#french translations

[maggiec70]

Via dubious means I’ve gotten my hands on The Emperor’s Friend and I absolutely loved reading it! I have a question - Lannes’ manner of speaking is presented in what I’d describe as a laconic, terse but at times nonchalant characterisation, and I quite liked how it contributed to painting a picture of this man. In particular, other places I’ve seen the grenadier quote as the brasher exclamation “I was a grenadier before I was a marshal, and I'm still one!”, but The Emperor’s Friend presents it as a more matter of fact “I remember what it's like to be a grenadier. Been there, done that, can do it again.”

My question is, is this a deliberate translation choice? I suppose I’m approaching this from a more literary standpoint, but I’m very curious about the thoughts that went into characterising Lannes in this book.

By the time I got around to polishing my translations--among other things--before publication, I already had a decades-long sense of who Lannes really was, and why and how he became the man he was. So the translations of what he said during the various times and circumstances of his life, which for obvious reasons appeared to be centered around his military career, have always reflected my personal view of him. I admit that to me, almost all the translations of what Lannes said--or was alleged to have said--are cringe-worthy. In the first place, they are virtually literal translations, word for word, and therefore are awkward, stilted, and without a single thought for the character and personality of the individual doing the talking. I was absolutely determined NOT to do that. In the second place, the original comments were presented in the general "manner of speaking" of the times when the writers of memoirs presented them. That is, of course, equivalent to quoting Wellington, for example, in the rather formal, stilted English of the time, rather than looking at the quotes in the context of the man himself. Of course, Wellie may have been stiff and formal every time he opened his mouth, even in the midst of battle. So there's that.

So yes indeed, Lannes was often laconic; when Armagnac was involved, he could talk all day and half the night. He was also nonchalant whenever he thought whatever he was talking about didn't qualify as what he would definitely call "a Big Fucking Deal." Most things weren't, in his view. On the other hand, dare to impugn his very touchy sense of honor, or personal bravery--and only a certified fool would do that--he'd be all over you like white on rice verbally and with the point of his sword.

I did look at the original French from a literary angle, but more with the goal of making each translation smooth, clear, and effortlessly reflecting linguistic accuracy as well as the character of the speaker.

I hope all this manages to answer your question. And to be quite honest, I wish everyone could get a copy of my book by dubious means, all of which don't involve paying any money to my publisher.

#jean lannes #jean boy #french translations

[polysprachig]

6!

6. What was your favorite book you read in your target language this year?

I really enjoyed reading Peu importe and Mauvaise nouvelle (the French translations of the first two books in Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose series).

Vocabulary-wise there were a lot of details about fashion, textiles and architecture, from upscale villas to crummy hotel rooms. As for the narration itself, it was comfortably challenging; the main character spends much of his time in book 2 hallucinating and speaking to himself in a drug-induced frenzy, so it took an extra amount of focus to follow along in such scenes.

#polyglot asks #language learning asks #doctorloverboy #french translations #books

[byronicreader]

Also, parents and children are the last people able to accept freely the sexuality of those who are closest to them and so remain forever inaccessible. Children will always refuse to see the truth reflected in their mother’s absent stare and silent behavior: at times they mean nothing to her, in the same way that grown-up kittens can mean nothing to a mother cat longing to go on the prowl.

-Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux, translated by Tanya Leslie.

#simple passion #annie ernaux #tanya leslie #french literature #translated literature #french translations

[authormagrant]

Je suis très contente à raconter que LE PRIX DE LA VÉRITÉ (RARE VIGILANCE en anglais) sera sortir le 13 décembre! Éditions Bookmark a été incroyable et j'ai hâte de lire cette édition!

#whitethorn agency #french translations #mxm romance

[theywontletmebeprincipal]

* “go-to” doesn’t mean “only”! there’s a bunch of situational signoffs I haven’t put here, this is more about what you use by default

#sanders pollshit #mine is ‘au revior’ #technically translates to ‘until we meet again’ but is also so intrinsically linked to melodramatic french romance films that all my emails #read just a bit like I’m trying to seduce somebody #which to be clear is my goal #my job is being silly so I can afford to get a little silly with it

[mrghostrat]

Aziraphale paused when his eyes fell on the drink in his hand. He stared at it. The golden blond wine refracted through the glass and cast a halo of yellow light over his table setting. He frowned. “I’m sorry,” he sputtered at Crowley. “Did you just—” [ MON HORRIBLE CHÉRI ]

i may be stuck in housemove limbo but i will drag myself out of the grave for these cartoomens requests

#thank you laufey for the proper french translation of crowley's dialogue!!! 😍 #honestly im weeping w joy that i was able to finish something #good omens #gomens #aziraphale #crowley #mon horrible cheri #mon horrible chéri #aziracrow #rat draws #rat writes

[cathianemelian]

I don't make the rules

#the legend of zelda #the legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #ganondorf #demon king #fierce deity link #fierce deity #totk #zelda #tloz #loz #nintendo #I noticed that #and I couldn't think otherwise #and that's why french translation is the best #I swear I'm going to beat ganondorf with the fierce deity set just to show who's the boss here #and I'm probably gonna get destroyed on my first attempt lol #digital drawing #digital art #doodle #fanart #my art

[solarconstellations]

James and Reggie doing that tiktok trend where two people are walking and the camera pans back and forth between them.

