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  3. Manufacturing

vor der Welle schwimmen

English translation: I've kept one step ahead and gone before the flow

06:41 Sep 20, 2011
German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Manufacturing
German term or phrase: vor der Welle schwimmen
as in

Ich bin bislang sozusagen immer vor der Welle geschwommen ...

A manager new to a company is talking in a (Swiss) in-house PR publication about something, unspecified apart from punchy name of action, going live in a couple of months [quoted sentence] and how he hasn't seen it yet, being new to the company, but really looking forward to it. Because of client confidentiality it's difficult to quote much more. I was thinking along the lines of "I've had my head down busy preparing.../taking care of the back room stuff"

All help gratefully appreciated as always.
Maureen Millington-Brodie
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:42
English translation:I've kept one step ahead and gone before the flow
Explanation:
couple of ideas
Selected response from:

David Hollywood
Local time: 09:42
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2I've kept one step ahead and gone before the flow
David Hollywood
4stayed/managed to stay ahead of the pack
Jaime Hyland
4to stay ahead of the times.
Peter Warwick
3swim ahead of the wave
Horst Huber (X)
2kept my head above water
Ramey Rieger (X)
2to lead the wave
Alison MacG


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
I've kept one step ahead and gone before the flow


Explanation:
couple of ideas

David Hollywood
Local time: 09:42
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 68
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nicola Wood: agree with I've kept one step ahead or ahead of the flow ( see my discussion entry)
17 mins
  -> thanks Nicola :)
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X): I was thinking along these lines as well, even though the German context is rather meagre
5 hrs
  -> thanks Ingeborg :)
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
stayed/managed to stay ahead of the pack


Explanation:
Another alternative.

Jaime Hyland
Local time: 14:42
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
to stay ahead of the times.


Explanation:
I think this Manager is explaining that in the past he has always " stayed ahead of the times". This is an English idiom which means" you are always on top of things when it matters".
I hope this is helpful to you.


Peter Warwick
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:42
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
kept my head above water


Explanation:
the word "bislang" led me to this conclusion, since it infers he's beginning something new. So if he's always been one step ahead, "bislang" what is he doing now? Falling behind? Thats not something he'd want to air on TV, is it?

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:42
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 34
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
swim ahead of the wave


Explanation:
Something like "I've made it a habit of swimming ahead of the wave", or "current", meaning I've been ahead of the curve.

Horst Huber (X)
United States
Local time: 08:42
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
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2 days 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
to lead the wave


Explanation:
A belated suggestion. I appreciate that it is difficult for you to quote the text more fully. This is my take on the basis of what you have provided.

I think your manager is saying that this will be a new experience for him as in the past he has been accustomed to leading the wave rather than simply riding the wave (vor rather than AUF der Welle Schwimmen), i.e. he is used to leading rather than following, leading the wave rather than riding someone else's. He is nonetheless looking forward to being involved in the new project, albeit not in a leading role on this occasion. Might that fit in with the rest of what he says?

This sort of thing:
I also love the challenge of being ahead of a trend, of leading the wave rather than following it, of figuring out just where to go where no one has gone before.
http://www.greennexxus.com/publicprofile.aspx?id=205

Alison MacG
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 31
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