# on the fly



## eno2

Hello
On the fly, in a context like this f.i.: <returning from the coast, I caught the sunset over sea  on the fly>
Thanks.


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## JClaudeK

en passant, nebenbei,  im Vorbeigehen


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## eno2

Is 'en passant' used as a loanword in German?


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## Kajjo

eno2 said:


> Is 'en passant' used as a loanword in German?


Yes.



eno2 said:


> returning from the coast, I caught the sunset over sea on the fly


_Auf der Rückfahrt von der Küste habe ich (nebenbei/zufällig) noch einen wunderschönen Sonnenuntergang mitbekommen/beobachtet/genossen.
_
However, I would not translate "on the fly" in this case. The German sentence is even more idiomatic and natural without. Maybe "zufällig" (incidentally, by chance) would be a more German way to put it.


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## eno2

_Auf der Rückfahrt von der Küste habe ich  noch einen wunderschönen Sonnenuntergang mitbekommen_
_
Mitbekommen will do. 
 I used an 'on the fly' periphrasis approach for a  Dutch verb I found difficult to translate._


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## Hutschi

JClaudeK said:


> en passant, nebenbei,  im Vorbeigehen


Hi, Claude, is "en passant" a common word for this? In my area it is very seldom used, and it is in a kind of stylish style. I do not remember that I ever used it myself outside of mathematics, and I cannot remember hearing it during for a very long time.
Sometimes I read it, that's it.

Does it depend on the region were I live?


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## JClaudeK

Hutschi said:


> Hi, Claude, is "en passant" a common word for this?
> Does it depend on the region were I live?


Ja, wahrscheinlich wird es im Südwesten (in der Nähe der französischen Grenze) häufiger verwendet als in anderen Gegenden. Das ist aber eher gehobener Stil.

P.S.
Ich habe "en passant" in diesem Faden  erwähnt, weil eno2 die Frage betreffs "on the fly" auch hier gestellt hat, und ich ihm _en passant_ zeigen wollte, dass es das auch 'auf Deutsch' gibt. 



Kajjo said:


> _Auf der Rückfahrt von der Küste habe ich noch einen wunderschönen Sonnenuntergang mitbekommen._



"(gerade) noch mitbekommen haben" passt hier bestens.


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## Gernot Back

Hutschi said:


> Hi, Claude, is "en passant" a common word for this? In my area it is very seldom used, and it is in a kind of stylish style.


You only have to be a chess player to know the term _en passant_!


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## Hutschi

Stimmt. Daher kannte ich es auch. Ich habe leider schon mehrere Jahre nicht mehr gespielt.


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## berndf

I agree that _en passant_ or the calque _im Vorbeigehen_ (which is more common today) fits the context of the OP quite well.

But I am not sure to _see something on the fly_ would be my first choice in English. I would rather say _to see something in passing_.

I would use _on the fly_ to describe an activity but not for a mere perception.


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## eno2

Isn't watching a sunset an activity?
See #5.  Some more background information about my OP consultation:  I didn't find a good translation (in English, French, German, Spanish) for a Dutch verb which must remain unknown to you all because of the language rule, but which corresponds fairly good, I thought, with '....catch ....on the fly' in this context. This consultation gave me 'mitbekommen'. And also a few nice 'on the sly' /'en passant' translations.
------
En passant: Ich hab lange Schach gespielt.


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## berndf

eno2 said:


> I didn't find a good translation (in English, French, German, Spanish) for a Dutch verb which must remain unknown to you all because of the language rule


What language rule? This is the _German_ forum. It is neither the _German only _nor the _German-English_ forum.



eno2 said:


> Isn't watching a sunset an activity?





berndf said:


> I would use _on the fly_ to describe an activity but *not for a mere perception*.


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## eno2

Not that it matters much for my purpose, but I would call sitting an hour through a sunset an activity rather than a perception. 
 O yes, there's no language rule here in German forum.  I could have consulted in Dutch....


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## berndf

eno2 said:


> but I would call sitting an hour through a sunset an activity rather than a perception.


In which case none of them would fit. If you sit there for an hour it is neither _in passing_ nor _on the fly_ nor _en passant_.


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## elroy

Sorry, eno, but "on the fly" doesn't make any sense in this context.

I wouldn't use "in passing" here either.

I might say "I happened to catch..."

