Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
s\'approprient les obstacles
English translation:
conquer the obstacles [of the urban landscape]
Added to glossary by
Lara Barnett
Oct 22, 2013 23:24
10 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish, Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African) 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
s'approprient les obstacles
French to English
Social Sciences
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
in a Film Synopsis
This is describing how the youths in Sao Paolo scale buildings to reach their football pitch.
"La ville est leur domaine. Ils défient les lois de la gravité et s'approprient les obstacles de la structure urbaine. Une "team" de 3 jeunes acrobates sautent, grimpent toujours plus haut, jouant les équilibristes, pour rejoindre un "terrain suspendu” dans la ville"
I was considering using "take over" for "s'approprient" with the idea that they take over the faces of the urban structures as they scale them. But I am not sure what I would use for "obstacles" in this case as "faces" would not work as a good translation for "obstacles". Could I use take over the "boundaries" or "walls"?
"La ville est leur domaine. Ils défient les lois de la gravité et s'approprient les obstacles de la structure urbaine. Une "team" de 3 jeunes acrobates sautent, grimpent toujours plus haut, jouant les équilibristes, pour rejoindre un "terrain suspendu” dans la ville"
I was considering using "take over" for "s'approprient" with the idea that they take over the faces of the urban structures as they scale them. But I am not sure what I would use for "obstacles" in this case as "faces" would not work as a good translation for "obstacles". Could I use take over the "boundaries" or "walls"?
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Oct 22, 2013 23:56: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Social Sciences" , "Field (specific)" from "Cinema, Film, TV, Drama" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" , "Field (write-in)" from "Film Synopsis" to "in a Film Synopsis"
Proposed translations
+4
17 mins
Selected
conquer the obstacles [of the urban landscape]
Since 'structure' is singular, I take 'la structure urbaine' to refer to the urban (built) landscape as a whole, and 'obstacles' to refer to the elements of this landscape that, for these youths, are like parts of a giant obstacle course that they 'make their own'.
I think there are a few possibilities for 's'approprient', including your 'take over', but also 'master', 'claim ownership of', even 'tame'. 'Conquer' for me captures both the take over idea and the fact that these obstacles are not really obstacles for them.
I think there are a few possibilities for 's'approprient', including your 'take over', but also 'master', 'claim ownership of', even 'tame'. 'Conquer' for me captures both the take over idea and the fact that these obstacles are not really obstacles for them.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
ormiston
: I actually prefer your verb (and not make too much of a meal of the exploit) but would say 'barriers'
8 hrs
|
| agree |
David Goward
: I quite like the idea of "tame" actually.
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Janice Giffin
: Good idea, the urban landscape as a whole and I also prefer barriers that ormiston has suggested
12 hrs
|
| agree |
Karen Vincent-Jones (X)
12 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you."
9 mins
Daniel Weston
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
Communication: one link at a time
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: French to English, English
take on the hurdles
Maybe? They take on the hurdles of urban structures?
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: 'take on' sounds a bit like confronting them, which seems to me to be taking us further from the idea of 's'approprier'
2 mins
|
| neutral |
Emma Paulay
: Not quite. But "take the hurdles of the urban landscape in their stride" might do it.
5 hrs
|
+2
7 hrs
make short work of
I propose this English expression, not only cos I believe it fits, but I like the use of 'short' here to overcome 'tall' obstacles.
I don't believe that a literal translation (take ownership of) works at all IMHO
I don't believe that a literal translation (take ownership of) works at all IMHO
+3
7 hrs
polyglot45
Native in French
&
English
Native in: English 
, French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
227
they make these "obstacles" their own/their playground
they defy the laws of gravity and annexe the urban furniture
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: makes sense to me!//Seeing ormiston's comment below, I'd say I prefer the 'playground' option. They are using the obstacles as their gym apparatus, rather (a bit!) as we used to love playing "Pirates"
1 hr
|
| agree |
Miranda Joubioux (X)
: yes, nicely put!
