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soldé les causes
vivre à tes crochets
Jul 10, 2018 09:36
5 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

je te balance des horreurs

French to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I'm translating an email that's part of a number of mostly unhappy emails between two people in some sort of personal relationship. I'm not sure how to translate "je te balance ... des horreurs" here, or even if I'm parsing it right because there's no punctuation. There are a couple ways I guess I could translate it semi-literally but they sound pretty meaningless even in context. Does it sound as weird in French? Thank you!

context:

je t aime et je suis desolee pour hier soir j'en ai marre d'etre en colere
j'en ai marre d'etre immature et de ne pas savoir gerer mes emotions
j'en ai marre de m'excuser parce que ***je te balance tout le temps des horreurs***
j'en ai marre d'etre si chieuse et demandande avec toi
j'en ai marre d'avoir l'impression que je vais nul part alors que je t'ai dans la vie
Proposed translations (English)
3 +8 I'm always saying horrible things to you
3 +3 I'm always having a go at you
4 +1 I chew you out something fierce/awful
3 I'm always so bloody bitchy to you
3 I'm always getting into your face/hurling insults at you
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): GILLES MEUNIER

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Discussion

AllegroTrans Jul 10, 2018:
Asker For what purpose is your translation required? Purely social? A book? Official? Evidence? I think this it's importnant to know when reported speech, e-mails etc. are concerned.

Proposed translations

+8
17 mins
Selected

I'm always saying horrible things to you

I believe that's the sense alright, though not, of course, the register! We might more commonly express things like "hurling insultas at you" — the idea of 'balancer' here does, I feel sure, indicate a certain... "forcefullness" about the verb; but without better understanding what sort of 'horreurs' are actually involved, it's hard to pick the right noun, and hence, the appropriate verb.

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-07-10 11:01:15 GMT)
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One way of getting slightly closer to an informal register, without risking over-interpretation, might be so say something like "I'm always saying such awful / dreadful things to you." — that seems to me to get closer to the notion of 'horreurs' in general.

A more informal term for 'hurling' (which I wasn't suggesting, by the way — merely drawing a parallel between this figurative use and a more literal, physical notion of 'throwing') might be 'flinging' — but again, it can only be used with certain types of 'horreurs'.

After all, it could be anything from: "Your beloved late mother was a hideous old crone" to "your newly tuned-up car looks stupid", via "I'm having an affair with your best mate"
Peer comment(s):
agree AllegroTrans : "hurl" sems the best register on the basis of the extracts provided. If the translation is for some official/evidentiary purpose, asker needs to strenuously avoid over-interpretation
15 mins
Thanks, C! Absolutely!
agree Nikki Scott-Despaigne
39 mins
Thanks, Nikki!
agree Philippa Smith : Yes, with the "such"
1 hr
Thanks, Philippa!
agree B D Finch
3 hrs
Thanks, B!
agree Michele Fauble
8 hrs
Merci, Michele !
agree Daryo
12 hrs
Thanks, Daryo!
agree Elisabeth Gootjes
23 hrs
Thanks, E Gootjes!
agree SafeTex : Close to original yet perfectly English, not too colloquial and does acceptable as GB or USA English
6 days
Thanks, SafeTex!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
19 mins

I'm always so bloody bitchy to you

Familiar words, hence familiar suggestion!
bloody can be changed as you wish... f*** would be OK given how frequently it is used today

Another idea: I'm always such a total bitch with you

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Note added at 21 mins (2018-07-10 09:58:26 GMT)
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balancer - to throw (throwing insults has been mentioned above) - often used when someone is saying awful things.
des horreurs: awful things...
Peer comment(s):
agree Pierre POUSSIN
5 mins
Thanks irat56:-)
disagree AllegroTrans : neither bloody or an expletive are in the source text: this is over-translation
1 hr
Bloody is indeed an expletive....que j'assume. Is there another one?
Something went wrong...
+3
3 hrs

I'm always having a go at you

To have a go at someone: to criticize someone strongly.

This could work if it's in an informal context.
Reference:

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/have-a-go-at-someone

Peer comment(s):
agree Jessica Noyes : British only
53 mins
Thanks, Jessica!
agree Tony M : Yes, although that does rather change the slant of the meaning.
5 hrs
Thanks, Tony!
agree GILLES MEUNIER : Celle que je préfère....
15 hrs
Thanks, Gilou!
Something went wrong...
3 hrs

I'm always getting into your face/hurling insults at you

Another option.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2018-07-10 13:28:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

One of the possible meanings of"balancer", according to Larousse, is to "hurl insults at somebody".
Peer comment(s):
neutral B D Finch : "Horreurs" aren't necessarily insults.//Of course they could, but the translation shouldn't impose a limitation that isn't there in the source term.
12 mins
But they could be, couldn't they...
neutral Daryo : agree about "insults" being a too restrictive interpretation of what are "des horreurs"
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
43 mins

I chew you out something fierce/awful

"Balancer" means "hurl" as in "hurl insults" and "swear at".

My suggestion might be used in the US only.




--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 heure (2018-07-10 10:37:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Chew out (informal) = Speak angrily
Fierce = Very angry

"Balancer" is also informal.
"Horreurs" is stronger than "terrible things", which explains why I chose "fierce" to express this here.

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Note added at 1 heure (2018-07-10 10:53:42 GMT)
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https://books.google.fr/books?id=OJbKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT131&lpg=P...

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Note added at 1 heure (2018-07-10 11:12:49 GMT)
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"Talk trash about" also came to mind.

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Note added at 1700 jours (2023-03-06 14:34:41 GMT) Post-grading
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Actually:

"Something fierce" is US informal English for "very much"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/somethin...

The phrase "something fierce" is an idiomatic expression that means to an intense or extreme degree. In other words, if someone does something "something fierce," they do it with great intensity, severity, or force.

Seen in US TV show at the time of my answer but I've just realized that "something fierce" is the actual US expression :)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : "chew out" is US — very different meaning in GB! 'fierce' not appropriate here: we don't have any idea what kind of 'horreurs' — may not necessariy be 'angry' ones: might just be e.g. 'unkind'. 'about' / 'to' are very different cf. 'te balance'
35 mins
"Something fierce" is US informal english for "very much" https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/somethin...
neutral B D Finch : That's a bit of a mish-mash of EN-US and EN-UK! Also "something fierce/awful" simply doesn't work.//Checked it and, though "something fierce/awful" sounded northern UK to me, it's used in the US. However, your register is still inappropriate.
3 hrs
"Something fierce" is US informal english for "very much" https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/somethin...
agree writeaway : Well asker is US so chew out would work-but not your verb tense.
1 day 4 hrs
Thank you
Something went wrong...
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