Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

la mariée est un peu chère à avaler toute seule

English translation:

the wedding was too costly to be borne alone

Added to glossary by Wendy Cummings
Nov 2, 2016 15:12
7 yrs ago
French term

la mariée est un peu chère à avaler toute seule

French to English Bus/Financial Finance (general)
Taken from a discussion about the stock market situation surrounding the potential sale by A of its stake in B. A was the biggest shareholder of B, and C was the second biggest. I have provided quite a long extract to provide as much context as possible:

de brokers ont fait état d'une possible cession de la participation d'A dans B. Une note a indiqué « nous pensons qu'B n'est pas un actif principal et il est possible qu'A se retire ». Un autre note a indiqué "Il se dit qu'A serait en cours de négociations avec C au sujet de la possibilité de racheter des minoritaires, tout en conservant une participation de C à hauteur de 26%, ou comment A et C pourraient structurer un accord qui permette a C d'augmenter leur participation à 40% avec A à 60 % par exemple. A se trouve en position de force et aurait, apparemment, fait savoir que s'ils ne pouvaient pas augmenter leur participation au-delà de 50%, alors ils pourraient revendre leurs parts. S'ils ne peuvent pas avoir le contrôle d'B, alors ils revendront leurs parts ». Le même jour, les Echos ont révélé qu'A a proposé a C une prise de contrôle conjointe de B qui l'a refusée. Il est rapporté que « A cherchait à enrôler C car la mariée est un peu chère à avaler toute seule ».

Is it saying that the "bride" (B) was too expensive for A to afford on its own, and so it wanted to get C on board?

Discussion

polyglot45 Nov 2, 2016:
the "bride" is being used figuratively - image often found in financial contexts : la mariée était trop belle (the deal was too good).

A is reported as having tried to get C on board because the deal was too much for one player

Proposed translations

+4
5 hrs
Selected

A wished to bring C on board as the wedding was too costly to be borne alone.

I agree that "bride" does not work here, but I think you could use "wedding" or "mariage" in there somewhere.
Peer comment(s):

agree writeaway : yes Polyglot nailed it in the Dbox.
1 hr
agree Meridy Lippoldt : taking a cue from balzac and chateaubriand cited under pertinent enties in le petit robert i like this answer although i would consider using the word recruit rather than on board. all the same chapeau to the peer submision.
3 hrs
agree Patrice
4 hrs
agree Yolanda Broad : Neat solution!
1 day 24 mins
neutral Jennifer Norman : 'wedding' or 'marriage' in this context sounds strange in English
9 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Nikki."
+1
4 hrs

the partner was a little too expensive to take on its own

A suggestion.

Or, slightly modified, "It sought to bring C on board because the partner was too expensive to swallow on its own."

Most especially, do away with "bride" or whatever along those lines for the English version.
Peer comment(s):

agree Jennifer Norman : I prefer your answer. Although I still think that it is a little calque-y in English.
9 days
Something went wrong...
10 days

the ship was a little too expensive to captain alone

an exchange of metaphor but more natural-sounding in English
Something went wrong...
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