By Dominique Anderson
Complete knowledge
of French grammar,
like sainthood, is a
quest that can be
pursued with various
degrees of intensity --
or success; yet it is
one that can never be
achieved. Virtually
nobody knows French
grammar thoroughly.
We’ve all had a
headache or two
because of a
grammatical error that
eluded us.
With this humbling
thought as a preface, I
would like to welcome
you to the FLD
grammar column where
I’ll share some of my
favorites difficulties —
past and present. I’ll
also attempt to provide
an explanation of the
corresponding rules.
As an opener, I’d like to
dispel any notion that I
am a grammar expert.
(Continued on page 5)
Volume VII, Nº 1
OOPS
Spring 2003
Le mot de
l'administratrice
1
Borrowing Words: a Two-
Way Street
1
Oops 1
Le mot de la rédactrice 4
Volunteer Translators
Needed for Translators
Without Borders
6
Un peu d'humour : les
perles de la presse
7
Losing Your Latin? 8
Inside this issue:
À PROPOS
Borrowing Words: A Two-Way Street
By Polly Haas
Much has been written
about the invasion of
French by the English
language, and the
pitfalls of transferring
anglicismes into our
translations
"en bloc,"
knowing well
that when
words are
borrowed, they
often change
form or meaning. Un
gadget in French may
be, not a gadget, but a
gimmick. Un snack is
face-lift), and un
smoking (a tuxedo) to
this list of –ing words
that are "at once
remove" from the
original. We could add
many others, in that
vein of truncated
words, such as un
basket (at two
removes, I'd say), un
sweat (again, what
you wear when you do
it), and (at least for
the boat-making
industry) un lobster
(the boat you use to
(Continued on page 3)
not the bread and
chocolate French
children devour after
school, but a "snack
bar" – just as un
dancing, un dressing or
un pressing are places
where you do
those things.
A recent
article in The
Economist
(21 Dec.
2002–3 Jan.
2003) devoted to the
English invasion adds
un living (a living
room), un lifting (a
Spring is sprung
the grass is riz
I wonder where
the flowers is?
(Anyone care to
translate that?)
Although the grass
outside my window is
just greening up, ATA
and FLD
administrators’
thoughts have turned
to autumn already,
and this year’s
conference. We are in
(Continued on page 2)
Le mot de
l'administratrice
NEWSLETTER OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE DIVISION OF THE AMERICAN TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION
PAGE 2 À PROPOS VOLUME VII , Nº 1
(Continued from page 1) Le mot de l'administratrice
the process of putting together a terrific slate of
presentations, thanks in no small way to the efforts of
our assistant administrator, Roxana Huhulea. If you’ve
been considering offering a presentation, it’s not too
late! Contact Roxana or me (or ATA directly) and we’ll
guide you through the submission process.
Our much-anticipated “eduvacances” trip to France is
still on this year’s agenda but has been postponed until
fall. French American Exchange is working with the
Société Française des Traducteurs (SFT) to provide us
with an educational and entertaining week. See our
website for the proposed general outline of events. If
you are interested in participating, please send me an
e-mail at
mailto:hansentranslations@mac.com so I can come
up with a rough estimate of the number of participants.
Many translators and interpreters are suffering the ill
effects of the downturn in the economy. Why not use
that free time to polish your skills, to be even better
prepared for when business picks up?
Please feel free to contact me anytime with your
comments and suggestions. Mylène Vialard is always
interested in columns or articles for the newsletter, and
David Heath has been extremely responsive in posting
material on our website. The FLD is, after all, a vehicle
for its members―your participation makes us what we
are. Make yourself heard!
In these difficult times, I wish you all peace.
Michèle Hansen
✠ need more info?
✠ have a topic of interest?
✠ need to react to one
of our articles?
✠ have a comment about
an article?
