Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
calife à la place du calife
English translation:
step into his shoes
Added to glossary by
ormiston
Jun 4, 2020 18:34
4 yrs ago
60 viewers *
French term
calife à la place du calife
French to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
from a novel
The speaker is being a little ironic. She doesn't fancy the job or appreciate the gesture, not really considering it's a promotion replacing her boss colleague.
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She says to her girlfriends:
"J’allais oublier de vous annoncer la nouvelle : il est promu et je deviens calife à la place du calife. "
Can anybody come up with an equivalent expression?
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She says to her girlfriends:
"J’allais oublier de vous annoncer la nouvelle : il est promu et je deviens calife à la place du calife. "
Can anybody come up with an equivalent expression?
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+2
2 hrs
Selected
step into his shoes
As in a sentence along the lines of: "lucky old me, I get to step into his shoes."
So not going for an equivalent phrase, but trying to get across the irony of what she's saying in a natural way.
So not going for an equivalent phrase, but trying to get across the irony of what she's saying in a natural way.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Wolf Draeger
: I like "lucky me" to convey the irony; maybe "gets to take his place"?
22 hrs
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Thanks Wolf!
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agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: "lucky old me, I get to step into his shoes."
2 days 15 hrs
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Thanks Yvonne!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I went for this, plus the 'lucky me'. The French allusion is familiar to most readers but I thought it best to play safe."
+2
10 mins
the King is dead: long live the Queen!
The only thing I can think of - the idea of replacing one holder of a role with another? Although I realise that it's not the same tone as the French phrase, with the reference to Iznogoud.
Example sentence:
... he has been promoted - the King is dead: long live the Queen!
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Elisabeth Richard
: I like it. However, to make it clearer, mabye something like: the king is dead - you're looking at the new queen???
1 hr
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Thanks, Elisabeth
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agree |
Eliza Hall
: What Elisabeth said -- slight tweak needed, but this is a good idea.
1 hr
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Thanks, Eliza
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neutral |
SafeTex
: Nice try indeed but too hard to tweak as the King was promoted (didn't die).
11 hrs
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Thanks, SafeTex
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agree |
Ben Gaia
: I think this is the equivalent in English, though it can remain "The King is dead, long live the King" without adversely affecting the gender confidence of the speaker.
1 day 48 mins
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+6
5 hrs
"He got promoted so this monkey gets to move one rung up the ladder"
Hello
I liked the "King is Dead" attempt but can it be made to work? I'm not sure as the bloke was promoted.
She gets his job but she is not keen so for me it's like the monkeys climbing up the ladder.
Other monkeys are still higher up to shit on you and you are still clambering, albeit just a bit higher up
I liked the "King is Dead" attempt but can it be made to work? I'm not sure as the bloke was promoted.
She gets his job but she is not keen so for me it's like the monkeys climbing up the ladder.
Other monkeys are still higher up to shit on you and you are still clambering, albeit just a bit higher up
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Sophie Cherel
: I like this, the register seems more appropriate than the otherwise satisfying "king is dead" answer
7 hrs
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Thanks
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agree |
Rebecca Reddin (X)
13 hrs
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Thanks Rebecca
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agree |
philgoddard
: I think this fits the context perfectly.
17 hrs
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Thanks Phil
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agree |
Verginia Ophof
1 day 1 hr
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Thanks Verginia
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agree |
Chris Pr
: Very good, maybe a wee tad lengthy: "...so this monkey (or mug) gets bumped up one rung higher." ??
1 day 22 hrs
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Thanks Chris and I like the shorter version too
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agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: with shorter version ...so this monkey (or mug) gets bumped up one rung higher."
2 days 12 hrs
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Thanks Yvonne. Hope the asker sees that people like the shorter version
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+3
7 hrs
the Grand Poobah to replace the Grand Poobah
I think this conveys the ironic tone of the newly promoted person, with a bit of humor.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
SafeTex
: I have a suggestion up too but this still deserves an agree. Closer to the original French yet sounds fine in English
4 hrs
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Thank you, SafeTex!
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agree |
Rebecca Reddin (X)
11 hrs
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Thank you, Rebecca!
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neutral |
philgoddard
: I'm not sure most people will understand this reference.
15 hrs
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What I like is that the way it sounds kind of indicates the meaning, even if one has not heard it before.
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agree |
Chris Pr
: I like it too, also with new PB & old PB....
1 day 20 hrs
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Thanks, Chris, good suggestion.
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neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: yeah I don't think "poobah" would be understood by many?
2 days 10 hrs
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13 hrs
new religious & civil leader in place of the previous leader
He is promoted so I move into his/her position.
Caliph = The civil and religious leader of a Muslim state considered to be a representative of Allah on earth.
Caliph = The civil and religious leader of a Muslim state considered to be a representative of Allah on earth.
+2
1 hr
[..] new boss, same as the old boss.
This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but here goes anyway. The irony in the FR expression is very much a cultural insider joke if the speaker isn't in fact keen on her supposed promotion—like Iznogoud finding out that being Caliph isn't so great after all.
It sounds like she'll still be fairly low in the food chain, hence her lack of enthusiasm in part, I guess?
"Big news" is meant to convey some of the irony, and if possible or appropriate you could perhaps add something like "Yay" or "Big whoop" afterwards, but at the risk of losing subtlety.
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Note added at 16 hrs (2020-06-05 11:15:02 GMT)
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Don't mean to split my answer in two, but perhaps "greasy pole" might also work in your situation:
" [...] he gets a move-up, I get his job, that's the greasy pole for you."
" [...] he got a promotion, I got his old job, so much for the greasy pole."
Hard to tell if the speaker is half-hearted about her new title or the job itself, but I imagine the point is to convey her feeling that moving up in the world isn't all it's cracked up to be, whether in general or in her own case.
It sounds like she'll still be fairly low in the food chain, hence her lack of enthusiasm in part, I guess?
"Big news" is meant to convey some of the irony, and if possible or appropriate you could perhaps add something like "Yay" or "Big whoop" afterwards, but at the risk of losing subtlety.
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Note added at 16 hrs (2020-06-05 11:15:02 GMT)
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Don't mean to split my answer in two, but perhaps "greasy pole" might also work in your situation:
" [...] he gets a move-up, I get his job, that's the greasy pole for you."
" [...] he got a promotion, I got his old job, so much for the greasy pole."
Hard to tell if the speaker is half-hearted about her new title or the job itself, but I imagine the point is to convey her feeling that moving up in the world isn't all it's cracked up to be, whether in general or in her own case.
Example sentence:
I almost forgot to tell you the big news: he got promoted, so I'm the new boss, same as the old boss.
Big news, I almost forgot: he moved up and so you're looking at the new boss, same as the old boss.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Ben Gaia
: Yes, a modern take on "the king is dead".
23 hrs
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Ta.
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agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: would also work
2 days 15 hrs
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Ta.
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Discussion
C'était ma bd préférée avant même de savoir lire ! Mais sinon pour la traduction en anglais, l'idée de base serait "I'm taking over", mais pour retranscrire ça de manière ironique, j'ai pas d'idée, désolée !