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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

les codes doivent s’accommoder

English translation:

the criteria/principles should suit/cater to/reflect

Added to glossary by Lara Barnett
Feb 19, 2019 14:01
5 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

les codes doivent s’accommoder

French to English Marketing General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters Interior design website
Is this really to be translated as "codes must accommodate"? Or is there a better way to say this.

"La décoration d’une maison ne s’improvise pas. Si les règles en la matière sont précises et répondent à des critères bien établis, les codes doivent s’accommoder des goûts de chacun, de leur vécu, de leurs attentes et bien sûr de leur mode de vie."
Proposed translations (English)
3 +6 the /end/ results should suit/cater to/reflect
4 +3 the rules must bend/make room for/be adapted to
3 the codes should complement
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Yvonne Gallagher

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Discussion

Carol Gullidge Feb 20, 2019:
norms; criteria; guidelines... Just a few more... ...ideas for the melting pot
What is a norm? definition and meaning - BusinessDictionary.com
www.businessdictionary.com/definition/norm.html
Definition of norm: Informal guideline about what is considered normal (what is correct or incorrect) ...
Ph_B (X) Feb 20, 2019:
Just remembered this https://www.proz.com/forum/french/327271-"les_codes_paysans"... but I don't agree with our Belgian colleague: code in the sing. is not the same as in the plural.
mrrafe Feb 20, 2019:
sic "customary precepts or principles," said I
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 20, 2019:
Term So "principle" is better. Fine.
Tony M Feb 20, 2019:
@ Moira Totallly agree! This isn't really a "translation" issue as such, but merely one requiring superlative copy-writing in EN.
Irrespective of the field, FR so often tends to "wax lyrical" — or especially philosophical! — in ways that we just wouldn't do in EN, and it's always a nightmare trying to produce something even faintly close that doesn't sound preposterously pretentious in EN!
MoiraB Feb 20, 2019:
Remember it's a website! Lara herself says "This is intended more as a marketing text for the more general reader" so I think she really needs to look at what the client wants from the translation: to showcase what they do and how wonderful they are at doing it and, in the process, attract new customers. Codes and formulas just won't cut it, I'm afraid. Sometimes these things practically have to be rewritten/copywritten to get away from architect-speak and really appeal to the target audience.
Tony M Feb 20, 2019:
@ Asker That's exactly the proof of what Carol and I have been saying!
'Formula' is a perfectly legitimate term to find in this sort of text — but it doesn't mean the same thing as 'code'!
It's like saying "This text says 'table', but I've found more occurrences of 'chair', so I prefer to use that instead." without taking into account that the meaning is different! Cretainly, both might be subsets of the same group 'item of furniture', just as 'formula', 'rule', and 'code' might be subsets of the group 'guidelines for interior décor' — without pour autant being exact (and above all interhcangeable) synonyms!
AllegroTrans Feb 20, 2019:
The contrast intended between "les règles" and "les codes", to my mind is between the strict rules of using correct materials/measurements/techniques etc etc. and the principles guiding the end result
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 19, 2019:
@ Carol "Decorating 101: The Perfect FORMULA for Decorating a Room"
http://www.themortgagegenie.com/decorating-101-perfect-formu...

"If what you’ve just read resonates with your interior desires, you are in luck! Even though there is no instant FORMULA to get the look, there is a host of ways in which you can bring a dash of Boho Chic into your home in no time."
https://blog.vinterior.co/2018/09/21/how-to-get-the-boho-sty...

"Over the years I have developed my own custom FORMULA, one that affords me the most creative control and freedom while ensuring extreme strength and durability."
http://meadedesigngroup.blogspot.com/2010/06/

"NB With all the combinations you may come up with, a simple rule of thumb is if you want a bold room use the boldest colour in the colour scheme .... For a calmer room just reverse THIS FORMULA."
http://www.theopenplan.com/blog/category/interior-design-col...
Carol Gullidge Feb 19, 2019:
Formulas not sure where that came from, but it doesn't really seem to work in this text, imo!
Carol Gullidge Feb 19, 2019:
@ Lara You'll need to consider both the register of the text and the target audience; this should help you to decide whether you'd do better to move out of your comfort zone, or to stick with everyday language that is familiar to you.
Tony M Feb 19, 2019:
@ Asker So is 'paintbrush' — the only major snag is that it simply doesn't mean the same thing!
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 19, 2019:
Codes I have seen "codes" in general, marketing and conversational registers, but in the mainly for "dress code".
When I google ["interior design" with "codes"] I get a lot of academic and regulatory-style texts, yet when I google ["interior design" with "formulas"] there a large amount of marketing texts and customer-focused design websites.
I do understand what you are both saying here, but in reality I find that "formula" for this context is a lot more commonly used in UK marketing/advertising/promotional texts.
Carol Gullidge Feb 19, 2019:
agree with Tony ... more commonly used in English as in Dress Code, design codes, house codes, etc.