James: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course Regulus is already hopelessly and completely in love with me before it even starts." Regulus: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course James is going to be compared to the sun."

James: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course there's going to be background wolfstar, dorlene, and rosekiller"

Regulus: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course Sirius and I are going to start speaking French and James and Moony are going to get horribly turned on."

James: *points phone down at his feet* "Wait, can you do that right now?" Regulus: *off screen* "No James, we're in the middle of making a video." James: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course Reggie is going to slip up and accidently call me James after calling me "Potter" for the last 40 chapters." Regulus: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course Sirius is going to go crazy as soon as he finds out me and James are together." James: "It's a Jegulus fic, of course Reg can't swim." Regulus: *points the camera down to his feet* "James, what the fuck, that was a low blow." Regulus: *with revenge in his eyes* "It's a Jegulus fic, of course James and my brother have a ridiculously unhealthy obsession and codependency with one another" James: *with love in his eyes* "It's a Jegulus fic, of course I love my star so much that I would live, die, or kill for him" Regulus: *drops the phone, only their feet can be seen as he runs to James* "Tu vas payer pour m'avoir fait rougir, chéri"

#jegulus #incorrect marauders quotes #incorrect jegulus quotes #james potter #regulus black #marauders #jegulus fic #fanfiction #sunseeker #starchaser #i used a translating app #don't come at me for the french lol #trans: you're foing to pay for making me blush darling

[metamorphesque]

— A Prayer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 

[text ID: I’m only asking for strength for my days. Teach me the art of small steps.]

#antoine de saint exupéry #a prayer #quotes #literature #translated literature #classic literature #french literature #dark academia #poetry #romantic academia #light academia

[majunju]

dance partner

#genshin impact #my art #forgive me for my google translate french i tried my best to source from like 23929323 different websites #anyways lyney is very much a good dancer (in fact. i think him as fontaine's dancing king) but he has 2 left feet when it comes to lumine

[sweetapplecurry]

I’m literally gonna cry if Frenchman-Emmet isn’t real.

Bonus:

#emmet #subway boss emmet #submas #pokémon legends z a #ingo #sweetsart #go easy on me I haven’t taken French in years lol #and yes that is me admitting to using google translate

[splatattackz]

EDITTED! READ!

og post:

translation;

"its insane quack made a statement in the discord

its point by point what ive been saying for 2 weeks mdrrr"

"basically:

- priority number 1: find a way to financially support everybody. [quackity] doesnt want volunteers because he understands that legally it is too risky, especially with the work laws in other countries that he does not know about.

- if the financial situation is good enough, we bring back the actors, but in the meantime theyre on hold. there are no updates because he doesnt want to make any false promises to them.

- theres little communication because of the legal pressure and due to the partial leaks which can be twisted.

- hes restructuring the entire studio and how it works, and it takes a lot of time. he also doesnt want to pressure too many people currently working to adapt so quickly to these changes. (im guessing its a major overhaul to how everything works[/working methods])"

¹: this is actually diverted i think? but i translated it as "cause issues" or "be wrong" because i think it comes across better? got help and it seems its better translated as "twisted"!

#DONT SHOOT THE MESSANGER PLEASE <3 #also translation help very welcome im going on my french knowledge and the will of god #qsmp #qadmin situation #qsmp discourse #discourse #qsmpattackz #splatattackz #again please dont shoot the messanger here

[hedgehog-moss]

It’s always funny when anglo writers looking to express a specific idea casually pluck a cool ready-made monosyllabic phrase from their language’s unlimited supply and Romance language translators just curl up in the fœtal position and cry. I'm reading a text in which the American author talks about ‘Haves’ vs ‘Have-Nots’ vs ‘Have-Mosts’ —the poor French translator translated this as ‘ceux-qui-ont’ (the French language: don’t worry I’m just getting warmed up), ‘ceux-qui-n’ont-pas’ (nice we’ve doubled the syllable count but we mustn’t falter), and the beautiful ‘ceux-qui-ont-plus-que-tous-les-autres’ (300% expansion ratio let’s gooo! we did it great work everybody.) From 2 to 8 syllables—the minute I saw that bulky thing I knew it had to be Have-Mosts in the original and I was giggling. The anglo author happily proceeds to use the phrase ‘Have-Mosts’ 5 times per paragraph because why not! it’s so quick and wieldy :) we don’t actually need the word wieldy 'cause it’s just the normal state of our language <3 meanwhile you can feel the French translator’s desperation grow as she is reduced to juggling with “those” and “the latter” to avoid summoning her creature. Eventually she reaches the acceptance stage and uses ceux-qui-ont-plus-que-tous-les-autres again like, it’s my monster. I shouldn’t reject it

