German "edges" Rand vs. Kante?
In first searching for an equivalent to the word "edge" in German I found "Rand" which I've been using for awhile. But when I tried to craft a sentence using it (ie the song lyric "We're living on the edge!"), upon double-checking with google translate, it suggested using "Kante" instead. Which do you think is more appropriate here and why? And what is the difference between the two? What would I use for talking about "the edge of town" "the edge of a cliff" "the edge of a knife"? Thanks always.

In that case I'd rather say: "Wir leben am Abgrund", i.e. right next to the abyss. One false step and you fall...This is a common&nbsp; phrase in German.

"Rand" is the edge of a two-dimensional object, such as the surface of a table, a sheet of paper or a geographical object. "Kante" is a three-dimensional edge between two surfaces. This can be an edge of any piece of furniture or architecture, a (mostly) sharp edge of a rock. Sometimes you can use both words for the same object, but they will have different meanings: E.g. When talking about a sheet of paper, you can say: "Ich schreibe bis an den Rand des Papiers", meaning that you are writing up to the end of the surface of the sheet. But then you can say: "Ich habe mich an der Kante des Papiers geschnitten", you have injured yourself at the sharp edge of the sheet. Your examples would be: "the edge of town" - der Stadtrand "the edge of a cliff" - either "der Rand der Klippe" (emphasizing that the flat surface above ends somewhere) or "die Felskante" (focusing on the angle formed by the rock beneath your feet). "the edge of a knife"? - either "die Klinge" (the blade) or "der Rücken des Messers" (the edge on the other side of the knife).I don't know what "living on the edge" is about, but you might say: "Leben an der Grenze". Depending on the context, other translations are possible.

at the edge of town - am StadtrandRand rather means border, margin, rim.edge of a knife - Schneide eines Messers, to teeter on a knife edge - auf Messers Schneide stehenedge of a cliff - am Rande des AbgrundsKante is a mathematical and technical term. (edge to edge - Kante an Kante)&nbsp;You use it as well for Tischkante (edge of a table). living on the edge - gefaehrlich leben <table class="tblf1 tblf-fullwidth tblf-alternate"><tbody><tr class="is-clickable" data-dz-ui="dictentry" data-dz-rel-uid="345202" data-dz-rel-aiid="Nu8_TUHM3XR"><td class="isRelinked" lang="en" data-dz-attr="relink"><samp>&nbsp;</samp></td><td></td><td><i title="Linguatec: automatische Aussprache anhören" class="icon icon_play-box-outline icon_size_18 darkgray is-clickable" role="img" data-dz-ui="dictentry:playLtecAudio" data-dz-rel-ltec="de:&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;auf Messers Schneide stehen">&nbsp;</td><td class="isRelinked" lang="de" data-dz-attr="relink"><samp> </samp></td></tr></tbody></table>

Heh, it's the hook on an old Aerosmith song "Living on the Edge" ...just a dumb thing that if I left the word for edge out of, I'd still know what to fill in the blank for: "Wir leben an _____!"In checking out the song in more detail, it does talk about falling off that edge, so maybe "Rand" is the best choice after all!Thanks!

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