
Waiter, waiter, there’s a dead fly in my soup!
Oh no! I warned him not to drink and swim.
Waiter, there’s a dead fly in my soup!
What do you expect for $1? A live one?
What’s this spider doing in my soup?
I think he’s trying to catch the fly, Sir.
—
TRANSLATION WARNING!
bow-tie = Fliege
(trouser) fly = Hosenschlitz
—
Waiter! You’ve just spilled soup on my trousers!
Indeed Sir. Now there’s soup in your fly.
——
Practice OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:
“There’s no time for preparation, we’ll just have to do this ON THE FLY.”
——
VIELEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:
https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3
Paul Smith
