Sep 16, 2012 08:37
11 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term
ecueil
French to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Semantics/grammatical
Hello
I have already translated this word in a number of phrases as 'pitfalls'
Now I have just come across a list with
1 Ecueil des promesses non tenues par l'entreprise
2 Ecueil de l’avantage concurrentiel banalisé
3 Ecueil des attentes réelles du marché
I'm surprised by this usage of the word and the three phrases are not in Lingee either
Can anyone help please?
I have already translated this word in a number of phrases as 'pitfalls'
Now I have just come across a list with
1 Ecueil des promesses non tenues par l'entreprise
2 Ecueil de l’avantage concurrentiel banalisé
3 Ecueil des attentes réelles du marché
I'm surprised by this usage of the word and the three phrases are not in Lingee either
Can anyone help please?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | trap |
rkillings
|
| 3 +2 | problem or issue |
cchat
|
| 4 | obstacle |
Alan Douglas (X)
|
| 4 | hazard |
Cyril B.
|
| 3 | Use different word each time |
Lara Barnett
|
Change log
Sep 16, 2012 10:36: philgoddard changed "Field (specific)" from "Linguistics" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"
Proposed translations
20 hrs
Selected
trap
And use it every time.
After all, a pitfall is just a particular kind of trap.
And which sense of the word 'trap' n.? Sense 2: "an unpleasant situation from which it is hard to escape" (Compact Oxford). That fits 'em all.
After all, a pitfall is just a particular kind of trap.
And which sense of the word 'trap' n.? Sense 2: "an unpleasant situation from which it is hard to escape" (Compact Oxford). That fits 'em all.
1 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Hello
I just had to follow rkillings advice on this one and use multiple solutions"
+2
7 mins
problem or issue
Undertranslating, but "the issue of" might work in this list.
16 mins
obstacle
écueil nm (figurative) obstacle; (piège, danger) pitfall; (pierre d'achoppement)) stumbling block.
http://www.wordreference.com/fren/écueil.
Stumbling block could work for one iteration but not in a list
http://www.wordreference.com/fren/écueil.
Stumbling block could work for one iteration but not in a list
39 mins
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African, British, Scottish) 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
42
Use different word each time
If the same word does not flow in the English particularly well, why not just adjust the word to fit the relevant collocation/meaning/phrase in a way which has an English sound. As long as you convey the correct meaning, I don't think using the same word every time matters if it doesn't work in the target text.
Possible words you could use:
"difficulty
Definition: problem; situation requiring great effort
Synonyms: adversity, arduousness, awkwardness, barricade, check, complication, crisis, crux, dead end, deadlock, deep water, dilemma, distress, emergency, exigency, fix*, frustration, hardship, hazard, hindrance, hitch*, hot water, impasse, knot*, labor, laboriousness, mess, misfortune, muddle, obstacle, obstruction, pain, painfulness, paradox, perplexity, pickle, predicament, quagmire, quandary, scrape*, snag*, stew, strain, strait, strenuousness, struggle, stumbling block, tribulation, trouble"
http://thesaurus.com/browse/pitfall?s=t
Possible words you could use:
"difficulty
Definition: problem; situation requiring great effort
Synonyms: adversity, arduousness, awkwardness, barricade, check, complication, crisis, crux, dead end, deadlock, deep water, dilemma, distress, emergency, exigency, fix*, frustration, hardship, hazard, hindrance, hitch*, hot water, impasse, knot*, labor, laboriousness, mess, misfortune, muddle, obstacle, obstruction, pain, painfulness, paradox, perplexity, pickle, predicament, quagmire, quandary, scrape*, snag*, stew, strain, strait, strenuousness, struggle, stumbling block, tribulation, trouble"
http://thesaurus.com/browse/pitfall?s=t
2 hrs
hazard
or 'risk'
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2012-09-16 11:13:56 GMT)
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add 'posed by':
'risks posed by...'
'hazards posed by...'
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2012-09-16 11:35:03 GMT)
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'threat', possibly.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2012-09-16 11:13:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
add 'posed by':
'risks posed by...'
'hazards posed by...'
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2012-09-16 11:35:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
'threat', possibly.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
writeaway
: in this context?? Ecueil de l’avantage concurrentiel banalisé? this is a risk or a hazard?
10 mins
|
|
yes, in this context!! / exactly what do you believe an 'écueil' is? an opportunity? :>
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Discussion
I'm back to have a look and I can't see for the moment how 'hasards' or 'obstacles' is going to get me out of this bind
I have to go along with polyglot45 and LaraBarnett that I will need to 'rework' the list with another term or omission of 'ecueil' for the moment
Thanks everyone
They could also be "potential traps", "potential failings"