Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Need some English translated to French

This is topic Need some English translated to French in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Dropbear (Member # 8819) on :

Tooling around with a novel, part of which is set in New Caledonia, and I was wondering if someone can translate into French three simple phrases. I've used one of the online translators for a temp solution, but I need a French-speaker to do it for me for real.

English phrases to be translated:

1. native hut
2. unreasonably argumentative
3. You stupid bitch; if you let yourself get sunburnt then you'll be screaming each time I touch those new *breasts* of yours

Okay, probably sounds weird without the context!

In the last phrase I used the word breasts to preserve a PG rating to this post, but was intending something a little cruder -- in English you would use that word starting with 'T'.

Feel free to reply to post or email directly, particularly if the language of the translation is not appropriate for this forum.

Posted by ScardeyDog (Member # 8707) on :

Hmmm... I'm not a native french speaker, though my highschool diplome claims I'm bilingual, but I'm willing to take a stab at it. Hopefully someone else can come along and confirm or correct me.

1. native hut - you could use "paillote", which translates as "straw hut", or "cabane" which means "cabin" or "shack", or "abri" which means "shelter". I guess it depends on what conotation you want.

2. unreasonably argumentative - "argumentatif" comes up in the dictionary. Or you could use "contrariant" which means "contrary".

3."Garce idiote; Si tu te laisse prendre un coupe de soleil tu vas crie(accent aigu)/hurle(accent aigu) chaque fois que je touche tes nouveaux seins."

It might be "seins nouveaux" instead of "nouveaux seins" or even "seins neuf." I can't remember enough grammar.

"hurler" is a stronger word for "crier", either will work.

"bruler" (with the accent that looks like a hat) is the verb "to burn", but I just looked up "sunburn" and it came up with "prendre un coupe de soleil", so I've substituted that instead.

"seins" is a straight translation for "breasts". I don't know any current slang.

Posted by Dropbear (Member # 8819) on :

Thanks ScardeyDog,

Appreciate that. You're translation of the longer passage is not dissimilar to the online translator!

It described "native huts" as "hutte indigène" and "unreasonably argumentative" as "déraisonnablement raisonné".

Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :

I think Aliette de Bodard (Liloo/Silver3) is in Vietnam at the moment; she's the only French speaker I know who uses Hatrack (or used to, not sure if she still checks in).

Posted by Dropbear (Member # 8819) on :

Thanks tchernabyelo, I'll keep an eye out. I have some contacts in Canada from my CGI business that can probably help, so I'll look them up if this post doesn't turn out fruitful.

Posted by ScardeyDog (Member # 8707) on :

I'm from Canada too, but don't let it fool you. Not all of us speak French.