WRItE us!
mailto:eldorado@boulder.net
À propos
Contributors for this issue:
Polly Haas
Dominique Anderson
Lori Thicke
Michèle Hansen
Mylène Vialard
Proofreaders for this issue:
Hélène des Rosiers
Michèle Hansen
Kimberley Plaxton-Drobot
FLD Administrator:
Michèle Hansen
mailto:hansentranslations@mac.com
FLD Assistant Administrator
Roxana Huhulea
mailto:RX73@aol.com
FLD Webmaster:
G. David Heath
mailto:infoexact@mindspring.com
Newsletter Editor:
Mylène Vialard
mailto:eldorado@boulder.net
French Language Division
Web Site:
http://www.fld.atanet.org
The American Translators Association
Contact Information:
225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590
Alexandria, VA 22314
Tel: (703) 683-6100
Fax: (703) 683-6122
E-mail:
mailto:ata@atanet.org
Web:
http://www.atanet.org
Dear À propos readers,
Spring is here in Colorado and
with the last snow storms, the
drought seems to have moved
back a little. I hope this
newsletter finds you all in good
health and happy in your life.
We're glad to propose this new
issue of À propos to you and
we hope you'll enjoy reading it
as much as we enjoyed putting
it together.
Thank you to the people who
have given us positive
feedback on the previous issue
of the newsletter. It allows us
to know we're on the right
track.
Thank you also to the people
who have sent us articles, that
made this new issue possible.
As a matter of fact, we cannot
exist without you, so please
take the time to write us and
to contribute to your
professional community. You
expect a certain level of quality
and interest from À propos, but
we cannot come up with
articles out of thin air. So
please
talk to us, write to us,
communicate! We'll be more
than happy to be used as a
springboard for your ideas.
Cheers!
Mylène Vialard
mailto:eldorado@boulder.net
countries is called avoirdupois
is a question one should….well,
ponder.
Most French words,
however, are
borrowed intact—
raconteur, dossier,
fait accompli, amusebouche
(easier to pronounce
than "amuse-gueule"?), cul de
sac, bête noire—or only slightly
altered—maitre d'. They can
become so much a part of
English that they are
conjugated. ("Did you RSVP
that invitation?" "The military
debuted its first cruise missile
in 1991." "The fish should be
filleted and fried in butter.")
But some have met the same
fate as their English fellows
and have been somewhat
altered as they slipped into the
other language. Many French
words retain only part
of their meanings
once adopted into
English. Provenance,
for example, can be
used in various
contexts as an
alternative to "origin" or
"source," but as a visit to any
museum will confirm, it has no
substitute when it comes to art
or archaeological specimens.
Sortie becomes a strictly
military term in English: the
rapid movement of troops from
a besieged position, or the
flying of an airplane on a
combat mission: "(...) The
Pentagon makes no secret of
the fact that since the mid-
1990s the U.S. military has
(Continued on page 4)
(Continued from page 1) Borrowing Words
catch them). Youth group
leaders or marketers will do un
phoning or un listing. But none
of this comes as news to my
readers.
Nor is the fact that many
French words have crept into
the English language—even
when they are not used in
French. In French, you refer to
the very best of the lot as le
gratin, not the "crème de la
crème"; it's not that far off the
mark gastronomically, but
French it's not—no more than
"double entendre" is, but
perhaps making it sound
French adds a certain risqué
(see below) connotation. And
why the system of weights
based on pounds and ounces
used in many English-speaking
VOLUME VII , Nº 1 À PROPOS PAGE 3
Many French words
retain only part of their
meanings once adopted
into English.
Le mot de la rédactrice
(Continued from page 3)
been bombing targets in
southern Iraq. But the number
of sorties is "rising..."
(Newsweek). Also restricted to
a military context is matériel:
"So far only one Army division
is on the move, fewer than half
the Marines to be deployed
have begun to sail… Fuel is
being stockpiled…. But not
matériel" (Newsweek).
Triage, too, has undergone
restriction; while it retains the
French meaning of "sorting," it
has been narrowed down to
the medical context and refers
in English to the process of
sorting victims of a disaster or
battle, or patients in an
emergency ward, in order of
medical priority for treatment.
And be careful not to use
tranche when speaking of
income, age,
bacon, or cake; in
English the words'
semantic field has
been pared down,
so to speak, to the
financial context,
referring to a loan or share
issue.
And if a joke or film is risqué,
the only risk it runs is
offending someone's sense of
propriety or decency, as does
"'Jalla!Jalla!', a risqué comedy
of manners set in Sweden." If
we stay in the realm of
cinema, we will surely
encounter many a film noir as
well: "'I Can't Sleep' is a noir
exploration of Parisian racism
is held.
