Für diese Anfrage, to be on edge, passt wohl 'nervös', 'Nerven aufs äußerste gespannt', o.ä.

Aber, @Malso, das hättest du auch im LEO Wörterbuch "nachschlagen können" - 'edge' heißt 'Kante', und für 'to be on edge' stehen mehrere Übersetzungen drin (runterscrollen). Man muss Trump's tweets nicht unbedingt noch mehr Aufmerksamkeit schenken....

Die Angst ist zurück in Frankreich!

Die Nerven liegen blank...

OT: Wie gut, dass der Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten sowas nicht einfach so rausplärrt, sondern sich vorher von erfahrenen Fachleuten eingehend über Lage und Stimmung in Frankreich informieren lässt, wobei natürlich auch State Department, Terrorexperten und die Geheimdienste gehört werden.

Sperrt's ihm halt endlich den Twitter-Account...

Please don't try to imply that I wrote that France was delighted.

"On edge" in the OP means tense, anxious, nervous, as has already been observed in this thread.

Well, no. IMO, what you actually did was

a) introduce your personal interpretation of "on edge" (#3), i.e, cranky, irritable (an interpretation that in the given context is IMO totally inappropriate),

b) and then in #8 try to deflect attention from it, instead of explaining how #3 could be the least bit relevant.

What I said in #3 speaks for itself. There is no basis for you to disagree with anything I said in #3. (Nor am I obligated to answer to you in any event.) I have not deflected from what I said in #3--so, once again, your keen instincts are wrong.

Besides, #3 is by no means "totally inappropriate." As the dictionary defines "on edge":

"so tense or nervous as to be easily upset; irritable." Webster's New World Dictionary.

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:

Highly tense or nervous; irritable.

"so tense or nervous as to be easily upset; irritable." Webster's New World Dictionary.

There are two definitions in what you have chosen to quote:

1. so tense or nervous as to be easily upset

2. irritable

Here are some more dictionary definitions;

Tense, nervous, or irritable:

on edge

:  anxious, nervous

I'm glad you have at last consulted a dictionary. You no doubt noticed the semicolon in

"so tense or nervous as to be easily upset; irritable." Webster's New World Dictionary.

There is a distinction in what you have chosen to quote between:

1. so tense or nervous as to be easily upset

2. irritable

Here are some more dictionary definitions;

Tense, nervous, or irritable:

on edge

:  anxious, nervous

Sorry, some technical hiccup doesn't want the link to follow the entry.

Highly tense or nervous; irritable.

No mention of cranky.

Personally, I associate cranky with small children - not that my personal association is any more relevant than anyone else's. It depends, after all, on experience.

 

Irritable may be an interpretation of on edge in some circumstances. You could check the sample sentences. But, as I have already stated, it is IMO not appropriate to the OP's text (a report of a terrorist attack). Apprehensive, extremely concerned, anxious, nervous, tense, etc., are appropriate.

Just to make sure we all know what the English word irritate means

v.ir·ri·tat·ed, ir·ri·tat·ing, ir·ri·tates

1. To cause (someone) to feel impatient or angry; annoy:a loud, bossy voice that irritates listeners.

I don't remember anyone in my circles being impatient, or angry, or even annoyed on 9/11 (I lived within commuting distance of NYC). Once we got past the disbelief, we were scared.

A not unexpectedly willful interpretation.

The purpose of this thread being to find relevant, accurate, and useable translations of on edge, how about:

In Frankreich geht (wieder einmal) die Angst um.

as an additional suggestion?

Das ist auf jeden Fall ein sinnvoller und idiomatischer Satz, der auch zur Situation passt. Wie gut das zum englischen Original passt, ist für mich (deutscher Muttersprachler) schwer zu beurteilen.

Ich habe mich beim Lesen gefragt, ob der zitierte Satz eine ganz andere Bedeutung als der ähnliche Satz "France close to the edge." hat. Dieses hoffentlich idiomatische englische Satzfragment würde ich mit "Frankreich am Rande des Abgrunds" übersetzen. Ich hätte mir auch gut vorstellen können, dass der Präsident das gemeint hat, aber wenn ich die Wörterbucheinträge und die Postings der NES richtig interpretiere, kann "on edge" diese Bedeutung nicht haben, richtig?

I don't claim to understand the inner workings of Donald Trump's mind, so I can't say what he was thinking. However, what he, or whoever it was, wrote in the tweet - France on edge again - does not mean am Rand des .... (On edge is a fixed expression.) If he meant "am Rand des ..., he/she/they should have written:

on the edge of (or better yet "on the brink of") the abyss / chaos, etc.

That being said, I have to add that tweets have their own style (I'm told - I don't indulge, myself), so it is possible that what was written was not what was meant.

Happy Warrior: you are saying on edge for you can generally also mean cranky, right?

What about in the Twitter quote from DT France on edge again (see #0) ... Are you saying France cranky again is a possible rewording of the sentence that leaves the meaning unchanged?

Sorry, Doris, but I'm not sure I understand the question. The "meaning unchanged" from (or compared to) what?

Also, please note these two things:

First, my #3 was, as much as anything else, my comment on the use of the expression "on edge." To quote #3: "When I hear the words "on edge," my assumption is that someone is cranky or irritable."

Second, I don't (and didn't) pretend to know what Trump meant by the expression. And neither does SD3 (see #24).

Does "France cranky again" mean the same as "France on edge again" in the context given, i.e. after the Louvre Mall attack?

For our purposes, the real context is: What did Trump mean by the phrase "on edge"? Like everyone else here, I don't know what Trump meant.

If the question is whether "on edge" can mean "cranky," the answer is Yes.

Definition of cranky

crankier;crankiest

1a:  given to fretful fussiness :  readily angered when opposed :  crotchetyb:  marked by eccentricity 2:  full of twists and turns :  tortuous3:  working erratically :  unpredictable4dialect:  crazy, silly

From Merriam-Webster:

Definition of cranky for Students

:  easily angered or irritated <“If I don't eat, I get <i>cranky.” — Richard Peck, A Year Down Yonder>