1 hr
|
| neutral |
ormiston
: slight hesitation about making an obstacle your own (obstacle)// Actually my doubt is about the (nice) idiom IN CONTEXT because if you make an ('obstacle') your own it sounds like it has become...an ('obstacle')!
1 hr
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I don't like obstacle myself but I was short of a word and that wasn't the question - whence the inverted commas
|
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| agree |
kashew
2 hrs
|
+2
9 hrs
tatyana000
Native in English
Fast and Accurate
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, French to English, Italian to English, and 1 more.
transform the urban fabric into an obstacle course
just another option if you want to get further away from the text. Essentially, this is what they're doing.
+2
8 mins
take ownership of the obstacles
Sounds like this is about parkour. You may find the link helpful.
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Note added at 9 mins (2013-10-22 23:33:53 GMT)
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Barriers might work also.
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Note added at 11 hrs (2013-10-23 10:40:55 GMT)
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Re figurative usage of this phrase: OED gives "The fact or state of being or feeling responsible for solving a problem, addressing an issue" so a figurative usage certainly exists (and is quite common). Where Carol and Emma's reservations arise (I think) is in using this for something physical like an obstacle. In the physical case, "take ownership" is predominantly used literally, you legally own the object subsequently.
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Note added at 11 hrs (2013-10-23 10:48:12 GMT)
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But the figurative use certainly exists e.g. "Our primary goal is to motivate millions of people across thousands of watersheds to take ownership of their streams and rivers ..."
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Note added at 9 mins (2013-10-22 23:33:53 GMT)
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Barriers might work also.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2013-10-23 10:40:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Re figurative usage of this phrase: OED gives "The fact or state of being or feeling responsible for solving a problem, addressing an issue" so a figurative usage certainly exists (and is quite common). Where Carol and Emma's reservations arise (I think) is in using this for something physical like an obstacle. In the physical case, "take ownership" is predominantly used literally, you legally own the object subsequently.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2013-10-23 10:48:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
But the figurative use certainly exists e.g. "Our primary goal is to motivate millions of people across thousands of watersheds to take ownership of their streams and rivers ..."
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Verginia Ophof
2 hrs
|
|
Merci Verginia.
|
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| agree |
Daryo
3 hrs
|
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Thanks Daryo.
|
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| neutral |
Emma Paulay
: This doesn't work for me.//It's a literal translation. The Fr verb "s'approprier" has a wider field of application than the En equivalent. In English you wouldn't use "take ownership" figuratively.
5 hrs
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Thanks Emma. You could be right but why doesn't it work for you?// See my note to Carol. Re "you wouldn't use 'take ownership' figuratively" I think we'll just have to agree to differ, it feels natural to me.
|
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| neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: nor me//Doesn't sound natural - I just couldn't imagine anyone English saying it!
8 hrs
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Thanks Carol. You could be right but why doesn't it work for you?//Certainly wouldn't work in speech, but the source seems to me to be in that slightly elevated register which is common in French and "take ownership" matches that IMHO :-)
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| neutral |
David Goward
: nor me! / For the same reasons as Emma & Carol. However, considering your note at 10:48:12 (...take ownership of their streams...", I admit a "disagree" was a bit OTT.
9 hrs
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Thanks David. You could be right but why doesn't it work for you?
|
13 hrs
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Native in English
Psychologist, Court-certified legal
Native in: English
Works in: French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
119
are perfectly at home scrambling over (scaling) the urban terrain
There are any number of ways of saying this but I think the solution lies some distance from a literal rendering. The previous sentence refers to "leur ville". We know they feel it's theirs. The next sentence, the case in point, takes the notion of belonging "s'approprier" in describing how the team goes about making it their town. I reckon you can play on the image of how at ease they are. Not sure "scramble" is the right term (quite like the Asker's "scale"), but I am quite happy with the idea of the expression "to be at home + ING".
1 day 13 hrs
take the urban obstacles in their stride
like the sense of movement, plus overcoming difficulties
Discussion