piste

17:02 Feb 22, 2013

This question was closed without grading. Reason: No acceptable answer

French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Advertising / Public Relations

French term or phrase: piste

This is from the description of a promotional campaign for a vaccine.
In describing the adverts the communication agency plans to use, they break down their message into "axes" and "pistes" The axes are higher hierarchically than pistes:
Axe 1 : Le danger
Piste 1 : L’épée de Damoclès
Piste 2 : L’ombre de la tique
Then they describe the ads, posters, brochures, etc. they plan to use to present these ideas

Axe 2 : L'innovation
Axe 3 : La protection
Axe 4 : La serénité

I've started out calling the "axes" "focusses", but am not sure how to call the "pistes"

Can anybody help me out here?

Kimberly De Haan KudoZ activity Questions: 270 (none open) (5 without valid answers) (20 closed without grading) Answers: 10 Canada
Local time: 11:14

Summary of answers provided

track

papier

4 +1

thrust

Francis Marche

line of thought

kashew

idea to explore

Jane F

lead

Verginia Ophof

angle/channel

Wolf Draeger

solution/our approach/what to/we do

Rachel Fell

Discussion entries: 10

Wolf Draeger

South Africa

@Rachel

14:39 Feb 25, 2013

why don't you post that as an answer: what's & how's or ends & means?

Rachel Fell

United Kingdom

23:26 Feb 24, 2013

Axe: Challenge - What to (we) do/Method/Solution/How to (we) deal with it

papier

Brazil

20:28 Feb 23, 2013

I think the content of the title of the pistes are exactly what you said: specific ideas to explore the axe. Mostly to achieve the axe and this is the reason why I find "examples" a little week. It is more than that.

Rasha Ali Hassan

15:42 Feb 23, 2013

Agree with Nikki

kashew

France

How about

12:46 Feb 23, 2013

directions/concepts?

David Hayes

France

11:39 Feb 23, 2013

I agree with the first discussion entry by NS-D. I would abandon the idea of translating the 'axe/piste' pair and simply replace it with a natural-sounding pair in English. It looks like the 'pistes' are specific ideas to explore within a given 'axe'. Maybe 'example' would cover it here.

polyglot45

my first thought was

08:04 Feb 23, 2013

Theme/sub-theme or Topic/sub-topic

papier

Brazil

23:31 Feb 22, 2013

As it is a business plan for advertisement or something like that, I noted the content for the "pistes" which made me try a less literal translation. Between a "major route" and a "track" the hierarchical relation is implicit. For both reasons, I have suggested a somewhat faithful optional response.

Victoria Britten

France

Agree with Nikki

23:09 Feb 22, 2013

Trying to translate "axe" and "piste" is probably going to be a harder route than thinking of them as a hierarchical pair (which in fact is picked up in the question...).

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

18:57 Feb 22, 2013

As both terms describe a direction, albeit on a different hierarchical level as you indicate, perhaps you could abandon the idea and use a different analogy in English. "Axe" and "piste" are very French and although they can be translated, and differentiated, I am not actually that sure that this would be a natural solution in English.

I reckon we'd be more likely to use other pairs for Axe / Piste, such as:

Heading / Subheading
Title / Subtitle
Area / Subject

Whatever!

Answers

21 mins confidence:

lead

Explanation:
leads for follow ups

nf. track, course; dancing floor; lead; trail, trace; ring (i.e. bullring, boxing ring)

v. track, trail, follow

Reference: http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/definition/lead

Verginia Ophof
Belize
Local time: 09:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

39 mins confidence:

track

Explanation:
axes, same word, but it maybe better to use "major routes" and "tracks"

papier
Brazil
Local time: 12:14
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

52 mins confidence:

line of thought

Explanation:
or, approach

kashew
France
Local time: 17:14
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 27

1 hr confidence:

idea to explore

Explanation:
literally 'a track' but in this context it means an idea to be followed up

Jane F
France
Local time: 17:14
Native speaker of: English

11 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

thrust

Explanation:
The equivalent of "thrust" is "ligne de force" in French, which ususally pairs nicely with "focus" in this type of material.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2013-02-23 04:42:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"thrust" can also be "idée force", "grands axes" (when plural). It can alternatively translate "Axe", hierarchically above "piste", the latter would then be translated as "focus".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day10 hrs (2013-02-24 03:09:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

How and why “thrust”, “strategic thrust”, “thrust area” can translate “axe”, “axe stratégique”, “grands axes”, “objectifs majeurs” in various action plans and guidelines. It is sometimes used to translate (or is translated as) "idée maîtresse" which is very close to "piste" for this purpose.

http://seda.gov.my/go-home.php?omaneg=0001010000000101010100...

Synergies of RE Action Plan (Strategic Thrusts) leading towards a successful RE Policy

http://www.mona.uwi.edu/cardin/virtual_library/docs/1199/119...
The current thrust of the government is not only for timber trees but also fruit trees and other orchard crops to be planted within the forests.

http://www.linguee.fr/anglais-francais/traduction/key strate...

[Reform of the legislative framework, policies towards improvement in the scope and reach of programmes, and various operational issues targeting the efficiency of resource usage, are key thrusts behind activities at a national level.
mise en place de moyens divers permettant d'obtenir un meilleur emploi des ressources sont les grands axes qui guident les activités déployées au niveau national.]

http://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/search?source=auto&qu...
[...] Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS) 20092013, specifying policy responses in six strategic thrust areas under four components
[...] de l'Asie et du Pacifique pour la période 2009-2013, définissant des mesures à prendre dans six domaines d'intervention stratégiques au titre de quatre volets.

http://www.moef.nic.in/funding/chap1.pdf
The present Guidelines set forth the Objectives of research support, the Thrust Areas for research support, procedures for inviting/receipt and processing ...

"Thrust" as "idée maîtresse"in http://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/search?source=auto&qu...

[The main thrust of regulation will be towards an adequate representation of currently available goods and services.

L'idée maîtresse de la réglementation s'articulera autour d'une représentation correcte des biens et services actuellement disponibles.]

Francis Marche
France
Local time: 17:14
Works in field
Native speaker of:

French,

English

2 days 21 hrs confidence:

angle/channel

Explanation:
I don't have too much of a problem with axis/axes in English; not super common, but not unusual either.

You could perhaps use angle (as in perspective) for piste, in keeping with the geometric theme :) Channel is another option (as in avenue, approach).

Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 17:14
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

3 days 1 hr confidence:

solution/our approach/what to/we do

Explanation:
or: how we/to deal with it
Axe: Challenge

suggestion(s), as prompted by Wolf

Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:14
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12

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