Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
la délicatesse du cadeau
English translation:
elegance in gift-giving
Added to glossary by
Sandra Petch
Nov 16, 2007 13:18
16 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term
la délicatesse du cadeau
French to English
Art/Literary
Marketing
Hi everyone
For a manufacturer of high-end luggage:
"(Brand X) cultive la délicatesse du cadeau et l'esprit voyage."
I had thought of "finesse" for "délicatesse" but "the finesse of giving" doesn't sound great at all to my ears. Many thanks for your Friday inspiration!
For a manufacturer of high-end luggage:
"(Brand X) cultive la délicatesse du cadeau et l'esprit voyage."
I had thought of "finesse" for "délicatesse" but "the finesse of giving" doesn't sound great at all to my ears. Many thanks for your Friday inspiration!
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
13 mins
Selected
elegance in gift giving
An idea...Brand X inspires elegance in gift giving and travel style
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I decided to go with my own second suggestion although I like Amy's answer too, hence points to Amy! Thanks everyone for your help."
10 mins
the art of giving
A Friday afternoon try !!!! ;-)
11 mins
Denise DeVries
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
linguaphile
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, Italian to English, and 1 more.
fine subtleties
something like that?
+1
9 mins
XX or the art of fine gifts to put you in the travel mood
just a thought
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Note added at 15 mins (2007-11-16 13:33:56 GMT)
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XXX has become a byword for fine gifts putting you in the travel mood
that gets rid of the "art"
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Note added at 15 mins (2007-11-16 13:34:18 GMT)
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of "designed to put you in..."
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2007-11-16 13:33:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
XXX has become a byword for fine gifts putting you in the travel mood
that gets rid of the "art"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2007-11-16 13:34:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
of "designed to put you in..."
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
siragui
: "fine gifts designed to ...", is that it? Since you can't use "art". Sounds good to me.
3 hrs
|
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yep - you got it
|
+2
1 hr
a culture of refined gifts
nurtures refinement in gifts with the spirit of travel
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
David Goward
: "nurtures..." is, erm, fine...
22 mins
|
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Thanks, David. I prefer my afterthought too.
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| agree |
siragui
: I prefer the original (+ "... for the seasoned traveller", a cliché but it could work).
2 hrs
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Thanks, siragui. That's a good idea too.
|
1 hr
the elegance/refinement of the gift
Brand X combines the elegance/refinement of the gift with the sprit of travel.
+2
5 hrs
Donald Scott Alexander
Native in English
Works in field
Fast, Professional and Accurate!
Native in: English (Variants: UK, US) 
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, German to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
the art of gift giving [and the spirit of travel]
This has a nice rhythmic and semantic parallelism (the ART of ABSTRACT-NOUN and the SPIRIT of ABSTRACT-NOUN) which I hope you agree is important in advertising/marketing copy. The simple phrases "the art of gift giving" and "the spirit of travel" are very frequently used, while still providing a touch of elegance.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="the art of gift giving...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="the spirit of travel"&...
You are quite right that "the finesse of giving" doesn't sound good to your ears.
Although most dictionaries do provide an official definition of "finesse" in English as meaning "refinement" or "delicacy," most Americans use "finesse" mainly as a verb with a rather different meaning: "to carefully or artfully handle something in order to avoid troublesome problems."
Here is a citation:
"To finesse" something is an excellent verb meaning to very skillfully or diplomatically solve a difficult problem.
http://www.eslnotes.com/movies/html/my-cousin-vinny.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="to finesse something"&...
When Americans want the noun they can say "fineness" but this isn't used all that often. (And for many Americans and probably also Brits of a certain age, the word "fineness" would immediately bring to mind the lyrics from an old Rod Stewart song, You're In My Heart: "You're ageless, timeless, lace and fineness, you're beauty and elegance" -- which sounds nice but has nothing to do with high-end luggage! :-)
If you want to avoid repeating the word "art" (as you mentioned it comes up in the next sentence), you could alternatively say "fine gift giving and the spirit of travel."
I would avoid the phrase "past master" which was also mentioned -- I am a native speaker of English with experience doing copywriting for an ad agency, and although I've heard this phrase (and I assume it means something like "having expertise going back many years") it always strikes me as connoting someone who is "past their prime," a "former champion," or even "over the hill" (ie, no longer a master).
On a final note, "gift-giving" and "gift giving" are both acceptable of course. The choice depends on your style guidelines for the overall piece.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="the art of gift giving...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="the spirit of travel"&...
You are quite right that "the finesse of giving" doesn't sound good to your ears.
Although most dictionaries do provide an official definition of "finesse" in English as meaning "refinement" or "delicacy," most Americans use "finesse" mainly as a verb with a rather different meaning: "to carefully or artfully handle something in order to avoid troublesome problems."
Here is a citation:
"To finesse" something is an excellent verb meaning to very skillfully or diplomatically solve a difficult problem.
http://www.eslnotes.com/movies/html/my-cousin-vinny.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="to finesse something"&...
When Americans want the noun they can say "fineness" but this isn't used all that often. (And for many Americans and probably also Brits of a certain age, the word "fineness" would immediately bring to mind the lyrics from an old Rod Stewart song, You're In My Heart: "You're ageless, timeless, lace and fineness, you're beauty and elegance" -- which sounds nice but has nothing to do with high-end luggage! :-)
If you want to avoid repeating the word "art" (as you mentioned it comes up in the next sentence), you could alternatively say "fine gift giving and the spirit of travel."
I would avoid the phrase "past master" which was also mentioned -- I am a native speaker of English with experience doing copywriting for an ad agency, and although I've heard this phrase (and I assume it means something like "having expertise going back many years") it always strikes me as connoting someone who is "past their prime," a "former champion," or even "over the hill" (ie, no longer a master).
On a final note, "gift-giving" and "gift giving" are both acceptable of course. The choice depends on your style guidelines for the overall piece.
Discussion