Liasse de Billets

English translation: virtual cash

07:31 Sep 4, 2017
French to English translations [PRO]
Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino / Lottery
French term or phrase: Liasse de Billets
Comes up often in a blurb that tries to get people to take part in a kind of lottery, here a few examples:
Vous allez pouvoir profiter d’une belle Liasse de Billets pour vous TOUT DE SUITE cher XXX

...de vous offrir IMMEDIATEMENT et sans attendre, une belle Liasse de 7 Billets tout neufs d’une valeur de 3.500,00 € pour vous permettre de souffler un peu.

Votre Liasse de 7 Billets d’une valeur de 3.500,00 € se trouve dans une grosse
enveloppe scellée et cachetée à votre NOM ...

My first thought was "wad/bundle of notes", but somehow both lack pith. Thought "wads of cash" to be bit too colloquial, but perhaps the better solution?
The text was also translated in to German. The translator opted for "Scheinebündel", also lacking in pith...

TIA for your input
Jonathan MacKerron
English translation:virtual cash
Explanation:
It is true that you don't always initially win real money in such games. It is often virtual money that can be cashed in for real money, other prizes, or further goes at the game. I once worked on a game that had people win "gold points" for this purpose.
I would keep in vague unless you have further clues in your text. In this case, perhaps you could put "piles of virtual cash" or something like that. I think the word "virtual" is important here to avoid confusion.
Selected response from:

David Hayes
France
Local time: 16:51
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4virtual cash
David Hayes
4 +2handful of cash
Tony M
4 +1Wedge
B D Finch
3 +2bundle of notes
OMAR HAMANI
Summary of reference entries provided
Larousse Fr-En
writeaway

Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Wedge


Explanation:
You haven't specified what version of English you want, and I think this is specifically British English. Given the rather high value (€3,500), I think this expression might be appropriate.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:51
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: But the text says that the €3,500 is represented by only 7 notes — so neither 'wad' nor 'wedge' seems really ideal? Not the denominations, but the number of notes.
24 mins
  -> As it's not real money, perhaps the denominations aren't that relevant.

agree  Daryo
19 hrs
  -> Thanks Daryo
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
virtual cash


Explanation:
It is true that you don't always initially win real money in such games. It is often virtual money that can be cashed in for real money, other prizes, or further goes at the game. I once worked on a game that had people win "gold points" for this purpose.
I would keep in vague unless you have further clues in your text. In this case, perhaps you could put "piles of virtual cash" or something like that. I think the word "virtual" is important here to avoid confusion.

David Hayes
France
Local time: 16:51
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway: virtual yes! that's the word. not thrilled about cash if it's only paper money though. but asker is, so I guess that's all that matters./ignore the disagree. it's just tossed in out of habit.
17 mins
  -> As I understand it, cash covers both coins and notes but does not ALWAYS mean coins and notes together. E.g. saying "I was paid in cash" does not automatically mean I received a mixture of coins and notes.

agree  Tony M: I think this is a good way round the problem Asker has subsequently highlighted, without appearing to misrepresent the truth.
21 mins

agree  Lori Cirefice: how about virtual wallet, or billfold?
2 hrs

agree  Yvonne Gallagher
5 hrs

neutral  B D Finch: They are real pieces of paper, while "virtual" things exist in cyberspace. Perhaps "token" could work?
6 hrs
  -> 'Token' sounds old-fashioned to me. Sure you're not thinking of "digital currency"https://discover.rbcroyalbank.com/digital-currency-what-the-... and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-virtual-cryptocurrenc...

disagree  Daryo: that may well be true, but that's NOT what this marketing BS says ... It's not the translators business to show that the emperor is naked - if the ST says "finest fabric" so be it!
19 hrs
  -> Does this very strange comment add anything to the discussion here?

agree  Rachel Fell
2 days 2 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
bundle of notes


Explanation:


OMAR HAMANI
Algeria
Local time: 16:51
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in ArabicArabic

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Daryo
18 hrs

agree  GILOU
10 days
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
liasse de billets
handful of cash


Explanation:
Given that they aren't talking actually about very MANY banknotes, it would hardly qualify as a 'wad' — but I think a 'handful' nicely conveys the idea of attractive winnings.

However, changing 'notes' to 'cash' in my view reinforces this and makes it a lot more pithy — think "holiding folding" and "handfuls of money"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 heure (2017-09-04 09:00:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Perhaps 'fistful' would be better, as in 'A fistful of Dollars'

But as you say, if it's Monopoly money, this might not work — unless you put "cash" in quotes; or as David suggests, add 'virtual'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 heures (2017-09-04 14:24:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Writeaway seems to object to 'handful', on the grounds that it is sometimes used to mean 'only a few' of something — where that 'something' is normally to be expected in greater numbers.

However, that is not any hard-and-fast rule, since it entirely depends on what the 'something' is, and in what kind of quantity it might be expected — for example: "I told her to take a sweet, and she grabbed a handful!"

"Here is a £5 note"
"Here is a handful of £5 notes"

Tony M
France
Local time: 16:51
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Notes to answerer
Asker: Yes, the "cash" bit does indeed add pith. Thanks.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: cash can be coins as well. in US English, notes are also referred to as bills/only if they're shooting from the hip.../looking again, a handful is used to denote a small amount. A handful of spectators, dishes etc. /fistful is much better.
31 mins
  -> Yes, but in the context, a handful of loose changes obviously wouldn't have any meaning. 'notes' is not unambiguous in EN-GB. Perhaps 'fistful' would be better, as in 'A fistful of Dollars' / It really depends on what it is a handful of.

agree  Daryo
20 hrs
  -> Thanks, Daryo!

agree  Sasha Barral-Robinson: We would definitely be able to say wads of cash in NZ English, bundles of cash sounds best in the actual translation context though. However, you'll have to adapt this to take into account the '7 billets' they mention.
2 days 53 mins
  -> Thanks, Sasha!

agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: This is colloquial and virtual so it is all about imagery. I see nothing wrong with "wad of cash", "fistful of cash" or this suggestion.
2 days 2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Nikki!

disagree  GILOU: cash, ça peut être du liquide.....
10 days
  -> 'cash' is used in many ways in EN, it doesn't JUST mean 'small change'; but when talking about large amounts of money, this is idiomatic and colloquial; curious you haven't disagreed for the same reason with another answer proposing 'cash'
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Reference comments


47 mins peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Larousse Fr-En

Reference information:
liasse
nom féminin
[de billets] wad
[de documents] bundle
des liasses de billets dépassaient de son portefeuille wads of banknotes OU notes were sticking out of his wallet

writeaway
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: Given the context, I like "fistful of cash". But "budnle of banknotes" is not bad, and "wad of cash/banknotes" would be fine too.
2 days 2 hrs
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