French term
il aurait fallu que je vous visse pour que vous me plussiez et m'épatassiez
This was presented to me as a living example of the subjunctive in modern French, but it strikes me as provocatively contrived, and I don't get it. Is it word play? What am I missing?
Apr 2, 2011 10:55: Stéphanie Soudais (X) changed "Term asked" from "sentence:" to "il aurait fallu que je vous visse pour que vous me plussiez et m\'épatassiez"
Proposed translations
Costa Rica
Translations that read like originals
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK) 
Works in: French to English, German to English, Spanish to English, and 3 more.
I had to see you before you could please and overwhelm me.
1) Maybe it means that they used to chat by e-mail or on the phone and she wasn't very impressed, but when she finally met the guy he knocked her socks off (followed by the rest of her garments).
It is incredibly contrived, though, and about as "living" as the heiroglyphics.
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Note added at 2003-09-04 03:59:34 (GMT) Post-grading
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I can\'t believe how many professional translators are completely hung up on silly word-for-word translations instead of trying to convey the meaning. Obviously \"pour que\" is literally \"so that\" (big surprise!), but that would lead to an extremely akward, unreadable translation that would have the same meaning (if anybody could actually decipher it)
this is just what I love!!
OK I am French and maybe that is why I am so mad....
visse is the subjunctive imperfect of voir,plûtes of plaire and épatates of épater.
Plussiez is the subjunctive plus perfect of plaire if my memory still works.
OK?!!!it sounds like patates is great!
The meaning is
I would have had to see you so that you pleased and astounded me; but as soon as I saw you, you pleased and astounded me
Mexico
Literatura, historia, subtitulaje
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Latin American, Mexican) 
, French (Variants: Standard-France, Belgian)
Works in: French to Spanish, Spanish to French, French, and 5 more.
It's a joke, don't translate.
Traduire la phrase en question, d'après moi, c'est la détruire. Cela n'aurait aucun sens dans aucune langue. La solution ? Inventer un truc aussi marrant en anglais, mais là, faut y aller ! Pour que vous m'hé, patate !
Juan.
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