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poutre de la façade
Apr 18, 2009 12:56
15 yrs ago
19 viewers *
French term

sublimer

French to English Marketing Advertising / Public Relations
I am having a complete creative block at the moment with the following sentence, which is referring to a line of kitchen ovens:
A travers leur qualité remarquable, leur design pur, et leurs innovations technologiques, ces objets subliment les émotions et déclenchent instantanément le désir.

I'm thinking that in a nutshell, this sentence is saying that consumers fall in love and want these ovens because of their exceptional quality etc. But obviously I need to maintain a certain register, and I'm just absolutely stuck with what to do with "sublimer les émotions". I have now completely over-thought it to the point of writer's block. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 they fire the emotions and instantly trigger desire
3 +3 wow factor
5 seduce
4 overwhelm / overpower
3 +1 uplift
4 to elevate the emotions
4 appeal
3 sublimate/ purify
4 -1 channel
2 ideal
Change log

Apr 18, 2009 16:22: Emanuela Galdelli changed "Term asked" from "sublimer (this context)" to "sublimer"

Discussion

Laura Miller (asker) Apr 18, 2009:
Thank you! Thanks everyone for all of this input, it's really helpful. I may just end up combining several ideas, which leads to the problem of assigning points.....

Proposed translations

+5
30 mins
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)
Selected

they fire the emotions and instantly trigger desire

Sounds like they're describing lingerie as opposed to kitchen appliances!!
Tho' I suppose fire/heat goes with the idea of ovens :-)
Good luck!
Peer comment(s):
agree sueaberwoman : ...and bring your desires to a boil?/ make them red-hot? This will only work in English with a bit of tongue-in-cheek, IMO! ;-)
33 mins
I was *definitely* being tongue-in-cheek ;-)
agree Anne-Marie Grant (X)
1 hr
thanks Anne-Marie
neutral kashew : Reminds me of a soul lyric: was it in "Sexual Healing" by Marvin G - "I'm hot just like an oven, I need some lovin'! All the best, J.
1 hr
you obviously don't know excited people can get about their kitchens ;-) But seriously, as I pointed out above to sueberwoman, I was being a rather tongue-in-cheek, with something as OTT as the French.
agree Susan Nicholls : spark desire, perhaps?
2 hrs
agree Yolanda Broad
12 hrs
agree JaneD : "... and are instantly desirable", perhaps?
18 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much for your help. It helped unblock my block a bit, and I think I'm going to go with some sort of variation of your answer."
16 mins
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

overwhelm / overpower

Either of the 2 words would carry the meaning, I think.

They must be fantastic ovens to induce such hyperbole - can I have one, please?!
Note from asker:
I know, I like my new red blender, but I'm not in love with it! Now, if you could find me an oven that would go to the grocery store and cook dinner for me too, that would be true love!
Thank you for your help!
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16 mins
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

sublimate/ purify

bring it to a higher, spiritual level
Note from asker:
Thank you for trying to help!
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : Literally, yes — but that really couldn't work in the context as given!
2 hrs
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+1
20 mins
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

uplift

these "objects" give you an emotional boost, they make you feel better

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 26 mins (2009-04-18 13:23:05 GMT)
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LIFT YOUR SPIRITS
Note from asker:
Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Peer comment(s):
agree French Foodie : this sounds very natural
10 mins
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2 hrs
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

ideal

It's hard to figure what exactly is meant. The use of "sublimer" in conjunction with "desire" suggests pop psychology: are these ovens hot desire transformed into art? Perhaps "sublimer" refers more to the artistic sublime (wow factor) perhaps it is chemical, and distills emotion... in any case, it seems to be a question of using rather complicated concepts to describe reaction to the oven. So (after this ponderous preamble), maybe something like:
represent an immediately desirable emotional ideal.
Not sure I'm convinced about this myself, but perhaps it will help your writer's block to have something to disagree with!
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input!
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2 hrs
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

seduce

*
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input!
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-1
1 hr
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

channel

...these objects channel their emotions...

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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-04-18 16:07:57 GMT)
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Sorry, I meant "channel the emotions", i.e., our emotions
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input!
Peer comment(s):
disagree Tony M : With the best will in the world, I don't see how you can 'channel' the emotions of an oven — surely it doesn't have any? / Well, I'm not a mind-reader! Anyway, I don't think 'channel the emotions' could really work in the context as given either
1 hr
You jump the gun too fast...surely you could see it was a typo...
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5 hrs

to elevate the emotions

Hello,

My try...

I hope this helps.
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input
Something went wrong...
16 hrs

appeal

appeal is what advertising is all about... that appeals, attracts human perception moving them in the process.
Note from asker:
Thanks for your input
Something went wrong...
+3
1 hr
French term (edited): sublimer (this context)

wow factor

what about working this English buzz term into it ? I've been looking for how the French would spontaneously put this idea of products that are take-your-breath-away fantastic.

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Note added at 19 hrs (2009-04-19 08:55:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Eureka for the other bit about desirablity ! CRAVE FACTOR:
working on a hunch I googled 'crave factor' and looks like it's another buzz term. Could be used in conjunction with 'wow factor'

Tasty Creative - Discover Your Crave Factor - [ Traduire cette page ]Discover Your Crave Factor. No matter if you're a new non-profit or the maker of a mocha cappuccino, every product or service has a crave factor. ...


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Note added at 1 day4 hrs (2009-04-19 17:00:04 GMT) Post-grading
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No hard bones, but actually I think with some effort you CAN split/attribute points. I just feel these terms should appear somewhere in the glossary....
Note from asker:
Thank you for your input, it gave me some other idease, and I wish I could divide points between answers.
Peer comment(s):
agree French Foodie : this is good too - often see this in fashion and deco magazines
8 mins
thanks. Comes up a lot - I even posted it to see what would come back!
agree Tony M : Yes, I really think it needs something like this to get right away from the s/t. only problem I foresee is that 'wow factor' is used a lot when talking about third parties, not quite sure how comfortably it sits talking about one's own products?
1 hr
thanks Tony. I see it as third party praise (but even inhouse people go on about the wow factor & desirability of their products!)
agree Yolanda Broad : I like this one, too.
11 hrs
appreciated!
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