Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

...pèse le plus lourd dans la balance

English translation:

what counts most heavily/carries the most weight

Added to glossary by Barbara Cochran, MFA
May 27, 2020 12:36
4 yrs ago
43 viewers *
French term

...pèse le plus lourd dans la balance

Non-PRO French to English Art/Literary Religion
Looking for a proper way to render this - in French it's kind of a common phrase

Extrait

" Cela me fait penser à la question que je vous ai posée il y a quelques semaines : étant donné les dégâts qu'un avion en vol inflige à la nature, cela vaut-il la peine, même pour un prédicateur spirituel, de faire le tour du monde comme ça ? Qu'est-ce qui pèse le plus lourd dans la balance : la sagesse que l'on veut partager, ou les dommages infligés à tant d'êtres à cause de la combustion du kérosène ?"
Change log

May 28, 2020 14:54: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

May 29, 2020 23:43: Barbara Cochran, MFA Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): philgoddard, mchd, Yvonne Gallagher

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Proposed translations

+1
17 mins
Selected

what counts more heavily/carries more weight

https://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/peser plu...

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Note added at 30 mins (2020-05-27 13:06:33 GMT)
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Actually, it's "what counts most heavily/carries the most weight".
Peer comment(s):

agree Rocsana Guignaudeau
7 hrs
Thank you, Rocsana.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Barbara "
+1
7 mins

What weighs most (with)

What weighs most with somebody
Example sentence:

"Fear is What Weighs Most"

"But what weighs most with me ist that"

Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : But it's more, not most, because there are only two options.
26 mins
Thanks Phil. You're right.
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+1
16 mins

What ultimately counts more...

My stab at it
Peer comment(s):

agree katsy
1 day 6 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
12 mins

which is most importand?

either of these can be used

which is most importand? = most common


Or, higher register

which outweighs the other?

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Note added at 13 mins (2020-05-27 12:49:30 GMT)
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TYPO ALERT importanT

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Note added at 17 mins (2020-05-27 12:53:53 GMT)
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la sagesse que l'on veut partager, ou les dommages infligés à tant d'êtres à cause de la combustion du kérosène ?

You could also say

which is more important (in the broad scheme of things): the wisdom to be imparted (OR that should be shared) or the harm inflicted on so many beings because of jet fuel combustion?
Peer comment(s):

agree Youssef Chabat : but more not most.it's a comparison between two elements. I think this is the most accurate translation
49 mins
Thank you!
agree katsy
1 day 6 hrs
Many thanks:-)
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+3
21 mins

What matters most/has more value/

.that'll do
Peer comment(s):

agree Youssef Chabat : the most. what matters the most regarding the given factors.
43 mins
thanks Youssef
agree Rebecca Reddin (X) : What matters more[: X or Y]? My search in COCA for 'weighs' and 'more' resulted in 199 hits, virtually all of which referred to literal weight (e.g. tonnage) and not "how important/influential" X is.
2 hrs
True. Thank You Rebecca.
agree Sergio Lopes : Yep!
4 hrs
Thank you.
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39 mins

What weighs more

Which of the two is more important
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+1
1 hr
French term (edited): Qu'est-ce qui pèse le plus lourd dans la balance

What weighs more heavily in the balance

It reminds me of the question I asked you a few weeks ago: given the damage that a flying aircraft inflicts on nature, is it worth it, even for a spiritual preacher, to travel around of the world like that? What weighs more heavily in the balance: the wisdom that we want to share, or the damage inflicted on so many beings because ofdue to the burning of kerosene?
Peer comment(s):

agree erwan-l
1 day 10 hrs
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3 hrs

tip the scales/balance

Common expression.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2020-05-27 15:48:30 GMT)
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tip the balance/scales
(also tilt the balance)

If something tips the balance or tips the scales, it is the thing that causes a particular situation to happen or a particular decision to be made, when other situations or decisions are possible:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/tip-t...


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2 days 10 hrs

Do the pros/benefits [...] outweigh the cons/costs [...]?

Note that the FR is not weighing up the competing merits of two options but asking whether the benefits of a particular course of action outweigh the costs (or vice versa). The metaphor of a scale is central here and is easily transferable in translation.
Example sentence:

Do the pros of imparting wisdom outweigh the cons of harming so many human beings through pollution?

Do the costs of harming so many human beings through pollution outweigh the benefits of imparting wisdom?

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