Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
se tirer une très grosse balle dans le pied
English translation:
shoot oneself in the foot
Added to glossary by
Yolanda Broad
Sep 28, 2003 10:09
20 yrs ago
French term
India
15 years of experience in translations
Native in: French 
, English (Variants: UK, US)
Works in: French to English, Hindi to English, Gujarati to English
XXX se tire une très grosse balle dans le pied
Non-PRO
French to English
Bus/Financial
Si tu penses que XXX et XXX devraient modifier le MOA avec ces 3 mots supplémentaires, j’ai bien peur que XXX se tire une très grosse balle dans le pied et que tu indiques ce faisant à XXX que ce sont ses avocats qui vont négocier un nouveau MOA avec XXXX.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+5
1 min
French term (edited):
XXX se tire une tr�s grosse balle dans le pied
Selected
to shoot yourself in the foot
In English, the expression is "to shoot yourself in the foot".
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Graded automatically based on peer agreement."
1 hr
cjohnstone
France
France
Native in French
&
English
France
Experience and feel
Native in: French , English (Variant: British)
Works in: English to French, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
1632
could not we add "straight" in the foot or something like this
to take care of the très grosse balle
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
French2English
: no, because it is not part of the expression! It would sound too literal and if you shoot yourself in the foot it is the fact of doing it that is relevant, not the manner in which it is done!
4 days
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your opinion, whichI very much respect, BUT i think set phrases are ther to be adapted, twisted to needs.. just my way
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| agree |
writeaway
: yes, because it's a perfectly fine way to express the French
4 days
|
7 hrs
Abdellatif Bouhid
Native in French
Respect for the Words
Native in: Arabic , French
Works in: English to French, Arabic to French, French to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
390
French term (edited):
XXX se tire une tr�s grosse balle dans le pied
XXX is shooting a very big bullet in the foot
I think mirroring here would works just fine. The expression exists in both languages and it is no problem keeping the style (of expression) of the original text.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
French2English
: This does not sound English at all to a native speaker. It sounds like a literal translation from the French....
3 days 20 hrs
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sometimes literal is not bad when a native speaker would understand it even if different his/her usual expression. regards
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| agree |
cjohnstone
: it does sound English and perfectly so to me... a native speaker but very much in favour of adapting language and set phrases to requirements with all due poetice or translator's license.. I call it Leeway a great pal of mine, always ready to go
3 days 21 hrs
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thanks cj
|
+4
14 hrs
is going to shoot a great big bullet [its, his, her] foot
variation, for the grosse bit
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Note added at 2003-09-29 20:48:50 (GMT)
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sorry: into its, his, or her foot
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Note added at 2003-09-29 20:48:50 (GMT)
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sorry: into its, his, or her foot
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: I was thinking along these lines too - or "well and truly shoot h/self in the foot"
6 hrs
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| agree |
jeanmarc
: but still wonders what the "grosse bit" comes here for!
8 hrs
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une très GROSSE balle: "grosse" bit. Get it?
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| neutral |
French2English
: I don't think you can alter the expression 'shoot oneself in the foot' too much - I think you'd have to say: Shoot him/her/itself in the foot with a very large bullet' if you wanted to emphasize the severity of matters here...
3 days 12 hrs
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| agree |
cjohnstone
3 days 13 hrs
|
| agree |
writeaway
3 days 14 hrs
|
2 days 13 hrs
"shooting yoursellf in the foot big time"
"big time" makes up for "une très grosse balle"
+1
4 days
French2English
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
BA(Hons), Dip Trans IOL, MCIL London
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
38
I'm worried that XXX would be well and truly shooting him/her/itself in the foot
I have said 'would be' rather than 'is' or 'will be' as I understand from the context that we are dealing with a conditional here...no? 'I'm afraid that, fear that, am worried that...' would normally be followed by the conditional...and after all, we are dealing with an 'if' clause...
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Note added at 2003-10-02 13:24:51 (GMT)
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Personally, I don\'t think there are degrees of \'shooting oneself in the foot\' - it\'s either something you do, or don\'t do. Clearly the writer here wants to emphasize that it would be a very serious matter if this happened. Slightly more context might have helped to clarify the situation - I mean, we could be talking about something as strong as \'professional suicide\' for example... just a thought....
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Note added at 2003-10-02 13:24:51 (GMT)
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Personally, I don\'t think there are degrees of \'shooting oneself in the foot\' - it\'s either something you do, or don\'t do. Clearly the writer here wants to emphasize that it would be a very serious matter if this happened. Slightly more context might have helped to clarify the situation - I mean, we could be talking about something as strong as \'professional suicide\' for example... just a thought....
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