joue par sa transparence des gammes cristallines

English translation: its translucence plays crystalline cadences

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:joue par sa transparence des gammes cristallines
English translation:its translucence plays crystalline cadences
Entered by: Carol Gullidge

20:01 Nov 23, 2010
French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Cosmetics, Beauty / perfume
French term or phrase: joue par sa transparence des gammes cristallines
« Fidèle reflet de la créativité XXXX, intimement cohérent avec ses valeurs et ses exigences, YYYY est une cascade d’émotionsYYYY interpelle l’âme au service des sens et de l’esprit, ******joue par sa transparence des gammes cristallines****** et provoque des émotions nouvelles.

...where XXXX and YYYY are the names of the brand and the fragrance respectively

I'm stuck mainly on "jouer" or "jouer de" in this context, and would be most grateful for any help - many thanks!
Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
its translucence plays crystal notes
Explanation:
A humble try
Selected response from:

Sandra Mouton
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Grading comment
many thanks Sandra, and all of you! In the end, I used "its transparency playing crystalline cadences", and this was accepted by the client without demur

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 -1its crystalline transparency...
philgoddard
3it glimmers with prismatic flashes of light
Evans (X)
3its translucence plays crystal notes
Sandra Mouton
2 +1invisibly orchestrates a rainbow of crystals
Rachel Fell
3XXX opts for crystal clear / transparent (fragrances)
ormiston
3plays on the transparency of crystal (creates an effect with)
MatthewLaSon
Summary of reference entries provided
Music?
Anna Quail

Discussion entries: 15





  

Answers


48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
its crystalline transparency...


Explanation:
...evoking sensations that you never knew existed.

Or something like that. This kind of stuff is almost untranslatable, so you have to write something that makes sense in English and contains at least a few of the key French words (transparence, cristallines, emotions)

philgoddard
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: many thanks for the help, Phil! I know what you mean about the difficulties in translation. My problem here is trying to figure out - even roughly - what they mean in the first place ;)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Lionel_M (X): ce sont les gammes qui sont cristallines, pas la transparence//But can't change the fundamentals :)
1 hr
  -> I know, but I think you're missing the point - you have to take liberties with copy like this.
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
it glimmers with prismatic flashes of light


Explanation:
Just thought I'd chuck another one into the mix. It may be over the top, but that is the name of the game with this kind of text.

Good luck!

Evans (X)
Local time: 15:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 44
Notes to answerer
Asker: many thanks Gilla - it certainly is!

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17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
its translucence plays crystal notes


Explanation:
A humble try

Sandra Mouton
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
many thanks Sandra, and all of you! In the end, I used "its transparency playing crystalline cadences", and this was accepted by the client without demur
Notes to answerer
Asker: many thanks Sandra, and all of you! In the end, I used "its transparency playing crystalline cadences", and this was accepted by the client without demur

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16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
invisibly orchestrates a rainbow of crystals


Explanation:
invisibly orchestrates a rainbow of crystals
sets off a transparent rainbow of crystals

not really sure;-)

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Note added at 18 hrs (2010-11-24 14:02:50 GMT)
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sparkling/glittering cadences
sparkling crystal cadences

Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:01
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 35
Notes to answerer
Asker: thanks for the help Rachel - this may be closer than you think, and it all helps!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lionel_M (X): Beautifull !
2 hrs
  -> Thank you Lionel ;-)
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
XXX opts for crystal clear / transparent (fragrances)


Explanation:
I gree with Phil that the French is OTT and the English should remain a little more prim if it is to remain plausible. I've maybe pared it down a bit too much

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2010-11-24 11:07:09 GMT)
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Maybe you could 'crystalise' the idea into "uses transparency to compelling effect, (the fragrances) arousing....'
A bit of interpretation is necessary here !

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2010-11-24 14:05:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I've been toying with 'notes' too, Sandra - imagining clinking chandelier chiming sounds in fragrance form !! but it's tricky

ormiston
Local time: 16:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 37
Notes to answerer
Asker: thanks for the help ormiston! Must admit, I'm finding it hard to render into readable and acceptable English!

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1 day 7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
plays on the transparency of crystal (creates an effect with)


Explanation:
Hello,

I think that it "jouer" here "play on" to create an effect with", quite simply,

This word can be really hard to translate in some contexts, so I do sympathize.

joue par = "plays on" in the sense of "creates an effect (faire des effets as in "faire des effets de lumière, etc)


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I hope this helps.

I hope this helps.



MatthewLaSon
Local time: 11:01
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for the help Matthew - especially the explanation!

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Reference comments


13 hrs
Reference: Music?

Reference information:
Am I the only one who immediately thinks of music when I read that sentence? Strange!

To me, ‘jouer des gammes’ evokes music (or at least practising the piano – not necessarily very musical!). If you turn the phrase round, it would read ‘joue des gammes cristallines par sa transparence’ or ‘par sa transparence, joue des gammes cristallines’. In this case, the word ‘cristallines’ would be referring to the sound (un son cristallin). The image I have is of a skilled pianist’s nimble fingers playing about with the high notes on a piano. I can hear it in my head, but that’s not much use to you! :-)

Maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here, as there’s obviously a play on words with transparence/cristallines, but I thought it was worth mentioning.


    Reference: http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=jouer+des+gammes
    Reference: http://www.google.com/search?hl=fr&q=son+cristallin
Anna Quail
France
Native speaker of: English
Note to reference poster
Asker: excellent - thanks Flo! I think you are indeed the first to have spotted this. ...Tinkling as opposed to tinkering on the piano :O)

Asker: PS, I think Rachel was heading in that direction with "orchestrate", but still the penny didn't drop chez moi!

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