Ex ante
Just realised with horror that I sometimes translate without thinking about the words
without thinking about what they mean
the way you drive a car without seeing the road – on automatic pilot.
The word that made me aware of this is "univers".
When I see it I think automatically "we don't say 'universe' in English we say world, sphere, domain, field…"
Today I actually stopped and imagined what the French was saying…
a warmer universe… are they one step ahead of us, living already in the multiverse?
a phrase I've been stumbling across is up the ante – to increase the stakes.
seems to be everywhere
antipodean = des antipodes
1 commentaires:
That's so interesting! I had a similar experience recently. We were at my goddaughters communion in Germany, and you know at Catholic mass you always have to get up and sit down, well after a while Kilian grumbled "c'est plus de la religion, c'est du fitness", which I thought was hilarious and then posted to my Facebook page. An English friend translated it into "this isn't religion, this is exercise". So the French have taken the word for the result (fitness) and use it for the means of getting there (exercise)...
Another thing I reflect upon every day when taking my shower and looking at my shower gel bottle. In France, you always get "more for free", it's always 20% gratuit, 100 ml gratuit etc. In Germany, when articles are on sale, you read "now 10% cheaper", "99 cents less". Isn't that interesting? In France (and Spain, obviously, a my shower gel is from Andorra) you get more, in Germany you pay less.
Sur ce...
I owe you an e-mail, I know, but I'm juggling three clients these days and don't get much sleep. Coherent thoughts are a little of a challenge.
Post a Comment