A panier usually refers only to
those types of baskets or bags
that are slung over the back of
a beast of burden or the rear
wheel of a bicycle. A foyer is
neither a hearth nor a home as
in French, but only the lobby
or anteroom of a hotel or
theatre (UK) or the vestibule
or entrance hall of a private
home (US). On the U.S. side of
the Atlantic, a résumé is not a
summary but a curriculum
vitae and à la mode has
nothing to do with haute
couture, but rather with that
other area of French genius—
cuisine. Order apple pie à la
mode in the U.S. and your
dessert will be served with a
scoop of vanilla ice cream on
top. And while looking at the
menu, remember that an
entrée is not an entrée but
rather un plat principal—until
you cross over to England…
where you should be sure to
book a hotel room with en
suite bathroom if you don't
want to traipse down the hall
to find it.
So there seems to be two-way
traffic on the road between our
two languages, and although
"accidents" can happen along
the way, they haven't killed
either language yet.
PAGE 4 À PROPOS VOLUME VII , Nº 1
towards immigrants (Quotations
from Newsweek). An upperclass
woman making her first
appearance in high society,
usually at a formal ball, is a
debutante, which, according to
Le Robert, can have the same
meaning in French. The twist is
that the origin of this particular
meaning is given as: "de
l'anglais, lui-même du français."
Other words, such as billet and
canard, are almost
unrecognizable in English. In a
military context, billeting
officers are in
charge of getting
billets for their
soldiers (i.e.,
accommodation in
civilian lodgings: "The captain
billeted his men on the town.")
A canard is un canard only in
the archaic sense (archaic in
French) of a false or
baseless, usually
derogatory, report. It
also retains the French
meaning of a duck—
but only when used
for food; unlike in
French, however, it also refers
to a type of aircraft whose
tailplane, or horizontal
stabilizer, is mounted in front of
the wing. The word venue, too,
has changed along the way into
English—from the "fact of
coming" or "arrival," to a
designated locale—the place of
a crime or the place or
jurisdiction fixed for the trial,
and, more generally, the place
any organized gathering, like a
rock concert or public meeting,
The twist is that the origin
of this particular meaning
is given as: "de l'anglais,
lui-même du français."
(Continued from page 1) Oops!
My daughter usually apologizes
about me to her
friends with this
line: “She takes the
dictionary to bed."
She always gets a
laugh; I get the
looks. I do willingly
admit, though, that I need help
and that I may appear to be
somewhat infatuated with the
Grevisse, even if it is not a
dictionary.
Time to share favorites now.
I’ll show you mine, if you show
me yours. I’ll start with these:
· Accord des adjectifs de
couleur: des reflets jaunes/
des reflets jaune doré; une
tenture grise/une tenture
gris-bleu; des chaussures
jaune abricot
· Quelque/quel que: adjectif
ou pronom, singulier ou
pluriel
· Tout/tous: adjectif ou
pronom, singulier ou pluriel
· Pluriel ou singulier des
compléments déterminatifs,
par exemple : des toiles
d’araignée(s?), de la gelée
de groseille(s?)
Do they seem to
qualify as true
difficulties? Can
you top any of
them with
your own? If
so, send them to
my attention at:
mailto:rozen-d@attbi.com.
They’ll fit perfectly in this
column.
I may need help with
grammar, but I've been
tempted lately to relegate
Grevisse back to the office
shelf where he belongs.
Looking forward to your
comments.
VOLUME VII , Nº 1 À PROPOS PAGE 5
To add some fun to this
otherwise serious subject, I
would like to start a
translation contest.
We all know that
translation is an
exercise in writing,
not just in
comprehension, and
that some sentences can be
colorfully challenging. This
contest will be called “Exercice
de style,” as a tribute to
Raymond Queneau, one of the
most creative French authors.
My job, the easy one, will be to
supply the original sentences
to be translated, which you will
then artistically translate.
French and English will
alternate, so that everybody
can participate. You may, of
course, send as many versions
as you want. The winner will be
published in the next issue.
To add some fun to this
otherwise serious subject, I
would like to start a
translation contest.
