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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

A un poil d'éléphant près

English translation:

an elephant's whisker away

Added to glossary by Allan Jeffs
Sep 2, 2004 08:48
19 yrs ago
French term

A un poil d'éléphant près

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Hello again ,

Any idea of translation for this expression ?


Thanks
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 within a whisker
4 +1 within a hair's breadth
3 See comment below...

Proposed translations

+3
1 hr
French term (edited): A un poil d'�l�phant pr�s
Selected

within a whisker

Malaysian comes within a whisker of quarter-finals - [ Traduire cette page ]
CYCLIST Josiah Ng came within a whisker of qualifying for the quarter-finals of
the men's 200m sprint at the Olympic Velodrome Sunday. thestar.com.my. ...
thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/ 2004/8/23/sports/8732341&sec=sports

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Note added at 1 hr 17 mins (2004-09-02 10:06:37 GMT)
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He May Only Be A Whisker Away - [ Traduire cette page ]
In The Press Home. He May Only Be A Whisker Away Julia Horton AS urban myths
go, you can\'t get much bigger than the big cat. Reports ...
www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/ourpress306.htm

I think this is even better: A WHISKER AWAY

And as my colleague suggests if necessary you can add \"elephant\"
-> An elephant\'s whisker away
Peer comment(s):
agree Michele Fauble
2 mins
Merci Michele
agree Anthony Chalkley (X)
21 mins
Thanks Anthony
neutral nothing : elephant's whiskers?
1 hr
bovineinversus.com/dreamtongue.html "... like the whiskers of an elephant..." Yes, those 'poils' in the mouth region, you know"
agree Alfa Trans (X)
2 days 1 hr
Thanks Marju
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks"
2 hrs
French term (edited): A un poil d'�l�phant pr�s

See comment below...

Both Allan and Suezen have come up with good suggestions, I just wanted to add that whether they are usable or not will depend on the rest of your sentence; the French construction could have a slightly skewed meaning, depending on exactly how it is being used.

Also, I don't believe that 'elephant' is entirely optional; we have a rather vulgar expression in English that goes something like "a gnat's cock-hair" or variants on that; this sort of thing might be more appropriate (sanitized!), depending on your whole context.
Something went wrong...
+1
1 hr
French term (edited): A un poil d'�l�phant pr�s

within a hair's breadth

this is the normal expression, but here the word elephant has been inserted. You could do the same in English if you want, i.e. within an elephant's hair's breadth

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Note added at 1 hr 11 mins (2004-09-02 10:00:47 GMT)
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or a close shave

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Note added at 2 hrs 44 mins (2004-09-02 11:33:14 GMT)
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I\'m going to shoot myself in the foot again, and say that as it\'s an animal then Allan\'s idea of a whisker is closer, which gives us \'within an elephant\'s whisker\'!!
Peer comment(s):
agree nothing : within an elephant's hair's breath, because elephant hairs are wider than people's, so it must have tried to say it was not so close as a a hair's bredth
1 hr
thanks
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