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  3. Government / Politics

qui se tient par mille fils tendus

00:24 May 20, 2020
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other

French to English translations [PRO]
Government / Politics
French term or phrase: qui se tient par mille fils tendus
I want to make sure I am grasping the proper meaning for the term "fils tendus" as "fils" cans have two meanings: "threads" and "sons". I want to make sure there is no cultural significance that I may be missing. Here is the full passage from a speech by French President Emanuel Macron delivered in October 2018.:

«nous ne sommes pas 66 millions d’individus séparés mais une nation qui se tient par mille fils tendus»

Thank you!
Reg Moss
United States
Local time: 12:45


Summary of answers provided
4 +10held together by a thousand tight threads
Ben Gaia
4 +3joined by a thousand strong threads
Amy Brown (X)
5that is united through unbreakable cords
Nènè Ananaba
4 -3held by thousand stretched threads
Francois Boye
3 -10which is made/formed by thousands of spread sons
Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Summary of reference entries provided
unbreakable threads
Philippa Smith

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


43 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -10
"qui se tient par mille fils tendus"
which is made/formed by thousands of spread sons


Explanation:
... a nation which is made/formed by thousands of spread sons.

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Local time: 11:45
Works in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Ben Gaia: It's wires, not sons in this case.
1 hr
disagree  Carol Gullidge: .... with Ben - not spread sons!
3 hrs
disagree  Tony M: Definitely 'threads' not 'sons' — the image if 'spread sons' would be wholly unsuitable, as well as meaningless.
6 hrs
disagree  liz askew: This makes zero sense.
7 hrs
disagree  AllegroTrans: Total nonsense!
9 hrs
disagree  Nicky Over: Definitely threads, not sons.
12 hrs
disagree  SafeTex: Even if the French sometimes say "Fils de la Nation", "son" is not what is meant here.
19 hrs
disagree  Daryo: when I try to picture what would "thousands of spread sons" look like... all I get is drawing a blank.
1 day 2 hrs
disagree  Yvonne Gallagher: ludicrous and meaningless
1 day 11 hrs
disagree  Nènè Ananaba: The phrase is not to be translated literally. Yours is..
2 days 14 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -3
"qui se tient par mille fils tendus"
held by thousand stretched threads


Explanation:
my take

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 12:45
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: 'stretched' sounds as if they might break, wheras the intention here is surely 'close-knit'; and also, the 'se' need rendering in the sense of 'together'
6 hrs
disagree  AllegroTrans: "thousand" needs to be prefaced by either "one" or "a" - this is basic grammar
9 hrs
disagree  Daryo: agree with Tony - it's about closely linked individuals, not about links between individuals that are about to break.
1 day 12 mins
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +10
"qui se tient par mille fils tendus"
held together by a thousand tight threads


Explanation:
.Could be wires but threads sound more comfortable as far as the metaphor goes. Adding the word "together" in English makes a neat contrast with "separated".

Ben Gaia
New Zealand
Local time: 04:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Carol Gullidge: Prefer tight to stretched as it implies a firm bond
2 hrs
agree  erwan-l
2 hrs
agree  philgoddard: That's more like it!
3 hrs
agree  Tony M: And I'd prefer 'taut' to tight here too!
5 hrs
agree  Philippa Smith: Tho' I'd use "unbreakable threads" (see my ref post) / And I like "bound together".
5 hrs
agree  polyglot45: TAUT
7 hrs
agree  AllegroTrans
8 hrs
agree  Nicky Over: I like 'unbreakable threads' and 'bound together' as well
11 hrs
agree  Timothy Rake: I believe the rhetoric is/should be a bit more eloquent & figurative than literal: “...a thousand tightly woven threads”
11 hrs
agree  Daryo: or any variation of the same - "...a thousand tightly woven threads" is a good one!
1 day 1 hr
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
\"qui se tient par mille fils tendus\"
joined by a thousand strong threads


Explanation:
This is a less literal translation because "held together" sounds a bit ephemeral to me, as if the tendency is to break apart. I doubt that's what Macron wanted to put across.

And I've used "strong" in place of "tight" because there's a bit too much alliteration for my taste in "thousand tight threads."

Amy Brown (X)
United States
Local time: 12:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Daryo
13 hrs
agree  Yvonne Gallagher
22 hrs
agree  AllegroTrans
23 hrs
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2 days 15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
that is united through unbreakable cords


Explanation:

This reminds me of a biblical passage "A cord of three strands is not easily broken'. Thus referring or evoking an image relating to to the ties and bonds that hold societies and people together

Nènè Ananaba
United States
Local time: 11:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in IgboIgbo
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Reference comments


7 hrs peer agreement (net): +5
Reference: unbreakable threads

Reference information:
"Une référence aux « mille fils confiants dont pas un ne devait se rompre », évoqués dans Les feuillets d’Hypnos par René Char, l’un de ses poètes préférés, pour raconter la résistance d’un village français face aux SS."

So I see it as "unbreakable" (implied) threads that bind us all together" ("tendus" in the sense of "that stretch between each of us, rather than "tight").


    https://www.lemonde.fr/emmanuel-macron/article/2018/10/17/macron-tente-de-renouer-le-fil-avec-les-francais_5370663_5008430.html
Philippa Smith
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks so much. I figured there was a reference there, somewhere. Makes perfect sense.


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  ph-b (X)
5 mins
  -> Thanks ph-b!
agree  writeaway: omits any hint of pain and/or strangulation
43 mins
  -> Haha! Yeah, probably not the sort of vibe he wanted to put across, en "bon père de la nation"! ;-)
agree  Daryo
17 hrs
  -> Thanks Daryo!
agree  Yvonne Gallagher: "unbreakable threads that bind us all together" would work well as an answer
1 day 4 hrs
agree  AllegroTrans
1 day 5 hrs
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