Today’s Exercice de
style:
Moi, ma soeur, sa
bicyclette, elle est cassée.
Finally, I would like to
close this column with a
quote that I discovered
recently in Le bon usage,
by Maurice Grevisse.
Under the heading mots
germaniques, he writes:
[…] L’anglais, à partir du
XVe siècle, a fait entrer
dans le français un notable
contingent de termes, qui
s'est accru singulièrement
au XIXe siècle et à
l'époque actuelle, surtout
par le fait des « snobs » et
des « sportsmen », dont
l'anglomanie a fait trop
bon marché de la pureté
de la langue française.
Volunteer Translators Needed for
Translators Without Borders
PAGE 6 À PROPOS VOLUME VII , Nº 1
By Lori Thicke
A man in Chechnya says, “A
ground-to-ground missile killed
my two sons in the market in
Grozny. They weren’t
fighters—they were just there
to buy jeans”. On a forced
march to the border, a mother
in Kosovo cries as the soldier
takes aim, “Not him, he’s only
14!” An Iraqi girl whispers, “I
don’t think we’re going to
come out of this alive.”
If there’s no money for
translations, who will tell their
stories?
Translators Without Borders is
telling their stories, or at least
some of them. But there are
many more stories that need
telling.
Translators Without Borders or
Traducteurs sans frontières as
we’re known in France, is a
non-profit association started
by Eurotexte to provide free
translations to humanitarian
groups. The core of TWB is a
group of amazing freelance
translators who give of their
time to help make the world a
better place.
Translators Without Borders
began when my Eurotexte
partner, Ros Smith-Thomas,
and I were offered paid
sleeping sickness in Burundi or
an AIDS treatment center in
South Africa, they’re there and
we’re behind them.
Recently we have begun to
expand our activities to other
NGOs, such as Handicap
International, Surgeons for
Africa and AIDES Organisation.
But this still represents just a
handful of organizations. One
of the reasons we work for
such a small group of
organizations is the nature of
humanitarian groups. Most of
these organizations have
large, ongoing needs for
translations because they see
their missions as informing the
world of populations and
individuals in danger, as well
as educating and training.
The types of translations taken
on by the dedicated volunteers
of Translators Without Borders
help raise money and heighten
awareness, and mobilize the
public and governments on
behalf of people in danger.
They will also make important
technical and medical
information available. But
there is a pressing need for
many more professional
translators for all types of
documents.
(Continued on page 7)
translation work by the
organization that became our
namesake, Doctors Without
Borders—or Médecins sans
frontières as they’re known in
France. Doctors Without Borders
is the world’s largest medical and
humanitarian relief organization
and in fact, they won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1999.
But back in 1992, they were
already doing good work. So
when they asked us to do paid
translation work, our first
question was: “If we don’t
charge you anything, will you put
the money to good use?” They
immediately reassured us that
the money would go into other
important Doctors Without
Borders activities, and
Translators Without Borders was
born. Since that day, Translators
Without Borders has provided
thousands of pages of pro bono
translations to document and
assist virtually every major
humanitarian intervention by
Doctors Without Borders.
Whether it’s war in Afghanistan,
PAGE 7 À PROPOS VOLUME VII , Nº 1
(Continued from page 6) Volunteer Translators
The truth is, our one office
can’t possibly handle all the
humanitarian translations
needed in the
world today. In
fact, most of the
organizations we
work for, although
global in scope,
are almost all
within a 2-km
radius of our offices in Paris.
That’s how local our work is,
and also how great the need
is: basically, we are only
satisfying the humanitarian
organizations in our own
backyard.
worldwide organization with
many helping hands, where
translators work in their own
countries with NGOs in their
own communities.
If you are interested in setting
up your own branch of
Translators Without Borders or
want to volunteer to work for
Traducteurs sans frontières in
France, you can contact us in
Paris,
mailto:tsf@eurotexte.fr.
Lori Thicke is General Manager
of Eurotexte and co-founder of
Translators Without Borders.
Since there is so much to be
done by professional translators,
we’ve decided to make
Translators Without
Borders an umbrella
organization, independent
of Eurotexte. This
organization will have as
many sections as there are
translation companies and
translators who want to do
good by doing what they do best.