But I used to translate a lot of House of Dior texts, and these used "codes" all the time!
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 19, 2019:
@ Tony - Thank you I do appreciate your help, which is of use and I am going to make full use of your "passive" suggestion here.
And I have also seen "code" used in an artistic sense, but really only in more academic or literary -based texts. This is intended more as a marketing text for the more general reader. I am going to use "formula" in this case.
Tony M Feb 19, 2019:
@ Asker In lots of 'artistic' fields, including interior design and architecture, we do indeed talk about 'codes', and I think it is perfectly fine to use the term here in EN, even though it is perhaps less familiar to people in everyday language. There is indeed often an element of 'code' about it — e.g. the 'code' as to the meaning of the postures of statues on horseback...
Do also bear in mind that the use of the reflexive, as here, can sometimes be best translated as some form of passive in EN — which I think is the key you need here to unlocking this translation; in essence, perhaps 'the codes need to be adapted to suit...'
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 19, 2019:
Rules The term "rules" has been used in the preceding phrase (I am using rules anyway as the translation for the phrase), and therefore all the references to using "rules" as a translation for "codes" is a bit confusing. Would "formula" or some other synonym work in place of "codes"?
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 19, 2019:
@ Ph_B I was referring to mrrafe's "use of codes" as this is not really a term UK English would use in this context.
Carol Gullidge Feb 19, 2019:
Ph_B Thanks for that! A subtle difference, and I'm trying to figure out how it affects the translation here! It seems you have to be able to bend/accomodate the rules to fit the customer's requirements...
MoiraB Feb 19, 2019:
@ Carol substandard copywriting? ;-)
Ph_B (X) Feb 19, 2019:
Carol, "Rem. À la différence de s'accommoder à qui implique un renouvellement dans la manière d'être, s'accommoder de suppose l'acceptation, plus ou moins résignée, d'une contrainte extérieure limitant les exigences personnelles." (http://stella.atilf.fr/Dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/search.exe?40;...
Carol Gullidge Feb 19, 2019:
can anyone explain why s’accommoder **des"" goûts de chacun isn't s’accommoder AUX goûts de chacun?
Ph_B (X) Feb 19, 2019:
Lara, I was referring to your answer to mrrafe: "It not so much the grammar I cannot understand, it is the use of codes." I must have misread you.
Lara Barnett (asker) Feb 19, 2019:
@ Ph_B I did not say I did not understand "code" here, I am looking for the best English term to use as we do not use this very often in such cases.
Ph_B (X) Feb 19, 2019:
code You say you don't understand the use of codes here. Look at it as "the done thing", what you must do if you belong to a group and abide by its set of unwritten but well-established rules. My gran was adamant that according to code vestimentaire, you shouldn't wear blue and green together. You sometimes hear of les codes de la haute administration, i.e. know your way around if you want to make a career as a top civil servant. I understand your text as saying that there are precise (strict?) rules in the field of home decoration, but they must "make room for/allow for" the person's taste. There is also a hint that they must "find a common ground with" the person's state.

Proposed translations

+6
24 mins
Selected

the /end/ results should suit/cater to/reflect

To be honest, I've no idea why "codes" has been used here, but given the general flavour of the text, I think you can afford to be a bit "transcreative" with it. Seems to me that while there are specific rules that have to be adhered to, the results should ultimately suit the client's taste, lifestyle, etc.
Peer comment(s):
agree Chakib Roula : Suit suits here.
5 mins
Thanks!
agree Yvonne Gallagher : definitely "a better way to say this". Prefer "reflect"
10 mins
Thanks - saved the best til last ;-)
agree philgoddard : And maybe "principles" would be better than "rules".
11 mins
Thanks! I think the whole thing could be rephrased into EN interior design speak
agree Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
3 hrs
Thanks!
neutral Carol Gullidge : "end/ results" don't work for "codes", although I believe "suits' and "reflect" do
5 hrs
I think asker should be looking for a plain English solution, one that's fit for purpose
agree AllegroTrans : Thinking outside the box does lead to this sensible result but "codes" seems like goobledegook to me
6 hrs
Same here!
agree Tony M : 'codes' is a perfectly legitimate term in this field, but used a great deal more in FR than in EN, where it is regarded as a bit hifalutin'
16 hrs
Yes, think of the target audience, I say
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
9 mins

the codes should complement

Complement or comport with. I think the idea is closer to that, rather than the codes being diluted or overridden in the face of ocerriding personal preferences.

More important, I think soivent is not being used in a mandatory sense: they ought to, or should, i.e. probably will, rather than must.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 mins (2019-02-19 14:12:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

*overriding*

*doivent*

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 35 mins (2019-02-19 14:37:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Oh OK sorry - maybe I was being myopic without realizing it but I presumed "building codes," which certainly is a commonly used term and corresponds with regles. But the intent could be something like customary precepts or principles (or actually rules but then you need a different translation for regles). Depends on what the author's general topic is.
Note from asker:
Thanks. It not so much the grammar I cannot understand, it is the use of codes. Would we actually use this word here?
Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : "Codes" doesn't reallty work here
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
46 mins

the rules must bend/make room for/be adapted to

Any of those would work. I changed "codes" to "rules" because in English the first meaning of "code" isn't rules/laws but secret codes.
Note from asker:
But "rules" is being used in the earlier phrase to refer to something else, which is why I can't use it. Maybe I should look for a synonym?
Peer comment(s):
agree sharon bottom : I like rules here - the rules must be adapted to each person's taste...
18 mins
Thanks!
agree Ph_B (X) : rules must make room for
45 mins
Thanks!
agree Carol Gullidge : rules is fine, but I think accommodate is OK, as is reflect!
58 mins
Thanks!
neutral Tony M : I think (as Ph_B explains elsewhere) that 'codes' are something different from 'rules', which would not I feel be the best translation here.
2 hrs
neutral philgoddard : We've already had "rules" earlier in the sentence, so this doesn't work. In my opinion, "règles" and "codes" mean the same thing.
3 hrs
There is no law that two synonyms in the source language must be translated as two different words in the target.
neutral AllegroTrans : Problem is we've already had rules so the end result is a contradiction
9 hrs
What's contradictory about saying "though there are precise rules, the rules have to bend to make room for personal tastes"?
Something went wrong...
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