But it all depends on the specific nuances/connotations you want to convey.  What is the Dutch verb?


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## HilfswilligerGenosse

eno2 said:


> Is 'en passant' used as a loanword in German?



I have only heard it in chess contexts, to be honest.


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## berndf

HilfswilligerGenosse said:


> I have only heard it in chess contexts, to be honest.


Interessant. Es ist in verschiedenen Kontexten Bestandteil meines aktiven Vokabulars, gerade in Schach habe ich es allerdings noch nie verwandt.


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## eno2

elroy said:


> Sorry, eno, but "on the fly" doesn't make any sense in this context.


 There are possibly better examples.



> What is the Dutch verb?


Meepikken.

On the fly and meepikken: I thought both are  grabbing an opportunity while doing something else. On the fly generally: It's always doing an occasional second thing while or after doing the first. The Dutch have exactly the same on the fly colloquialism as the English: In de vlucht.


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## berndf

Na, das würde ja sogar wörtlich funktionieren: _Vom Heimweg von der Küsten habe ich das Bild des Sonnenunterganges mitgenommen_.


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## eno2

Ja sogar. Ich hatte schon 'mitbekommen' notiert. 'Mitgenommen' scheint besser zu sein.


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## JClaudeK

eno2 said:


> Ja sogar. Ich hatte schon 'mitbekommen' notiert. Mitgenommen ist besser.


Das kommt aber darauf an, was du sagen willst.
"_Vom Heimweg von der Küsten habe ich das Bild des Sonnenunterganges mitgenommen_." bedeutet für mich, dass der Sonnenuntergang sich tief eingeprägt hat und zum Hauptereignis wurde.
"...... _den Sonnenuntergang mitbekommen_" bedeutet, dass der Sonnenuntergang  nur so _nebenbei_ registriert wurde. - wenn ich recht verstanden habe, entspricht das eher deiner Anfrage?


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## eno2

Gut. Jetzt hab ich es verstanden.


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## elroy

eno2 said:


> On the fly and meepikken: I thought both are grabbing an opportunity while doing something else. On the fly generally: It's always doing an occasional second thing while or after doing the first.


 No, neither of those is what "on the fly" means in English.


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## eno2

Seems I got it wrong then.



> *Adv.1.on the fly* - on the run or in a hurry; "she wrote those letters on the fly"


on the fly



  Checking  some sentences, the
first one I encounter without discarding any is:


> *1*.while in motion or progress.
> "producers were able to schedule the day's Olympic coverage on the fly"
> on the fly meaning - Google Search



This looks more like mine:
The Olympics were in progress (action one) and they covered it (action two) while action one was in progress.
----
second one I encounter without discarding any:


> She spent her freshman season playing with the big girls and learned on the fly.


 Improve Your Writing skills
Action one: playing.
Action two: learning
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After discarding some:
It's a reaction or an action 'in the moment', improvised
<He generally comes up with beats on the fly taking cues from Steven's routines.  (phraze.it)>
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QUOTE="Beryl from Northallerton, post: 12453453, member: 526942"]Well, 'on the fly' does not simply have the one meaning.

I would suggest that you interpret 'on the fly' as *'as it goes along'*.[/QUOTE]

That's an action in an action.
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<With no father on the scene, the boys had to emulate men, to learn on the fly.>  phraze.it
Emulate is an action, learning while emulating also. Two actions.
One could even say that 'On the fly' = 'in the action' here, and in other sentences.
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WR Eng-Sp 'on the fly' thread:

Question:



Kiyoboy said:


> Que quiere decir "on the fly" podria ser: "en directo"?
> un ejemplo: *These cameras have to be calibrated* *on-the-fly* *using calibration pattern in the scene.*



Answer:


allende said:


> Hola!
> _In colloquial use, on the fly means something created when needed, and generally involving haste or carelessness. The phrase is used to explain that something wasn't planned ahead._
> On the fly - Wikipedia
> *on-the-fly = sobre la marcha, al vuelo, al instante*
> http://www.babylon.com/definition/on the fly/Spanish
> ¡Espero que te ayude!


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 Yesterday I actualized the entrance 'on the fly' in my personal Vocabulary, adding 'nebenbei, im Vorbeigehen, to the existing "en passant-sobre la marcha- στο δρόμο  - καθ' οδόν"

That's because I'm adding German here and there.


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