We have decided to make the
TWB logo available to those
organizations and individuals
who respect the principles of
TWB. What we envision is a
Un peu d'humour : les perles de la presse française
nouveau permis de conduire est
arrivé. (l'Yonne Républicaine)
Deux conducteurs étaient interpellés
par les gendarmes en état d'ivresse.
(Var Matin)
Quand vous doublez un cycliste,
laissez-lui toujours la place de
tomber. (Le Républicain Lorrain)
Les mosquées sont très nombreuses
car les musulmans sont très
chrétiens.
La conférence sur la constipation sera
suivie d'un pot amical. (Ouest-France)
Il remue la queue en cadence comme
un soldat à la parade.
C'est un chasseur, qui ne voulant pas
rentrer bredouille, s'est tué...
Tombola de la Société Bayonnaise des
Amis des Oiseaux : le numéro 5963
gagne un fusil de chasse. (Sud-Ouest)
Il s'agit de financer les réparations du
presbytère qui a brûlé le jour de la
fête des Cendres.
Le syndicat des inséminateurs fait
appel à la vigueur de ses membres.
Les brasseurs sont sous pression.
Tampax: le nouveau coup de sang
de la CGT. (La Nouvelle République
de Tours)
Les kinés se sont massés contre les
grilles de la préfecture.
C'est la foire des veaux et des
porcs: venez nombreux ! (La Vie
Correzienne)
Journée du sang : s'inscrire à la
boucherie.
Parmi les nombreux lots : un chariot
élévateur, un cric hydraulique,
500 kg de briques, une portée de
porcelets,...
Véritable Pub anglais : spécialité
couscous.
Cette attaque frappe les hommes
politiques mais aussi les honnêtes
gens.
Ses dernières paroles furent un
silence farouche.
L'église étant en travaux, ses
obsèques ont été célébrées à la salle
des fêtes.
Tous portaient une crèpe à la
boutonnière.
Vers 18h30, la brigade canine arrive.
Tout le monde est sur les dents.
(La Voix du Nord)
Le monte-en-l'air a finalement été
appréhendé par une patrouille de
voltigeurs.
L'arrestation s'est opérée sans
infusion de sang.
Comme il s'agissait d'un sourd, la
police dut pour l'interroger avoir
recours à l'alphabet braille.
Cet ancien haltérophile est accusé de
vols à l'arraché.
Ayant débuté comme simple
fossoyeur, il a, depuis, fait son trou.
Plus solide et moins infalsifiable, le
PAGE 8 À PROPOS VOLUME VII , Nº 1
Losing Your Latin?
someone whose exact name
we don't know or prefer not to
mention is a quidam, whereas
English hasn't much of an
alternative to "fellow" or
"individual."
Per se, on the
other hand, is
used in English,
but not in
French, as in:
"Research
shows that it is
not divorce per
se that harms
children, but
the continuing
conflict between parents." "It is
not teenage pregnancy per se
which government ministers
are concerned about, but the
financial dependency on the
state which it creates."
Other Latin words are used in
both languages, but with
different frequency or in
different registers. While the
English-French dictionary entry
for a priori gives only a priori,
indicating that it is a scholarly
word used mainly in logic and
statistics, the French-English
entry gives not only a priori in
the philosophical sense, but
also some more colloquial
translations: "in principle," "on
the face of it;" and "bias,"
"preconceived idea," indicating
that it is used more commonly
in French than in English.
Other Latin words are used in
both languages but unequally:
in French there are
alternatives, but not in English.
De facto and de jure are used
in French, for example, but are
just as apt to be rendered "en
fait" and "en droit." On the
other hand, in English not only
is the Latin retained in legal
contexts ("The country has de
facto independence now, and
will soon be recognized de jure
by the world's governments."
"The President aims to create a
de jure one-party state.") but
it's used in general contexts as
well. You wouldn't be surprised
to hear someone say: "The city
is rapidly becoming the de
facto centre of the financial
world" or "English is de facto
the common language of the
world today." In Australian
English, a de facto is a person
with whom someone lives as a
wife or husband, although they
are not married, as in:
"They've invited Joanne and
her de facto for lunch on
Sunday."
Ad hoc is another Latinism the
two languages use differently.
