How do you translate 'to have something in the palm of your hand' into German as an idiom? The English would mean to be in control of something.
I was told 'in seiner Handfläche haben' is too literal, but they didn't provide an alternative either.
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Sign up to join this communityHow do you translate 'to have something in the palm of your hand' into German as an idiom? The English would mean to be in control of something.
I was told 'in seiner Handfläche haben' is too literal, but they didn't provide an alternative either.
There is a similar figure of speech in German, which just leaves out the palm:
es in der Hand haben
It is usually used in statements such as "Sie hat es in der Hand." or "Du hast es in der Hand.", and it means it is up to <subject> how "it" will continue.
Aleks is asking about "to have something in the palm of one's hand", but to my knowledge the English phrase is typically used as "to have someone in the palm of one's hand". In German, there are similar phrases, but their subtext differs significantly when you use them with a person or an object.
O. R. Mapper already mentioned "etwas in der Hand haben". When used with an object, this phrase has a more or less neutral subtext. The meaning is something like "it's up to you", "it's your choice", "it's in your own hands".
Er hatte es jetzt selbst in der Hand, ob er den neuen Job bekam oder nicht.
When used with a person, the phrase has a significantly darker, almost extortionate vibe:
Sie kannte das kleine, schmutzige Geheimnis ihres Nachbarn. Damit hatte sie ihn völlig in der Hand.
There's a similar situation with the phrase "im Griff haben". Used with an object, "etwas im Griff haben" means something like "to have control over something", "to master something":
Zuerst hatte sie Schwierigkeiten mit der neuen Maschine gehabt, aber nach einigen Tagen hatte sie alles im Griff.
When used with a person, it also gets somewhat sinister:
Der persönliche Referent hatte den Senator völlig im Griff. Der Senator würde nie etwas tun, wovon ihm sein Referent abgeraten hatte.
Either one of these invokes the same image:
The first is more in the context of being responsible or being allowed to do/decide/control something. The latter is more about ability and does not have the aspect of permission or control.
After reading through the comments I agree that the German translation "Es in der Hand zu haben" might be a little too weak. I guess most of the time it fits but here are some other possibilities:
I feel like there is more but I cant think of it right now.