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des greniers aux inquiétants souterrains

17:06 Nov 16, 2010
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere

French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Tourism & Travel / a website for a chateau
French term or phrase: des greniers aux inquiétants souterrains
Good afternoon/evening,

I am not sure of the use of the above term: as to whether they are listing the various places to see within this chateau : such "...from the attics to the ..." or is it simply: "...attics to the disturbing/scary underground passages..." ?

La visite du château
"De nombreuses pièces meublées sont ouvertes à la visite : du raffinement d’un salon des liqueurs aux coulisses des cuisines, des greniers aux inquiétants souterrains, les propriétaires du château de LYYYY livrent tous ses secrets…"

I thank you all in advance for your help.

Best,

Richard
Richard Levy (X)
United States
Local time: 17:59


Summary of answers provided
3 +11from topmost turret to darkest dungeon
Carol Gullidge
4 +5from the attics to the spooky underground passages
Laurence Bisot
4 +1from the attic to the spooky cellar
Babelfrog
3 +1from the attics to the frightening cellar passages
chaplin
3 +1from the uppermost garrets to disquieting underground passages
Marian Vieyra
3mysterious passageways below (mystery can provoke "eerie" feelings)
MatthewLaSon


Discussion entries: 15





  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
from the attics to the frightening cellar passages


Explanation:
I did think of scary but it is not the right register.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 mins (2010-11-16 17:26:27 GMT)
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frightening underground vaults sounds good to me

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 25 mins (2010-11-16 17:31:42 GMT)
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C'est toi qui prends la décision et je suis sûre que ce sera la bonne! Bon
courage!

chaplin
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:59
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: Merci beaucoup Ségolène. Je vais peut-être utiliser 'frightening'.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: frightening underground passages
5 mins
  -> merci Tony! Bonne soirée!
neutral  Helen Shiner: Since this is a website aimed at encouraging people to visit, the use of the word, 'frightening' would really put people off./Scared, perhaps, rather than frightened.
1 hr
  -> I thought people like to be frightened why do we have a ghost tour of Derby here which takes place at night?!
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45 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
from the attic to the spooky cellar


Explanation:
I like "spooky" better that "scary" there. Also, I think "attic" should be singular.

Babelfrog
France
Local time: 02:59
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for your help Babelfrog!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mark Hamlen: I like this
11 mins
neutral  Tony M: Don't agree about 'attic' (sg.); my house may have an attic, sure.. but castles etc. have huge, rambling 'attics'; I can remember one very frightning experience I had in a château just like the one described here...
1 hr
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52 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +11
from topmost turret to darkest dungeon


Explanation:
depending on the register of course, I'd forget about the literal translation (attics and cellars sounds a bit like estate-agents' blurb!) and go for a bit of rhetoric for dramatic effect.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 54 mins (2010-11-16 18:01:14 GMT)
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... and lighthearted fun, of course!

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:59
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 62
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for your help too Carol!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helen Shiner: Yes, we need to remember this is supposed to encourage visitors!
43 mins
  -> many thanks Helen :)
agree  sporran
48 mins
  -> many thanks sporran!
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X): a bit more poetic and enticing visitors to actually come and enjoy this castle (even with skeletons in the closet? :))
1 hr
  -> many thanks Ingeborg :)
agree  Sheila Wilson: an improvement on the source term!
1 hr
  -> many thanks Sheila :)
agree  Catharine Cellier-Smart
6 hrs
  -> many thanks Catharine!
agree  Yolanda Broad: It's good to go with the descriptively familiar - more enticing that way.
6 hrs
  -> many thanks Yolanda :)
agree  Kim Martin
13 hrs
  -> many thanks kmartin!
agree  Sandra Petch: Absolutely lovely! (I was actually wondering if châteaux had attics).
14 hrs
  -> many thanks Sandra :)
agree  Jocelyne S: This certainly sounds the most natural and appealing.
14 hrs
  -> many thanks Jocelyne :)
agree  Simo Blom
1 day 2 hrs
  -> many thanks Simo!
agree  James Emery: Very nice turn of phrase! :-)
1 day 3 hrs
  -> many thanks James :)
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
from the attics to the spooky underground passages


Explanation:
spooky is frightening but attractive for visitors looking for sensations; cellar seems too reductive, as there may be tunnels and secret passages that are more spooky than cellars.


Laurence Bisot
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:59
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hi Laurence. Thanks for your input. As of now, I am planning to use underground passages but have not decided on my adjective for 'inquiétant'.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Babelfrog: Yes, I like this one best.
20 mins
agree  Sheila Wilson: works for me
33 mins
agree  chaplin: I ma glad my suggestion of spooky mentioned earlier inspired you
1 hr
agree  Marion Feildel (X)
1 hr
agree  Simo Blom
1 day 57 mins
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
from the uppermost garrets to disquieting underground passages


Explanation:
A late entry...

Marian Vieyra
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:59
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 3
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for your help too Marian.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  janthony (X)
17 mins
  -> Thank you, jad10
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
mysterious passageways below (mystery can provoke "eerie" feelings)


Explanation:
Hello,

I understand what everyone is saying in saying that "inquiétants" can indeed mean "eerie"; that said, there is another closely-related meaning of this French adjective: mysterious (which seems to work well here, too)

Qui intrigue, qui est étrange, mystérieux. Inquiétante atmosphère; bois, sourire inquiétant; inquiétantes légendes; yeux inquiétants. Les choses prennent une tournure de mystère, de drames. Il y a je ne sais quoi d'inquiétant dans le rouge des rideaux, dans le noir d'ébène (Goncourt, Journal, 1863, p. 1209). Le plus étrange et le plus inquiétant des « physiciens romantiques » est sans doute Ritter, ce jeune mystique qui fut l'intime de Novalis (Béguin, Âme romant., 1939, p. 67) :

http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/inquietant


Mysterious underground passages and secret subterranean ways that are almost certainly much more than innocuous water tunnels — or smugglers' hiding places ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=R53cdDOMrckC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA...

"Mysterious" can imply "eerie", can't it?

I hope this helps.

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 20:59
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 23
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hello Matthew. Thanks for that great input.

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