In French one says "c'est
l'homme ad hoc," meaning
"parfaitement qualifié". Or "il
faut un instrument ad hoc,"
meaning "adéquat," "destiné
expressément à cet usage." In
English one says "We deal with
(Continued on page 9)
By Polly Haas
Have you ever waited six
months for an appointment
with your physician only to find
not your trusted
health provider but a
locum tenens in the
examining room?
Have you ever been
subpoenaed and
after hours of
preparation ended up
ad-libbing because
you couldn't
remember the
version you'd
planned to repeat verbatim?
Not that either question makes
sense per se….
It's nonsense of course—I
daresay it's a non-sequitur….
but think about how you would
translate this nonsense into
French, and you'll realize that
many Latin terms don't overlap
between French and English.
Or if they do, how much more
common they are in one
language than in the other,
usually in English.
On second thought, though, I
doubt that many Englishspeaking
children throw Latin
words around as casually as
pint-sized French kids do when
their tournament, race or class
ranking ends in a tie ("Maman,
Mathieu et moi on était ex
æquo au tournoi!"). In French
(Continued from page
Losing Your Latin
problems on an ad hoc basis"
or "The group met ad hoc,
whenever the need
arose." French
translations: "ponctuel,"
"à l'improviste," "au cas par
cas," "adapté aux
circonstances." But in both
languages, one can have an ad
hoc committee, one which is
created for a particular purpose
only.
Another English Latinism is quid
pro quo—not to be confused
with the French quiproquo! In
English it is used
conversationally to mean
"récompense" or "contrepartie",
as in: "What did she get as a
quid pro quo for her silence?"
or: "The government has
promised food as a quid pro quo
for the stopping of violence." It
sounds a lot like the French
quiproquo, which is also about
"something for something"—only
a different kind: a
misunderstanding or mistaken
identity, as in: "Il y a quiproquo,
nous ne parlons pas du même
étudiant."
Below is a non-exhaustive list of
some other Latin terms used in
English that would not be left in
Latin when translating into
French. A few are fairly formal
or specialized, mainly for legal
contexts (though I spare you the
list of legal terms such as
quantum meruit, respondeat
superior, revocable ad nutum,
and iura novit curia). But most
are almost as common as…
the musca domestica!
Ad infinitum: à n'en
plus finir
Ad-lib: improviser
Affidavit: déclaration
écrite sous serment
Bona fide: authentique,
valable, sérieux; (legal) de
bonne foi
Caveat: avertissement, mise
en garde; (legal field)
notification d'opposition
Cum laude,: (Univ) avec
distinction, Magna cum
laude, summa cum laude:
mention très bien, mention
très honorable
e.g. (exempli gratia): par
exemple
et al.: et autres
et. seq.: et suivants
in camera: (legal field) à huis
clos
i.e. (id est): à savoir
In flagrante delicto: (legal
field) en flagrant délit
Locum tenens: remplaçant
(de médecin, dentiste)
Non sequitur: illogisme;
propos incohérent, qui
manque de suite
Per annum: par an
Per capita: par habitant
Per diem: par jour
Per se: en tant que tel, en soi
Postmortem: autopsie
Prima facie: à première vue, de
prime abord, a priori (legal
field: "to make a prima facie
case": produire des éléments
suffisants)
Pro bono: à titre gracieux
(used for legal work or other
services)
Quidnunc: (introuvable dans
les dictionnaires bilingues!):
person eager to learn the latest
news and scandal, a busybody,
a gossipmonger
Re: au sujet de; (in letter
heading:) objet
Subpoena: (legal field) citer/
citation à comparaître en
qualité de témoin
Verbatim: textuellement, mot
pour mot
Versus: contre, par rapport à,
en contrepartie de
It's enough to make you "lose
your Latin"!
VOLUME VII , Nº 1 À PROPOS PAGE 9
Newsletter of the French Language Division
of the American Translators Association
225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590
Alexandria, VA 22314
À propos is published four times a year. Letters to the editor, articles, and
other information relevant to the FLD are welcome. Submissions are subject
to editing. The copyright on all articles remains with the authors. Opinions
expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent those of the editor or the French Language Division of the ATA.
Send submissions and comments to:
mailto:eldorado@boulder.net
