Why does this phrase mean ‘to put one’s John Hancock’?
What do Keiser Wilhelm and John Hancock symbolize.
I am reading a story titled ‘Des Spielers Tod’ by Andre Klein.
“Mit anderen Worten, wir müssen warten, bis der Grabowski sich zu einem Urteil durchringt und seinen Kaiser Wilhelm druntersetzt”, sagte Harald."
Kaiser Wilhelm, as the highest authority, had to sign lots of decrees. Our signature is our “Kaiser Wilhelm”. By signing we agree to what has been said or written.
The “John Hancock” is new to me.
P.S. I have just googled the John Hancock bit and found it to be an American expression.
1 Like
Yes, “to put your John Hancock” simply means to put your signature on something. One of the signers of the USA Declaration of Independence, he had a signature large, clear and bold.
There is a picture of it here, about halfway down on the left:
A more plebeian twist to “John Hancock” is “John Henry”. “Put your John Henry here.” I notice this one because my dad’s name is John Henry.
2 Likes
I am happy to find out how this is said in German. I didn’t know about putting down your Kaiser Wilhelm!
Yes, it’s a fairly common expression in Germany, but very informal. So you’ll surely never hear our chancellor Merkel signing a contract with the words: “Söö, dann setz ich ma mein Kaiser Wilhelm drünter” 
As it is in English.
“Yes, it’s a fairly common expression in Germany, but very informal.”
I´m from Berlin and I´ve never heard that expression.^^
That’s odd, I’ve heard it several times (but mostly abbreviated: seinen Wilhelm druntersetzen, or shorter: seinen Willi druntersetzen). Maybe I moved too much time in the wrong circles?
I’m really used to this expression.
Man kann auch sagen, seinen Friedrich Wilhelm darunter setzen. Ich kenne auch diese Variante.
Well, Kaiser Wilhelm stopped…being a Kaiser in 1918…so I guess that expression is past its prime. I´m gonna ask a few people if they ever heard “seinen Kaiser Wilhelm druntersetzen” to find out whether I´m too young or too stupid^^
@Paule: Maybe it is related to the fact that you grew up in the GDR (as fas as I remember) and there everything related to a monarchy was not accepted?
There were several times where you didn’t know expressions that other Germans know. I thought about reasons for that and I think maybe the language in East Germany and West Germany developed in different ways? I’ve lived for about 10 years in East Germany, and I learned some expressions too that were new for me.
It’s interesting to learn these colloquial expressions - ich finde es nett, irgendwie, dass der Kaiser Bill in der Sprache weiterlebt, auch wenn er selber längst verschwunden ist!
Another expression I seem to remember hearing in Germany was (if I remember correctly?) “Kohl aus dem Fenster werfen” - meaning to waste money?
(I assumed it meant throwing Helmut Kohl out of the window! :-D)
Nicht “Kohl” 
Man wirft “Kohle aus dem Fenster werfen”. “Kohle” ist umgangssprachlich für Geld. Interessant wäre es trotzdem zu sehen, was passiert, wenn man Kohl aus dem Fenster wirft
“Maybe it is related to the fact that you grew up in the GDR (as fas as I remember) and there everything related to a monarchy was not accepted?”
I am “Baujahr '89” but my family is from the GDR so I guess you´re right to some extent. I´m neither an “Ossi” nor a “Wessi”, I´m a “hybrid”. One of the few people who would understand “Ich habe gestern mit meinen Homies ´nen Subbotnik gestartet.”
(No one ever says that, but still…^^)
“There were several times where you didn’t know expressions that other Germans know”
I guess every speaks his/her own “dialect”, depending on where they live(d), how old they are, their education and whatnot.
@ “Kohle” ist umgangssprachlich für Geld"
Just like “Knete”, “Schotter”, “Kröten”, “Mäuse” and whatnot. It´s kinda weird.
What’s even weirder is that I still played “Wir wollen unseren alten Kaiser Wilhelm wiederhaben!”, a skipping game, when I grew up. My grandmother had her best years under the old Kaiser and remained a staunch royalist till her death in the 1960s.
As @Paule89 says, our circumstances/interests dictate our vocabulary.
1 Like