Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
pari qu\'ils se sont lancés
English translation:
the challenge they set themselves
Added to glossary by
Louisa Tchaicha
Feb 1, 2012 12:29
12 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term
Tunisia
pari qu'ils se sont lancés
Non-PRO
French to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
fashion
Good afternoon,
I have a text about two designers who have opened a concept store together, the French text says:
"Réunir des des accessoires, des objets d’art et du mobilier éclectique, voici le pari que se sont lancé mrX et mr Y en ouvrant leur boutique situé....
I'm wondering if I need to translate this as:
"The bet that mr X and mr Y made was to collect art objects and eclectic furniture for the opening of...
but I make it sound as if this is for the actual opening
I probably should just put "they decided" or something of the sort really but I'm trying to stick to the original text :)
Your suggestions are welcome!
Thank you :)
I have a text about two designers who have opened a concept store together, the French text says:
"Réunir des des accessoires, des objets d’art et du mobilier éclectique, voici le pari que se sont lancé mrX et mr Y en ouvrant leur boutique situé....
I'm wondering if I need to translate this as:
"The bet that mr X and mr Y made was to collect art objects and eclectic furniture for the opening of...
but I make it sound as if this is for the actual opening
I probably should just put "they decided" or something of the sort really but I'm trying to stick to the original text :)
Your suggestions are welcome!
Thank you :)
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+8
31 mins
Selected
the challenge they set themselves
A distillation of the other two suggestions already made, but I can't help feeling that this is the combination that works best in your context.
I have to say that I think your proposed translation actually departs too far from the actual meaning of the source text, while not getting far enough away from a French-sounding structure that won't sound a bit natural in EN.
In particular, it's not "for the opening of..." (they're not collecting all these thing just for the 'inauguration'), but rather "the act of opening a store"; and furthermore, I don't think 'collecting' is a good concept to use here; they are not 'collectors' themselves, but are putting together a collection to offer their customers. But beware, as 'collection' is often associated with something seasonal, a range of products as, e.g. in fashion. So 'collection' has a loaded meaning that might be unwelcome here in EN.
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Note added at 34 minutes (2012-02-01 13:03:50 GMT)
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BTW, 'bet' would hardly ever work here in EN — sometimes, 'wager' can work better, especially when being used figuratively as here rather than literally (in which sense 'wager' is now rather dated').
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Note added at 2 heures (2012-02-01 15:09:17 GMT)
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I still think that 'putting together' sounds rather weak and down-register (not too say perhaps too colloquial) for what they are doing here; would you say "dear old Queen Betty has put together a nice load of old bling to display at the Tower of London"?! :-)))
And I'm still concerned about the use of 'when', which is in danger of introducing an unwelcome temporal element.
To try and make it sound more... English, why not something like:
"In opening their store, Flopsy and Mopsy were setting themselves a challenge to bring together...."
I have to say that I think your proposed translation actually departs too far from the actual meaning of the source text, while not getting far enough away from a French-sounding structure that won't sound a bit natural in EN.
In particular, it's not "for the opening of..." (they're not collecting all these thing just for the 'inauguration'), but rather "the act of opening a store"; and furthermore, I don't think 'collecting' is a good concept to use here; they are not 'collectors' themselves, but are putting together a collection to offer their customers. But beware, as 'collection' is often associated with something seasonal, a range of products as, e.g. in fashion. So 'collection' has a loaded meaning that might be unwelcome here in EN.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 34 minutes (2012-02-01 13:03:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
BTW, 'bet' would hardly ever work here in EN — sometimes, 'wager' can work better, especially when being used figuratively as here rather than literally (in which sense 'wager' is now rather dated').
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 heures (2012-02-01 15:09:17 GMT)
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I still think that 'putting together' sounds rather weak and down-register (not too say perhaps too colloquial) for what they are doing here; would you say "dear old Queen Betty has put together a nice load of old bling to display at the Tower of London"?! :-)))
And I'm still concerned about the use of 'when', which is in danger of introducing an unwelcome temporal element.
To try and make it sound more... English, why not something like:
"In opening their store, Flopsy and Mopsy were setting themselves a challenge to bring together...."
Note from asker:
| Thank you for your answer, I have changed it around a bit: Putting together accessories, art objects ..was the challenge X&Y set themselves when opening their concept store |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you"
+2
4 mins
the task they set themselves
Creating a collection of accessories, works of art and eclectic furniture was the task MrX and Mr Y set themselves by opening (or when they opened) their shop situated...
Note from asker:
| Great, thank you Alice :) |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Colin Rowe
: or challenge
6 mins
|
|
yes, challenge works even better I think
|
|
| agree |
Tony M
: Like Colin, I think 'challenge' includes better the notion of 'pari'
28 mins
|
+4
10 mins
the challenge they took up
Just a suggestion. "pari" is to be understood as a challenge rather than a bet here.
Note from asker:
| Thank you so much :) |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Sarah Bessioud
2 mins
|
| agree |
Terry Richards
13 mins
|
| agree |
Tony M
: Though this does to some extent miss the idea that it was they who had set this for themselves.
23 mins
|
| agree |
Emiliano Pantoja
59 mins
|
+2
4 hrs
the gamble they took
i.e. They knew they could do it - but would it work?
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Note added at 4 heures (2012-02-01 16:46:02 GMT)
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Def: take a gamble. (idiomatic) To risk; to try something risky. He really took a gamble when he left his job to become a writer. But it paid off in the end.
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Note added at 4 heures (2012-02-01 16:46:02 GMT)
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Def: take a gamble. (idiomatic) To risk; to try something risky. He really took a gamble when he left his job to become a writer. But it paid off in the end.
5 hrs
French term (edited):
pari qu\\\'ils se sont lancés
the challenge they have thrown themselves into
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: although a literal translation, it doesn't really work in English, see BD Finch's comment
2 mins
|
| neutral |
Tony M
: Actually, I don't think it is that literally accurate; but either way, like A/T, I'm not entirely sure quite how natural/idiomatic it is to say "throw oneself into a challenge" One really thows down a challenge, as here.
30 mins
|
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