This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere
May 3, 2021 10:46
4 yrs ago
71 viewers *
French term

tout va bien madame la marquise

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
This is a reference to the song by Paul Misraki, and it comes up in a conversation between a husband and wife.

He just told her she looks tired, to which she responds that she is fine. He then sings this line of the song to her, in a friendly but unbelieving tone.

I understand what it is referring to (pretending everything is fine when actually it isn't), but I'm trying to find an English equivalent.
So far, I have found Harold McMillan's quote "You've never had it so good", but I'm not sure if an American audience will get the reference...

Any suggestions welcome! I think it should be an idiom or a quote with a similar context, but this is for subtitles, so no, I can't add explanations, brackets or foot notes ;)
Change log

May 3, 2021 20:55: Cyril Tollari changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (3): philgoddard, Beatriz Ramírez de Haro, Cyril Tollari

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Discussion

philgoddard May 12, 2021:
We should have noticed that Rebecca often loses interest in questions and closes them without even saying thank you.
Wolf Draeger May 3, 2021:
It would help To know a bit more about the material. Is it a film or a series episode? What is the gist? When and where is it set? Who are the intended audiences in FR and EN? What is the relationship between the husband and wife? Can you describe this and previous/subsequent scenes?

Also, what are the exact lines being sung and how many characters and seconds are you limited to?
Yvonne Gallagher May 3, 2021:
Keep it simple I'd just do a rough translation of the line being sung to match this context. No point in doing otherwise as the French song won't be that well known to English audiences anyway, either side of the Pond.
"So, everything's just fine, my dear" or something similar ("my dear" since it's husband and wife)
Emmanuella May 3, 2021:
All is well ou All things are fine , my Fair Lady ...
https://wikitranslate.org/wiki/All_Things_Are_Fine,_My_Fair_...
Suzie Withers May 3, 2021:
@polyglot According to the asker, he is singing the line: "He then sings this line of the song to her..."
polyglot45 May 3, 2021:
nobody is singing this is just a phrase often used in French - you could translate thousands of ways: sure, and I'm the Queen of Sheba. Pull the other one, it's got bells on it... I could go on
philgoddard May 3, 2021:
The Pythons are very much a part of US culture, but this won't work, and nor will any other song. You can't have him singing one song and the subtitles saying it's another.

I think all you can do is invent some lyrics.
Suzie Withers May 3, 2021:
@Althea Love it - I wish I'd thought of that! Does it work across the Atlantic, though?
Althea Draper May 3, 2021:
Always look on the bright side of life - Monty Python :)
Rebecca Breekveldt (asker) May 3, 2021:
Yes, it is used in a slightly ironic way, but the conversation as I described it is all the context there is, I'm afraid.
After that he says that she has not changed, to which she says that yes, she has, because she is taking the day off.
Suzie Withers May 3, 2021:
There is a classic song (covered by many artists) by Nat King Cole called "Pretend" ("Pretend you're happy when you're blue..."), but it doesn't quite have the same feel as the French song, it's more earnest
polyglot45 May 3, 2021:
to find an equivalent we would need more context is the expression being used ironically or not? What comes before and after?
The McMillan quote won't cut it.

Proposed translations

+1
1 hr

It's a grey old day, but I've got rose-tinted glasses

Or "To you the glass is three-quarters empty, but to me it's a quarter full."

See the discussion box.

Substituting one song for another won't work, because this is subtitles. And people won't understand the cultural reference if you do a literal translation, so I think you need to invent some lyrics to the French song.
Peer comment(s):

agree Wolf Draeger : Right thinking but maybe a plainer wording.
9 hrs
It's colorful in the original,
neutral James A. Walsh : Good advice in general, but this sounds flat at best.
10 hrs
Wolf thinks it's too colorful, so I've probably got it about right :-)
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+2
4 hrs

I'm sure you're fine, tra la la la la la la

My idea is to make up your own song.
The original song goes "tout va très bien (four syllables), so, "I'm sure you're fine", in a teasing manner, then tra la's, or something similar.
Peer comment(s):

agree Wolf Draeger : Nice and simple! "Everything's fine, tra-la, tra-la, tra-la-la".
7 hrs
agree Clair Pickworth
1 day 9 mins
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+2
7 hrs

"Every little thing is gonna be alright" (perhaps) / "It's gonna be fine Madame marquise"

I would actually advise against finding a different quote if you can, as the intention of the line will come across directly through the literal meaning of the words, and the tone in which they are delivered. If it's important that the audience understand this is a reference from a song, then the style guide you're using will likely have a suggested font for indicating quotations and lyrics. (See if there's already an official translation of the song if you haven't already :) )

If you'd like a more technical explanation of my thought process here, it involves a bit of translation theory, and whether or not we ought to 'bring the text to the audience' or 'bring the audience to the text' (a somewhat reductive approach, but something I still find useful to keep in mind). The choice here is, however, a little less tricky than it might be if the quote were otherwise.