#language tag #and when anglo authors use a somewhat long and clunky phrase french translators are like no that's our thing? #they're trying to steal our thing. we have no choice but to make the phrase even longer and clunkier. perfidious albion mustn't win this #like how He Who Must Not Be Named went from 6 to 12 syllables in the french HP translation (RIP voice actors who had to dub it) #even though there were shorter options? but i suspect the translator picked the 12 syllable one due to #our national obsession with alexandrine metre

[gurinpotte]

“

love me in the snow, love me in the sun, love me, the beige skin among the flowers of red" ∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄∾⋄

Inspired in part by beloved Gravity, by @katnissmellarkkk and by Roi, by Videoclub! The song doesn't have the everlark vibes per se but the lyrics are so cute and very snapshot like. The fic is perfect, very natural paced and full of longing, 100% recommend!!! Please do zoom in for hi-res, gave my life and tears for this one 💖

#everlark #just wanted to do bits of their life post mj #not as angsty as it should be #i know #but this kids! they've been thru enough #also so funny that videoclub is literally a teenage couple #excuse my actual french and free translation #both these languages are not my original one #might find some brazilian song to everlark to next #thg #thg series #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #peeniss #katniss and peeta #post mockingjay #gurin illustrates thg

[jamiesansible]

I’m sure everyone remembers the article from 2020 where researches found three-ply cordage made by Neanderthals.^

But did you know that in the supplemental material for the article, it mentions that pine needles can be made into textiles?^^ As someone who works with textiles myself, I had come across pine needles as a dye stuff, but not as a fibre.

The source is listed as "L’acquisition des matières textiles d’origine végétale en Préhistoire" by Fabinne Médard. It talks about how other fibres, including brambles and broom could have been used prehistorically for a similar purpose, as well as flax. However, it contains only one metion of pine needles.

“Les aiguilles du pin sylvestre (Pinus sylvestris L.) fournissaient, après rouissage, une matière textile appelée « laine des forêts » qui remplaçait la ouate et l’étoupe dont on faisait également des tissus (Mathieu [1858] 1897)" * The needles of the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) provided, after retting, a textile material called “forest wool” which replaced wadding and tow from which fabrics were also made.

So Scots pine needles were processed, spun and woven, or simply used directly after processing, potentially prehistorically.

If you follow the source for the quote above, it takes you to a book from 1860 called Flore forestière; description et histoire des végétaux ligneux qui croissent spontanément en France et des essences importantes de l'Algérie. It says:

“On fabrique depuis quelques années, avec les faisceaux fibreux, allongés, et tenaces des aiguilles, une espèce de drap grossier.” ** For several years, we have been making a kind of coarse cloth using the fibrous, elongated and stiff bundles of the needles.

So this processing of pine needles was also happening in the 1800s.

Another souce from the 1840s describes the texture of forest wool as resembling "...horsehair, and has been used for stuffing mattresses"** and that an industry sprung up in Humboldtsau, near Breslau for processing it. Manufacturies for forest wool then spread to Sweden, Holland and France, which may explain the mention in the 1860 Flore forestière.

Despite looking a bit more, but couldn't find much else on the subject expect a recent masters thesis in German (which I couldn't access) and an article on the designer Tamara Orjola.

Orjola's work investigates the modern use of pine needle fabric, showing there is still interest in it. She says:

"Forest Wool began with research on the forgotten value of plants. Valuable local materials and techniques are left behind due to the unwillingness of mass-production to adopt more sustainable practices. In the old days the pine tree was used as food, remedies, to build homes and furniture and for many other purposes. Nowadays, it is only valuable for its timber." ***

I find the line from prehistory to now facinating - that people have looked to something as mundane as a pine needle to spin, especially as researchers are discovering a lot of what they thought was linen fabric is actually ramie (from nettles).

As far as I can tell, only Pinus sylvestris L. and one other variety was used. I am not sure what makes that tree more suitable than other pine trees, or if it was simply a question of availability. In terms of processing, the answer as far as I can tell is retting, presumably followed by scutching and hackling - similar to how flax is processed. However I have not done that myself and cannot speak to the specifics.

It would be something intresting to try though.

________

^ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61839-w#MOESM1

^^ https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41598-020-61839-w/MediaObjects/41598_2020_61839_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

* https://journals.openedition.org/nda/602

** https://www.proquest.com/openview/276605d708970d416923b94e8856d20b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41445

*** https://lampoonmagazine.com/article/2021/05/15/recycled-wood-pine-needles-byproduct/

#fabric #history #i was consumed by the spirit of academia and could not stop reading french articles #please excuse the use of Google translate #my French is okay but not academic article good #it’s just a super interesting topic #the variety of plant fibres used for textiles is always larger than I think

[mournfulroses]

Charles Baudelaire, from Modern Poets of France: An Anthology; "The Spirit of the Wine,"

#lit #charles baudelaire #poetry #fragments #love language #french poetry #writings #poetry in translation #typography #quote #p