English term
Belgium
Medical writer, journalist, translator
Native in: French
Works in: English to French, Dutch to French
busybodies
(Barbara Kingsolver - High Tide in Tucson)
| 4 +1 | fouineur, fureteur |
FX Fraipont (X)
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| 4 | un importun, la mouche du coche |
Annie 33
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| 4 -1 | d'aventures de mon enfance |
Jean Charles CODINA
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| 4 -1 | ceux qui s'affairaient autour de moi |
Daryo
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| 3 -1 | bien intentionnés |
kashew
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| 3 -2 | profiteurs |
david henrion
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Aug 14, 2019 11:54: B D Finch changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (3): Beatriz Ramírez de Haro, Daryo, B D Finch
Non-PRO (1): GILLES MEUNIER
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Proposed translations
France
Finance, Insurance, Tourism and Web
Native in: French (Variants: Standard-France, Belgian, Canadian, Swiss) 
, Spanish (Variants: Cuban, Paraguayan, Standard-Spain, Latin American, Chilean, Guatemalan, Panamanian, Venezuelan, Canarian, Puerto Rican, Costa Rican, Dominican, Salvadoran, Mexican, Argentine, Ecuadorian ) 
Works in: Spanish to French, French to Spanish, English to French, and 7 more.
d'aventures de mon enfance
fouineur, fureteur
Au fig., emploi subst. et adj. (Celui, celle) qui s'introduit quelque part et qui fouille partout, dans l'espoir de découvrir ou de s'approprier quelque chose."
"Busybody
a person who pries into or meddles in the affairs of others.
http://dicionary.com/browse/busybody
| neutral |
Daryo
: that would the OK when there is the usual negative connotation, but here it's different.
1 hr
|
| agree |
B D Finch
: Yes, there is a negative connotation, as Daryo notes. However that seems to be exactly the point; the busybodies might have been annoying at the time, but their nosey interferance was associated with warmth and concern.
2 hrs
|
profiteurs
| disagree |
Daryo
: that is not the meaning associated with "busybodies" , and even in this unusual use of "busybodies" it would not make much sense.
1 hr
|
| agree |
GILLES MEUNIER
2 hrs
|
| disagree |
Tony M
: Agree with point made by Daryo; this isn't a general meaning of busybody, and hardly seems to fi the context here.
3 hrs
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| disagree |
kashew
: Try again!
4 hrs
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|
I will, Kashew, I will ... Thx for the inducement !!
|
ceux qui s'affairaient autour de moi
Not exactly what would usually motivate anyone to "ache to be rocked in the bosom of ..." of said individuals.
These particular "busybodies" must have been all kind of non-relatives fussing around the author in her childhood.
"ceux qui s'affairaient autour de moi"
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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-08-14 11:26:10 GMT)
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to state the blindingly obvious, just in case:
this is not the "normal/usual" use of "busybodies " - don't put this in a glossary and give the impression to people not paying enough attention to the context that "busybodies" are supposed to be nice people.
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Note added at 6 hrs (2019-08-14 14:47:37 GMT)
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ceux qui s'affairaient autour de moi = literally: those making themselves busy around me
not particularly negative nor positive, wouldn't sound in discordance with the idea that a child would want "to be rocked in the bosom of ..." such persons.
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Note added at 12 hrs (2019-08-14 21:22:46 GMT)
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some context - to get the general tone / style of the story:
http://dl.lux.bookfi.net/foreignfiction/1184000/749a80a8def6...[Kingsolver_Barbara]_High_Tide_In_Tucson(BookFi).pdf
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Note added at 12 hrs (2019-08-14 21:25:31 GMT)
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the whole passage sounds more nostalgic than ironic to me.
| neutral |
B D Finch
: I think that the point here is that these busybodies were nosey and interfering, but warm and concerned. Their positive features might not have been appreciated in childhood, but only later.
37 mins
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well, the text **was** written later - (several decades later!), so you would reasonably expect that events are described **as perceived later / at the time of writing**?
|
|
| disagree |
GILLES MEUNIER
: ça ne rend pas d'idée de personne intéressée....
45 mins
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| neutral |
kashew
: Irony by the writer I reckon. And BDF has a good point.
3 hrs
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Possible - you would need to read the whole story to get the underlying associations - With what's available, I see it as simply a statement of facts "these people were busy around me" - and I liked them => not your bog standard "busybodies"!
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bien intentionnés
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Note added at 1 jour 1 heure (2019-08-15 09:52:35 GMT)
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do-gooders seems the idea.
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Note added at 1 jour 11 heures (2019-08-15 19:38:18 GMT)
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"...bosom of the blood relations and busybodies...."
Anybody else note the alliteration:4 b's ?
| disagree |
david henrion
: "ache ..." "personnes bien intentionnées" ?! it seems to be a really awkward association.
6 mins
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| neutral |
Daryo
: these particular "busybodies" were probably of the rarest "well-intentioned" variety, but it misses the "busybodies" part
9 mins
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|
Seems it's a haven relative to her difficult later experiences, after leaving home.
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Discussion
Par ailleurs, il faut retenir que le fait qu'une suggestion soit acceptée (ou refusée) ne veut pas toujours dire qu'elle soit juste/pertinente (ou erronée). Outre que seul le demandeur connaît exactement le contexte global, au niveau des "agree/disagree", l'attention aux contenu/références, la culture générale et l'expérience peuvent faire une différence. Et c'est sans compter que des jeux se jouent à l'occasion qui n'ont rien à voir avec la compétence ou l'éthique professionnelle.
After all, we are not here to "gain" anything, are we? The whole point of the KudoZ forum is to HELP each other!
And I suspect it is probably closer to the US meaning of the word.
It seems to me this refers to all the well-meaning "aunties" etc. who congregate round a new baby...
these are not "busybodies" as in "normal" language - it's a case of making jeu de mots / puns - on the fact that kids seem to have endless energy / are restless - same as many nurseries have "bees" in their name.
A red herring.
"il y a des exemples sur le Net où ce terme est employé pour désigner des personnes que signalent à la police les gens qui selon eux ne s'occupent pas correctement de leurs enfants"
It's only one type of "busybodies" - what makes them called "busybodies" is that they perceived as "nosing in other people's business that is not of their concern"; some ordinary employee lecturing others about being late for work could easily be dismissed as being "just a busybody".
"Il venait aussi à la maison un garçon de grand talent, Henri Pagat, ayant le sens du comique des infatués, des mêle-tout..." (L. Daudet, Qd vivait mon père, 1940, p.197)".
https://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/mêle-tout