Because the reference is highly French in the first place, the anglophone target audience will have to either already know the reference, or else miss that it is one in the first place. But because the quote and it's intended meaning for the scenario at hand are directly translatable, I would leave it alone. If you change the quote, a lot about the context changes, and the reference loses it's 'originally intended meaning' anyway. This will be a translation choice which has to either value the tone of the passage or the fact that a reference is being made. If the reference is more important, don't change it (in my opinion), but if the tone is more important (nostalgia is at work, specific cultural context is at play) then maybe something everyone knows (like the Beatles) could work.

In my opinion however, changing the quote is a lose/lose, and I would translate it directly.
Example sentence:

"Every little thing is gonna be alright"

It's gonna be fine Madame marquise

Peer comment(s):

agree SafeTex : I would go for "Every little thing is gonna be alright Madame Marquise"
9 hrs
agree Clive Phillips
7 days
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9 hrs

All is well with Milady, in the Land of Make Believe

My take on it.
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+1
3 hrs

Her ladyship is putting a brave face on it, is she?

Used in the US too. Maybe the expression is a little aged and out of date and usage, like the French one.

"Stiff upper lip" I was thinking of too, but that's probably too English.

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Note added at 12 hrs (2021-05-03 22:57:40 GMT)
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https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ladyshi...

Used in Co Cork, Ireland, humorously but not maliciously, about girls and women who have got "notions" or are prima donnas, to bring them down a peg or two. If memory serves.

I think it's a good fit for "Madame la Marquise", because presumably Madam isn't a Marquess at all...

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Note added at 12 hrs (2021-05-03 23:01:19 GMT)
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Oops, sorry

marquise nf (titre nobiliaire) Marchioness, Marquessa
La marquise est l'épouse du marquis.
The Marchioness (or: Marquessa) is the wife of the Marquis.

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/marquise
Peer comment(s):

neutral writeaway : stiff upper lip is English, but surprisingly most Americans are very familiar with the phrase.... /yes, actors in the 1930's tended to have 'thespian' English accents that sounded more British than not. That started to fade away in the early 1940s
2 mins
Yes, if you watch old American movies, you'd be surprised at how English the accents and expressions are.
neutral Victoria Britten : "Her ladyship" is great; not sure the whole thing will fit in a subtitle. Maybe just, "Stiff upper lip, her/your ladyship?"
1 hr
Thanks Victoria! Good idea. What's the character and space limit, do you know?
agree Clair Pickworth
1 day 1 hr
Thanks Clair!
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4 days

Everything's fine, Madame la Marquise,

Bonjour,
Je viens de trouver la traduction anglais de la chanson de Paul Misraki. Tom Lerher la chante en Anglais. Le terme que vous cherchez fait partie de ces paroles ; le lien est dans les réferences web ci-dessous. / I just found the English translation of Paul Misraki's song. Tom Lerher sings it in English. The term you're looking for is part of those lyrics; the link is in the Web references below.

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Note added at 4 days (2021-05-08 03:11:06 GMT)
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Please ignore the comma after Madame la Marquise. It was that way in the lyrics and I accidentally copy-pasted it with the term.
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Reference comments

3 mins
Reference:

for fuller details

Note from asker:
Yes, that is the one :)
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree writeaway
11 mins
agree Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
23 mins
agree Rachel Fell
50 mins
agree Conor McAuley
3 hrs
agree Cyril Tollari
8 hrs
agree Wolf Draeger
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
10 hrs
Reference:

One example of a published translation

The expression is used in Tintin Le Temple du Soleil/Prisoners of the Sun. By no means the best or only approach (perhaps Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge would have done better!) but it has the virtue of being nice and simple and short enough to fit inside a speech bubble, not unlike the time/space constraints of a subtitle.

I wonder how many French speakers familiar with the expression know where it comes from. Getting the irony across is probably more important than replicating the cultural resonance.

Page 55 in the EN, page 56 in the FR:
https://booksvooks.com/nonscrolablepdf/prisoners-of-the-sun-...
https://ia801907.us.archive.org/11/items/eFilingComics4/14-L...

Haddock (FR): Tout va bien ! ... Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise !
Haddock (EN): Nothing to worry about!... Not a sausage!

Although here the irony seems to be used in the opposite sense from your video file (Haddock doesn't know of Tintin's plan whereas the husband does know what his wife is thinking).

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Note added at 11 hrs (2021-05-03 22:26:37 GMT)
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I just saw that the Tintin usage (in FR) is also mentioned in polyglot's ref; hadn't looked at it before I posted, sorry.
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree Conor McAuley : GREAT research! Agree with your point about the irony (and the tone).
3 mins
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