aller se rhabiller

English translation: can just button themselves up

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	aller se rhabiller
English translation:	can just button themselves up
Entered by:	B D Finch

16:47 Nov 7, 2012

French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Textiles / Clothing / Fashion / marketing (con)text

French term or phrase: aller se rhabiller

Hello!
Any creative energy out there to help with this one? The context is from a description of a well-known provocative fashion designer so there is a pun, but all ideas are welcome!
Thanks!

Here's the sentence:

L'attitude prévaut sur le vêtement. La sexualité dominante s'affiche et les stéréotypes peuvent aller se rhabiller.

Idna KudoZ activity Questions: 122 (3 open) (3 without valid answers) (15 closed without grading) Answers: 0
Local time: 11:59

can just button themselves up

Explanation:
i.e. they can go away and shut up.

Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 11:59

Grading comment

This, combined with Emma's comment above, fit best in terms of tone and meaning. I put "can just button it". Thank you for the suggestion B.D., and thanks to ALL for a fun and compelling discussion. I appreciate all the ideas!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

go back to the changing room (on the way out)

Daryo

4 +2

get knotted/stuffed

Kate Collyer

3 +2

can just button themselves up

B D Finch

redress themselves

FoundInTrans

3 +1

don't make the cut

Emma Paulay

3 +1

might as well forget it

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

3 +1

to get a dressing down

Sarah Bessioud

4 -1

lost the battle

veronique1972

rewrite it

Wolf Draeger

4 -1

Go, Get dressed!

Salih YILDIRIM

3 -1

re-think/refresh their wardrobe

Verginia Ophof

Summary of reference entries provided

Les autres n’ont qu’à aller se rhabiller!

Daryo

Discussion entries: 7

Answers

40 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

re-think/refresh their wardrobe

Explanation:
the stereotypes can go re-think/refresh their wardrobe/ rags/closet

Example sentence(s):

Ed Masry: In a law firm you may want to re-think your wardrobe a little.

Reference: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich_%28film%29

Verginia Ophof
Belize
Local time: 03:59
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 26

41 mins confidence:

redress themselves

Explanation:
A similar pun I feel. I hope you like it. Redresser in French indeed means repress in English (see link) so it's almost a word for word pun.

To redress oneself in English means to correct oneself, hence the need for the reflexive in English to translate this play on words.

Reference: http://enfr.dict.cc/?s=redress

FoundInTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:59
Native speaker of: English

51 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

don't make the cut

Explanation:
It's actually a golfing term, but "cut" "fits" well (pardon the pun) in a clothing context.

Emma Paulay
France
Local time: 11:59
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 36

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

go back to the changing room (on the way out)

Explanation:
"les stéréotypes peuvent aller se rhabiller."
=>
"stereotypes have been defeated for good"

"Ils (elles) peuvent aller se rhabiller" basically means "they've lost, they should get off the stage / out of the competition arena / vacate the playing field ; go back to the dressing/changing rooms and get back into their everyday cloths (se rhabiller) and go away."

Instead of the plain "have been defeated" you could try some imagery to the same effect, right now my proposal is all I could think of.

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:59
Native speaker of:

Serbian,

French
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Nikki Scott-Despaigne: or "can head for the exit", "make their way to door"...

8 mins

-> sure many variants are possible "can head for the exit" would be fine here

neutral

Kate Collyer: This fits very well for a sporting context (though maybe the most idiomatic way of putting it would be "to take an early bath"), but not so well here.

11 mins

-> Thanks!

neutral

Timothy Rake: Actually, I like very much Nikki's suggestion "...head for the exit." Suggest that you post it Nikki!

21 mins

-> Me too!

agree

FoundInTrans: yes this is good, i like it, it's not too clever but it is apt

6 hrs

-> translating puns is tricky, rarely perfect.

neutral

Emma Paulay: You can do whatever you like of course, but I reserve a 5 confidence rate for clear-cut black/white terms.

18 hrs

-> confidence 5 is about the meaning; sure many variants are possible, Nikki's "can head for the exit" is shorter and maybe better suited here.

disagree

Salih YILDIRIM: Longer than original phrase!

24 days

-> shorter is not always better - getting the meaning and the register right is the most important, finding something nice and short is just a bonus, not the primary target.

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

get knotted/stuffed

Explanation:
As per discussion.

Kate Collyer
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:59
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 17

Notes to answerer

Asker: Special thanks to you Kate for all your creative ideas.

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

lost the battle

Explanation:
The Dominatrix trend clearly won the day, while stereotypes lost a battle.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2012-11-07 18:13:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I know that it does drop the fashion imagery for a more violent one ( to keep the S&M idea )

veronique1972
United States
Local time: 03:59
Native speaker of:

French

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

might as well forget it

Explanation:
Guess it's a matter of opinion, but I feel no need to use kinky overtones here. A familiar tun of phrase, but nothing vulgar; innuendo is not an obligation here!

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 11:59
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 48

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

to get a dressing down

Explanation:
May be a solution to keep it on the fashion theme. You could also slip in an emphatic 'right' - have got a right dressing down, for example.

Sarah Bessioud
Germany
Local time: 11:59
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

Notes to answerer

Asker: Love this one, but couldn't use it as it doesn't quite convey the meaning of the French. Am tucking it away for future use!

2 hrs confidence:

rewrite it

Explanation:
Non-conformist/unconventional.

Perhaps I'm chickening out of a more creative effort :-p, but I can't think of a suitable way to retain the clothing/defeat imagery of the FR; it's a clever pun in context.
Btw, I don't think it's meant to be overly aggressive or dominatrix, but rather confident and defiant.
My suggestions for the entire extract below.

Example sentence(s):

It's not what you wear, but how you wear it. Sexy, bold and non-conformist.
It's all about your attitude (or: Attitude is everything). Sexy, daring and unconventional.

Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 11:59
Native speaker of: English

17 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

can just button themselves up

Explanation:
i.e. they can go away and shut up.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 11:59
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 112

Grading comment

1 day 1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

Go, Get dressed!

Explanation:
Imho

Salih YILDIRIM
United States
Local time: 05:59
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Turkish
PRO pts in category: 2

Reference comments

57 mins

Reference: Les autres n’ont qu’à aller se rhabiller!

Reference information:
"rhabiller

rhabiller /ʁa.bi.je/ transitif 1er groupe (conjugaison)
....
(Sport) En parlant d’une équipe vaincue qui quitte un tournoi et qui va donc reprendre des habits civils, quitter la tenue sportive et, par extension, de façon figurée, perdre, être éliminé.
On a gagné ! Les autres n’ont qu’à aller se rhabiller !
..."
[http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/rhabiller]

Daryo
United Kingdom
Native speaker of:

Serbian,

French
PRO pts in category: 4

Note to reference poster

Asker: Daryo, I know what the expression means (as I am sure all the other people who tried to help do too); I was just looking for some creative translations. I see that you don't agree with any of the proposals, but do you have a better one?

Asker: Thanks for all your insights and input Daryo!

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English translation: can just button themselves up

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