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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

fait sa toilette

15:36 Feb 16, 2021
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: fait sa toilette
La mère fait sa toilette dans la SALLE DE BAINS.
peyman eshqi
Iran
Local time: 14:49


Summary of answers provided
5 +4gets washed
Conor McAuley
4 +3has a wash
Nathalie Beaudelot
4 +2spruces herself up
Yelena Perel
5washes up
Barbara Cochran, MFA
4grooms herself
Gregory Marneffe
Summary of reference entries provided
washing
cchat

Discussion entries: 19





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
gets washed


Explanation:

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/faire sa toilette


Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 13:19
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard
32 mins
  -> Thanks Phil!
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: Or "(is) getting washed", continuous form.
47 mins
  -> Thanks Nikki! I didn't have the context when I posted.
agree  Tony M: I don't like this use of a pseudo-passive with 'gets' — it sounds almost like someone is washing her! 'has a wash' would surely be more natural and unambiguous?
48 mins
  -> Thanks Tony! I think it's a question of regional, personal and even historical usage -- I would say I'm having a shower, but maybe the character's wash consisted of a splash of water on the face and a quick brush of the teeth.
agree  Michele Fauble: In my American English usage it’s ‘get cleaned up’.
1 hr
  -> Thanks Michele!
neutral  AllegroTrans: I have to rather cheekily say that this reminds me of those people you see in the queue at Costa saying "can I get two lattes please"
6 hrs
  -> ?
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
spruces herself up


Explanation:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/spruce-...

Yelena Perel
France
Local time: 13:19
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in UkrainianUkrainian, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  AllegroTrans: Your reference shows the term in use but doesn't indicate that it is a translation
5 mins
  -> True; however, I don't think it is our goal to provide a link to a dictionary that includes the term in question. Besides, it is not always possible.
agree  Barbara Cochran, MFA: You beat me to it! Certainly the most literary and inventive option on the page.
23 mins
  -> Thank you
agree  Verginia Ophof
25 mins
  -> Thank you
neutral  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: In context, I can find nothing to suggest this rendering. "To spruce o/s up" means making a special effort to look nice. "Faire sa toilette" is about getting washed, so this is an overtranslation here.//This is anachronous.///Sorry, not anachr. 159/1974.
31 mins
  -> I agree, more context is needed. Not sure it is anachronous, though.
neutral  Tony M: As Nikki says, 'spruces herself up' is over-translation, and also in my view rather colloquial in style for what appears to be the register here.
42 mins
  -> No context was presented when I posted my answer.
neutral  philgoddard: This might work well elsewhere, but in this unusual context the translation needs to be quite plodding and literal.
48 mins
  -> Agree. No context was presented when I posted my answer.
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: over-translation. More about performing her ablutions:-)
2 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
grooms herself


Explanation:
Hello,

I would say "has a wash" or "gets washed" if the focus is on getting clean or rather "grooms herself" if we put the emphasis on the fact she is making herself beautiful.

Best regards

Gregory

Gregory Marneffe
Luxembourg
Local time: 13:19
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: 'grooming' has too specific a connotation to really work here — and seriously risks over-translation
43 mins
neutral  AllegroTrans: agree with TM
1 hr
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: no, that's what a cat does
2 hrs
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
washes up


Explanation:
Another possibility, and the usual translation of the phrase,. Although I actually would have offered the same thing as Yelena if I had responded sooner.

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 07:19
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: This only works in US English, and would sound very odd anywhere else, where it means do the dishes.
2 mins
  -> Bogus disagree, since I am an American translator.
neutral  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: In UK EN, it can be said that s/one "washes up" meaning himself but it is usually qualified, e.g. "washes up a treat, - well". It then means that the person can end up looking fine, nice, etc. once he has made an effort. So OK for UK, but overtranslation.
24 mins
  -> Makes no difference to me what it means in the UK, because like I mentioned before, I am an American translator.
neutral  SafeTex: the idea in my mind is not to rule out either US or UK suggestions but I'd still be very careful about offering up a suggestion in one variant that does not work at all in another if you happen to know that this is so and without warning the asker
2 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
has a wash


Explanation:
that's the way we say it

Nathalie Beaudelot
Ireland
Local time: 12:19
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Vanessa Lewisohn: yes it is !
2 hrs
agree  AllegroTrans: That's the way we say it but please see my comments about the English edition of the original book which surely must be the authority here
4 hrs
agree  Tony M: And as Nikki has pointed out elsewhere, we mustn't forget the possible 'continuous' form: 'is having a wash' or even 'is washing'
4 hrs
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Reference comments


1 day 16 hrs
Reference: washing

Reference information:
Already translated this way on the Unicef website. (Note the translation of "filles".)
“When I have finished washing myself, I check if my girls have finished washing. If they have, we go to school together so we will not be late to school,” says Elaire Gama, 11, who attends the Bembéréké Primary School in a rural farming village in northern Benin.

« Quand j'ai fini ma toilette, je vérifie si « mes filles » ont terminé la leur. Si c'est le cas, nous partons à l'école ensemble pour ne pas arriver en retard, » dit Elaire Gama, 11 ans, qui fréquente l'école primaire de Bembéréké, un village d'agriculteurs d'une zone rurale, au nord du Bénin.


    https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/benin_53376.html
    https://www.unicef.org/french/infobycountry/benin_53376.html
cchat
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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