Il n’en reste pas moins.....dans l'âme

18:26 Feb 3, 2015 

Hello Pooja,

I'm not sure I have understood what you mean when you say the French original "body dans l'âme" is literal. I think the whole point is that whatever rendering you go for in English, you have to be careful to avoid anatomical vocabulary.
For example, if you use "body" in English - we have a fair amount of eveidence that that would be quite a good choice (US, rather than EN?) - then if you use an expression with a part of the body, then you run the risk of it reading like a play on words which has no reason being there. Worse still, it could simply be misunderstood, particularly if the target reader is non native.

As I see it, there are two problems:
- first deciding the "mot juste" for the item of clothing being referred to in your context
- an appropriate expression, or form of words which conveys the idea of the French expression without running into problems I've suggested above.

18:15 Feb 2, 2015 

I first came the term "body" in London shops, some time in the '70s, when I started wearing them. A bodystocking is underwear, though some daring people blur the boundaries. The question of what gets the most ghits is not really relevant: both exist; they are different. I used leotards for dance classes, they were the inspiration for bodies. The difference is the poppers or velcro: leotards don't have any.

11:36 Feb 2, 2015 

The term is quite general in French, but the Asker's context will determine its specificity.
I first came across "body" in French when I bought Petit Bateau bodies for them 20 odd years ago which is the first thing a French newborn feels on his skin in terms of clothing!

10:01 Feb 2, 2015 

I have just googled body stocking , body and body suit. Body stocking (which would have been my choice) gets most hits. I agree that onesie is not appropriate cf. Jennifer's remark. Leotard, imo, though the right shape, is perhaps too much associated with gym/dancing classes. The garment quoted is a pretty glamorous kind of thing, it seems to me.... to be worn as a top, as body-stockings can be/are.

10:00 Feb 2, 2015 

Your suggestion is much appreciated! I was simply concerned to correct your comment that it is "not a leotard" — which it very much is, in some contexts.

I'm not sure if this is right, but I got the distinct impression that the franglais word 'body' is a more recent term that includes what I have seen previously as a 'juste-au-corps' — but I stand to be corrected on that!

09:58 Feb 2, 2015 

Yes, but the term 'body' in FR covers a wider range of garments, not all of which are of the type you describe; the type I have most often seen, when translating mail-order catalogues, has indeed been a 'leotard-like' garment.

09:46 Feb 2, 2015 

I just made a suggestion - that's all. It's not a onesie though - these are loose garments.

09:44 Feb 2, 2015 

I have always called these "bodies", not body-suits or body-stockings. They are basically a leotard with poppers or Velcro fastenings on the crotch, so that you can go to the loo without having to take them off. They are also not "onesies", which are loosefitting loungewear or sleepwear that fasten down the front.

09:40 Feb 2, 2015 

Sorry to contradict you, but the FR use of the word 'body' does indeed include 'leotard' and what I have more recently seen described as a 'onesie' — 'body-stocking' is certainly another, but probably rare usage. It basically describes any kind of one-piece 'bodysuit', commonly used for the thing babies wear too.
Given the specific garment description, I have some doubts that 'body stocking' would be the best solution here.

09:34 Feb 2, 2015 

A French friend once referred to a body-stocking as a "body".

00:35 Feb 2, 2015 

"At heart, it's still a leotard: shaped waist, ...".

00:21 Feb 2, 2015 

A "bodice" is just the top part around the thorax. A "bodysuit" is like a swimsuit, an all-in-one leotard like a dancer might wear. A "body" in French describes the second all-in-one article.

There is no bilingual play on words here and so you need to be really careful with "body" and "âme", otherwise you'll run into problems of Cartesian duality!

23:29 Feb 1, 2015 

There is a world of difference between a body suit (aka 'onesie') and a bodice! If you have a picture of this creatiuon, it would probably help to give us a link to it.

23:28 Feb 1, 2015 

A simple moderator's edit would be enough to correct it.

23:13 Feb 1, 2015 

body here depicts "bodysuit" or body or bodice.

23:01 Feb 1, 2015 

I'm sure you're right about body being what is confusing the asker. However the problem is that it doesn't appear in the term being asked, meaning it won't get properly glossed. Which is why I believe the question is "erroneous" and needs to be reposted.

22:47 Feb 1, 2015 

Literal or not, you must be aware that there are several possible translations for 'âme', some of which may be more appropriate here...

22:43 Feb 1, 2015 

By posting "il n'en reste pas moins". If this isn't the term you need help with, then perhaps you should re-post the term you're really looking for

22:24 Feb 1, 2015 

Hello,
I understand that "Il n’en reste pas moins que" means the fact remains that, however or nevertheless, the problem is the next phrase...body in the soul is literal.

22:16 Feb 1, 2015 

It would help if you were to tell us what you have already discarded and why. This would help avoid any needless duplication of your efforts.

21:54 Feb 1, 2015 

Ok, well, to save us wasting our time like your last qeustion, please could you clarfiy from the outset what you want to know? Do you know what the basic expression means? Thanks for clarifying.