Kévin Bernier Aug 4, 2012:

@The Misha Tony is right. You would be wrong to go with "de quoi parle-t-on déjà?", because it doesn't fit the meaning at all. Nowhere near. We would use this sentence in a back and forth conversation, as in "what were we talking about again?".

The verb "parler" only works for conversations, not stories or idioms or anything like that. The right sentence would be "comme on dit à Tmutarakania".

Tony M Aug 4, 2012:

But The Misha... ...that wouldn't do at all!

In the light of the extra context you have given us, that wouldn't be the right meaning; in essence, that would back translate as something like "OK, so what was it we were talking about, then?" (before we were interrupted, etc.)

Do remember that the verb 'parler' basically corresponds to 'talk' or 'speak', whereas 'dire' = to say or tell; so really, in your context with the basic meaning of 'say', you probably won't be looking at using 'parler' in any form.

The Misha (asker) Aug 4, 2012:

Many thanks, everyone for the lively discussion. I wish I could give you more context but since I am making this up as I go along, there really isn't much yet to give. This is definitely about mental reminiscences rather than something of a more targeted variety, as in "as they say it in Tmutarakania", so the discussion seems to be totally in the right vein. As to the ils vs.on issue, I am firmly in the on camp, that's what I was thinking originally. At the moment I am leaning toward de quoi parle-t-on deja, purely for rhythmic reasons, plus it googles well. I also love C'est quoi le proverbe, but my guy then starts singing snippets of the Marseillaise, so the proverb kind of doesn't fit. Once again, many thanks.

Kévin Bernier Aug 4, 2012:

@Tony Considering the fact that this is a monologue (and even an "outright stream of consciousness"), I really don't think this would be referring to a situation in which the protagonist did not hear or comprehend what was said to him.

Tony M Aug 4, 2012:

Context We all seem to be floundering a bit here because, despite your very comprehensive explanation, we don't actually know what the speaker was intending it to mean.

My instinctive reading was:

What does one usually say for... ? (a proverb, saying, etc. like "it never rains but it pours") — this would certainly explain the use of the simple present tense.

It is I suppose just possible it might be intended to mean "What are they saying? (I can't hear) — however, this would not be the normal way to express that in EN, unless, of course, it came from a non-native EN speaker.

Letredenoblesse Aug 4, 2012:

C´est quoi qu´on dit déjà? ou bien: "C´est quoi qui se dit déjà ?"

...autres suggestions....

Kévin Bernier Aug 4, 2012:

@The Misha Does the protagonist actually directly refer to the other cultures? If, for example, the phrase goes "what is it they say over in England...?" then FX's suggestion could work. "Ils" could be used to refer directly to the English people, and it would actually have a purpose in the sentence.

Otherwise, if the phrase is more vague and there isn't an actual and direct target to "ils", then a sentence like "comment est-ce qu'on dit ça en Angleterre ?" would be the correct answer.

Although, even if there is a direct target to "ils", "on" is VERY typically French and it is what the average French fellow will use 99% of the time. writeaway explained it very well in his post : "they" in English can't be safely translated to "ils" in French, not in this context anyway.