English to French translation

Language and familiarity

December 8, 2006

During my first tea-break today, I was saying to a friend that although I have a fairly wide vocabulary, which I rely on heavily in my work, I actually don’t make use of it in everyday speech. I tend to use the same words again and again, mainly out of habit, and this has an impact on the precision and the richness of what I say. Further on in the conversation, he used a word that I had never heard before, and which exemplifies perfectly what I was trying to say. We were talking about works of art which have resonated with us in the past, and as he is a big fan of Shakespeare’s, he said that the quote

To thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

was particularly apposite because as a parent, a husband and a friend, there are so many demands on him that following a simple rule like this gives him a guiding light.

"Apposite" immediately struck me as a lovely word, and although it is a direct synonym of "pertinent", "apt", "well-adapted", etc., somehow the fact that it is not widely used added depth to its meaning and made what my friend said particularly powerful and resonant. I also instinctively recognised the Latin origin of apposite (ad- "near" + ponere "to place"), which makes it quite a visual word: this quote is put right next to him, accompanying him and helping him out along the way. I think that being lazy with language, relying too much on familiar words can have an adverse impact on the conversion of our thoughts and emotions into language, and may even lead to an erosion of who we really are.

Or am I in too reflective a mood today?

Comments

Lighten up darlin'! It's Friday after all, and some of us crazycats are feeling frivolous and frisky. Stop this reflective madness and buy a Crunchie.
Marg

I too am feeling strangely frivolous and frisky while reflecting on the meaning of life. That's what happens when your Friday is sandwiched between Pan's Labyrinth and your office Christmas party. Get thee a cheese-based snack, I'm off to buy a Milky Way.

Never mind about English words you don't know: I bet you don't use half the English words you do know. This just shows that you have become attuned to our linguistic habits: there are far more words in our language than in French, but we use a much smaller proportion of them.
Anyway, have a nice Christmas.

...and by the way, Shakespeare portrayed Polonius as a senile old fool and his advice is drivel ("neither a borrower or a lender be.."). What's it mean, "To thine own self be true"? Is it the same as "fais ce que tu voudras"? In other words, if your nature is vile, you must be vile?

In that case Tony, could I borrow a grand and would you mind lending me your DVD collection?

And yes, if you're vile, then be vile. People will find out eventually, so you might as well let them know what they're in for. As someone mildly amusing once said: "People took an instant dislike to him in order to save time." Polonius was on the button, and to be fair, Laertes was about to jump on a horse and hot-hoof it out of there, so Polonius didn't have a lot of time to work up his speech. Afterwards, he was probably pacing up and down saying to himself "Damn! I should have said, be a borrower NOT a lender."

Paul: No you can't and yes I would. You see, I am by nature hard-nosed and miserly, and utterly true to myself.

As someone else mildly amusing once said,"You had to stand in line to hate him".

"Apposite" is indeed sadly neglected. In French, the only word close to it (using the latin ad+ponere) would be "apposer", usually used to mean "affix", as in a signature.

But... a poser for our British friends: how should one pronounce "apposite"? Specifically the last syllable: should it be as in "bite", or as in "exquisite"? I've heard both.

As in bite, definitely.

I beg to differ. The pronunciation is ['æ-pê-zit]. The word rhymes with exquisite, requisite, opposite.

What? What?! Well, I have looked it up in several places and, yes, you are right Jean-Paul. I've been mispronouncing this word as long as I've known it. I guess that's quite common in your first language, depending on your social background and all sorts of things. But in a second language, I think if I know a word I probably pronounce it correctly. Retires embarrassed.

Being in a reflective mood leads to positive self-improvement. Indeed, I realise that the way we talk does diminish our worth in many ways. It's only within our translations, when we struggle to find the absolute best terms to express what an author meant that we excel. I shall not tell you to "lighten up" or to "forget about fancy words". Accuracy is important not only in translation but in daily speech also. It conveys our true image and meaning. Those who find it pompous just don't belong to our usual circles and why not? I just find synonymous words for them to understand me and accept them among my friends just as well, warts and all. They all know I mainly translate legal and highly formal documents and have a hard time switching to plain English at times.

It's a delight to "meet" you Céline!

Fabienne Walker-Monod (aka texasweed)
Fr->En translator.

May I suggest you add wordreference French/English forum to your links?
It has gotten me out of tight spots more than once...

"Apposite" has gained a special usage; you can talk about the "apposite sex" meaning the sex to which one is attracted. It's a piece of inclusive language that covers both hetro and homosexual attractions. Blogger Tensor mentions it here: http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/2005/09/great_turn_of_p.html

Love it! Thanks!

Hi,

I was wondering if the French word "opposable" can
sometimes means "apposite", when used in the sense
of the topical phrase in France these days of "le droit
au logement opposable"?

I realise that the English translation of this "droit" would
hardly use the word "apposite", but it's the specific
meaning of "opposable" here which intrigues me!

Thanks in advance for any comments!
-Brendan.

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