Aug 7, 2008 17:51
15 yrs ago
English term

Skid row

English to French Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Hungover and with her stomach grumbling, Mama Fats goes from skid-row to skid-marks after burying a winning lottery ticket that nets her one million dollars! That’s a big bucket of wings!

Chers amis, une dernière expression fleurie pour la route. I don't really understand how someone can go from :

"skid-row (quartier mal famé) to skid-marks (traces de pneus)" . J'ai pensé à "partie des quartiers mal-famés en laissant des traces de pneus en chemin / sur le chemin etc.". Qu'en pensez-vous ?
Change log

Aug 7, 2008 18:20: Alain Chouraki changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Aug 7, 2008 20:07: Stéphanie Soudais changed "Field (specific)" from "Cinema, Film, TV, Drama" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (3): Stéphanie Soudais, Will Matter, Alain Chouraki

Non-PRO (1): Jean-Claude Gouin

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Discussion

Julien Lozano (asker) Aug 8, 2008:
J'ai maintenant l'embarras du choix ! Toutes vos suggestions sont intéressantes. Je dois dire que vous avez rivalisé d'ingéniosité et de jeux de mots sympas. J'essaie de vous départager !

Proposed translations

+1
2 hrs
English term (edited): from skid row to skid-marks
Selected

de la roue de l'infortune à la roue de la fortune

Tentative de jeu de mot. Je pense qu'il faut s'éloigner du texte si vous voulez trouvez un effet de style en français.

Ici "fortune" peut se comprendre de deux manières : le hasard (lottery ticket) et le jackpot qu'elle empoche.

Infortune : malheur, misère
Peer comment(s):

agree Will Matter : Completely agree. 100%. Perfect.
4 days
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Excellent ! merci beaucoup Stéphanie."
16 mins

Explanation

She won a lot of money. As a result, she went from "skid row" (a place where no one has any money) to a lifestyle that really "took off" (because she had a lot of money). When she "took off" she, like a car, left "skid marks" behind. You are translating some very idiomatic material today. HTH.

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Note added at 36 mins (2008-08-07 18:28:36 GMT)
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Even though I speak / read / write a few languages I'll admit that my French isn't good. All the ProZians that I know or have met know this to be true. A sad fact of life and an obvious gap in my education as a linguist. ;0) However, I am a highly educated native speaker of English, I understand the real meaning of the material you've been working on today and I hope that any explanations that I offer help you to arrive at a correct, proper translation that helps YOU (and your clients). I don't care about points, I care about correct, linguistically sound answers that make sense.
Note from asker:
Indeed ! And that's extremely difficult ! Therefore your help is incredibly useful.
But we can have answers with you, that's a matter of will...
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55 mins

elle est partie de rien pour arriver si vite au sommet

Thanks to Will's explanations

"si vite" is optional but it capture better the original idea IMHO
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1 hr

bas fonds, quarties mal famés ..

*

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Note added at 1 hr (2008-08-07 19:30:13 GMT)
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bas-fonds ... avec un trait d'union, comme de raison.
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+2
3 hrs

des bas fonds aux bas de soie

"bas fonds" is an accurate translation of "skid rows", on the template of the English that kept "skid" I kept "bas" to arrive to an emblematic luxury item

an other piece of brainstorming...
Peer comment(s):

agree Stéphanie Soudais : J'aime beaucoup (cependant pour "bas de soie" il faudrait être sûr que son train de vie a changé dans ce sens, par exemple est-ce qu'elle s'est acheté de belles tenues ou est devenue plus coquette, etc)
10 hrs
agree Platary (X) : Adopté !
13 hrs
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+1
28 mins

Elle est partie du caniveau, en démarrant sur les chapeaux de roues

Une traduction...
Pour rendre l'image skid-row skid marks au plus proche

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Note added at 31 minutes (2008-08-07 18:23:11 GMT)
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Ou:
à peine sortie du caniveau, elle a démarré sur les chapeaux de roue...
(en croisant les doigts pour que vous ne fassiez pas écharper ce coup-ci... Kudoz, ton univers impitoyaaaaaaaaaableuuuu !)


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Note added at 33 minutes (2008-08-07 18:25:32 GMT)
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D'ailleurs, c'est "chapeaux de roues" au pluriel, plusieurs roues.

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Note added at 13 heures (2008-08-08 07:49:57 GMT)
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Pour faire écho au thème général du film...

"Mama s'est sorti de la m... (mouise) et maintenant elle pète dans la soie...

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Note added at 13 heures (2008-08-08 07:51:00 GMT)
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Mama Fats... (houlà, pas réveillé, moi, c'matin !)
Peer comment(s):

agree Myriam Dupouy : J'aime bien l'image aussi !
16 hrs
Melci... mais l'infecte ploposition du vel de telle que je suis ne peut livaliser avec votle sublime idée... <;)
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+1
3 hrs

Elle a foncé si vite de sa bicoque au château qu'on voit encore le nuage de poussière soulevé sur...

Elle a foncé si vite de sa bicoque au château qu'on voit encore le nuage de poussière soulevé sur son passage...

...Je continue de réfléchir...



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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-08-07 21:30:33 GMT)
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"de la cité au palais"...

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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-08-07 21:34:18 GMT)
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"de la ZUP aux quartiers huppés" (up up up...)

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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-08-07 21:37:16 GMT)
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Donc :
"Elle a foncé si vite de la ZUP aux quartiers huppés qu'on voit encore le nuage de poussière soulevé sur son passage..."

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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-08-07 21:42:51 GMT)
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Interesting :

http://www.querycat.com/faq/49d0067cb1140733339ca311abeab327

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Note added at 14 hrs (2008-08-08 08:15:45 GMT)
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Merci (question sympa !) ! Ou, comme me souffle un ami "de la citrouille au carrosse"... Tee hee !
Note from asker:
De la ZUP au palais, ça pourrait être sympa.
Peer comment(s):

agree Alain Chouraki : Je préfère "de la bicoque au château" (mmmppppfffff !)
11 hrs
Merci ! Moi j'aime bien l'idée de mon ami...Ca fait très Cendrillon...Nickel, quoi !
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21 hrs

du HLM à la BM

J'ai pensé à bagnole puis l'expression m'est tombée dessus...
Example sentence:

jadis vouée à la rue ou aux HLM, elle roule sur l'or ou en BM

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2 days 24 mins

des quartiers insalubres

slums
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