low-water mark

French translation: le creux de la vague

16:07 Mar 24, 2014
English to French translations [PRO]
Government / Politics
English term or phrase: low-water mark
This was Mrs Thatcher’s low-water mark. She was, for a time, the most unpopular prime minister on record. Most of her colleagues expected her to retreat, but instead she ploughed on. “U-turn if you want to, the Lady’s not for turning,” she had cried the year before. She sacked all those ministers, the “wets”, who wanted to change course, and stocked her cabinet with ideological fellow-travellers. The 1981 budget contained more spending cuts, further depressing demand, in the teeth of the recession; 364 economists condemned her policies in a letter to the Times.
kamraoui
French translation:le creux de la vague
Explanation:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/low-water mark

Pour garder l'analogie avec l'eau... Bonne chance !
Selected response from:

Guillaume Deneufbourg
France
Local time: 10:22
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +7le creux de la vague
Guillaume Deneufbourg
4 +2l'étiage
Pierre POUSSIN
5laisse de basse mer ou étiage
Loubna Benkirane
2 +2nadir
Tony M
3les plus basses eaux
Alain Boulé
3les heures les plus sombres
Pierre Fleutot


Discussion entries: 8





  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
le creux de la vague


Explanation:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/low-water mark

Pour garder l'analogie avec l'eau... Bonne chance !

Guillaume Deneufbourg
France
Local time: 10:22
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Françoise Vogel
5 mins

agree  laumarie
23 mins

agree  Rachel Spanneut
1 hr

disagree  Daryo: "low-water mark" has no connection to waves - it's a different kind of image // more to be compared with a river that's gone almost dry
3 hrs

agree  Beila Goldberg: Utilisé à différentes sauces, dont la politique, et qui sera compris par toute la Francophonie. Une traduction française est aussi lue en dehors de l'Hexagone !
3 hrs

agree  Francis Marche: Très bonne solution. Comme il y a aussi "la traversée du désert" parmi les clichés des commentateurs politiques.
4 hrs

agree  Joco: Parfait
4 hrs

agree  patrickfor: Pour que ce soit clair ceci est aussi une bonne trad, mais plus éloignée que étiage, ou basses eaux :-)
7 hrs

agree  Simon Charass
10 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +2
low-water mark
nadir


Explanation:
I don't really think the tidal analogy works terribly well here (neither in FR or for that matter in EN!), so would suggest this as correctly conveying the meaning without the rather spurious metaphor.

Tony M
France
Local time: 10:22
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  patrickfor: étiage is perfect. Nadir is rarely used in a political context in french. But zenith (the opposite) would of course!
1 hr
  -> Merci, Patrick ! Rarely in EN too — but that's exactly why I think it is suitable here, as it will stand out by its very... unusualness!

agree  Daryo: la bonne nuance
3 hrs
  -> Merci, Daryo !

neutral  Beila Goldberg: Trouvé dans un dico ? Peut-être bon pour les lecteurs marins mais cela réduit largement l'audience./ Belle culture générale avec un très grand merci d'écrire dorénavant tous vos commentaires en français.
3 hrs
  -> Non, Beila, culture générale ! Je ne comprends pas « lecteurs marins » — justement, je voulais éviter tout référence maritime, et nadir / zénith s'appliquent très bien à la « Dame de Fer »

neutral  Joco: Trop hermétique
4 hrs

agree  katsy: OK for me... Je comprends! Je viens d'apprendre étiage, que je n'avais jamais entendu avant, et n'ai jamais entendu au cours des analyses politiques des élections - que je suis pourtant!
6 hrs
  -> Thanks, Katsy!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
l'étiage


Explanation:
The lowest level of water...


    Reference: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tiage
Pierre POUSSIN
France
Local time: 10:22
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 38

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  patrickfor: oui et s'applique bien dans un contexte politique (électoral)
1 hr
  -> Thanks!

neutral  Beila Goldberg: Je ne conteste pas la traduction mais qui reste incompréhensible dans le contexte pour bon nombre de lecteurs.
3 hrs

agree  gilbertlu: Disons "son niveau d'étiage" pour mettre tout le monde d'accord
3 hrs

neutral  Joco: Trop hermétique
4 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
laisse de basse mer ou étiage


Explanation:
il s'agit du niveau le plus bas atteint dans ce cas par Margaret tatcher.

Example sentence(s):
  • something indicati,g the bottom of a decline

    Reference: http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/low-water
    Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/low-water+mark
Loubna Benkirane
Morocco
Local time: 09:22
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Beila Goldberg: Je ne conteste pas la traduction mais qui reste incompréhensible dans le contexte pour bon nombre de lecteurs.
3 hrs

neutral  Joco: D'accord avec Beila
4 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
les plus basses eaux


Explanation:
sa longueur, sa pente moyenne, son débit dans les plus hautes et les plus basses eaux, la situation de ses principaux affluents et leur influence sur les crues

base-in-fr.lyon.cemagref.fr/isere1859/doc/doc25.htm‎

Alain Boulé
Local time: 10:22
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Joco: Ne pas oublier que l'on parle d'une personne
1 hr
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
les heures les plus sombres


Explanation:
Ce furent les heures les plus sombres pour Mrs Thatcher...

Pierre Fleutot
Argentina
Local time: 05:22
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search