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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

Il n’y a guère que la Suisse qui fasse mieux

English translation: Switzerland is about the only country that does better

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Il n’y a guère que la Suisse qui fasse mieux
English translation:Switzerland is about the only country that does better
Entered by: Gillian Holmes

13:40 Apr 11, 2017
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Medical - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: Il n’y a guère que la Suisse qui fasse mieux
This is an article on French methods of treating opioid addiction. The full sentence is "On est toujours enclins, en France, à souligner ce que l’on ne fait pas bien… Alors que la France est l’un des tout premiers en Europe avec le pourcentage le plus élevé d’usagers de drogues sous traitement (80 %) ! **Il n’y a guère que la Suisse qui fasse mieux**

It's obviously a saying but I can't find any reference to it anywhere. My first thoughts were that it might be a typo and should be "guerre", an ironic comment something along the lines of "There's no war that Switzerland can't fight better", but I'm guessing really.
Gillian Holmes
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:43
Switzerland is about the only other country to do better
Explanation:
Although 'ne... guère...' is of course a very common way of expressing "not", in addition to 'ne... pas...', if you wanted to express the notion of 'barely' that 'guère' alone normally has, you could choose to express it this way, in a slightly less dogmatic style.

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Note added at 2 jours1 heure (2017-04-13 15:33:39 GMT)
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My empirical observations as to the ways 'ne ... guère' is used in common language is that it generally has the sense of 'not' (i.e. the same idea as 'ne... pas') BUT with just a slight softening, hesitation, doubt — or as has been said by someone else, 'hedging'

« Je n'ai guère apprécié ses réflexions. »
"I didn't really like / care for his comments"
« Ça ne lui a guère plu. »
"She didn't much / really like that."

I believe in EN the equivalent effect is often achieved by using qualifiers like the 'much' or 'really' above. Or the '(just) about' of this suggestion.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 22:43
Grading comment
Thanks! In the end I went for a combination as Charles suggested and removed 'other' as suggested by B D Finch
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +10Switzerland is about the only other country to do better
Tony M
4 +2There's practically only Switzerland that does better
B D Finch
3Only Switzerland does better (than this).
Marco Solinas
5 -2Only Switzerland takes better care of drug addicts
Drmanu49
Summary of reference entries provided
no typo (guère)
writeaway

Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Only Switzerland does better (than this).


Explanation:
Not a typo. Nothing to do with war.

Marco Solinas
Local time: 13:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 41

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway: ha. we even used the same words to explain
3 mins
neutral  philgoddard: I don't think you can ignore "guère".
56 mins
disagree  Anne Bohy: "Il n'y a guère" signifie qu'il peut y en avoir d'autres, mais très peu.
4 hrs
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
There's practically only Switzerland that does better


Explanation:
"Guère" can be understood here as either an unnecessary bit of padding, or as a bet-hedging device used in case someone comes up with another country that does better too.

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Note added at 14 mins (2017-04-11 13:55:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Alternatively, it could be read as casting a shadow of doubt on whether Switzerland really does do better.

Statistics in this sort of field can be very unreliable.

B D Finch
France
Local time: 22:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 136

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, though I think perhaps my suggestion is marginally slicker?
1 min
  -> Thanks Tony. Oooh, I don't think so!// But others clearly do, so you must be right!
agree  Charles Davis: Yes, "guère" could well be hedging, but shouldn't be ignored; if the author hedges, so must we. I like "(just about)" but prefer your "that does better".
4 hrs
  -> Thanks Charles
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +10
Switzerland is about the only other country to do better


Explanation:
Although 'ne... guère...' is of course a very common way of expressing "not", in addition to 'ne... pas...', if you wanted to express the notion of 'barely' that 'guère' alone normally has, you could choose to express it this way, in a slightly less dogmatic style.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 jours1 heure (2017-04-13 15:33:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My empirical observations as to the ways 'ne ... guère' is used in common language is that it generally has the sense of 'not' (i.e. the same idea as 'ne... pas') BUT with just a slight softening, hesitation, doubt — or as has been said by someone else, 'hedging'

« Je n'ai guère apprécié ses réflexions. »
"I didn't really like / care for his comments"
« Ça ne lui a guère plu. »
"She didn't much / really like that."

I believe in EN the equivalent effect is often achieved by using qualifiers like the 'much' or 'really' above. Or the '(just) about' of this suggestion.


Tony M
France
Local time: 22:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 348
Grading comment
Thanks! In the end I went for a combination as Charles suggested and removed 'other' as suggested by B D Finch

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  sporran
2 mins
  -> Thanks, Sporran!
agree  philgoddard
45 mins
  -> Thanks, Phil!
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: Suggested tweaks: ("just" about) ("any" better"). I'm chosing this one and scratching mine, which serves no useful purpose.
53 mins
  -> Thanks, Nikki!
agree  Jennifer White
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Jennifer!
agree  writeaway: I missed your 'about' having been dazzled by Nikki's now disappeared 'just about'. Guère un problème imo.
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, W/A!
agree  Charles Davis: I would like to combine your front half with Barbara's back half (sounds like a pantomime horse).
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charles! Well, as long as I can be the front half, that's fine by me ;-) And yes, I do tend to agree.
agree  Jennifer Levey: That would certainly be the most natural interpretation in all the French-speaking countries I'm familiar with.
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Robin!
agree  ACOZ (X)
12 hrs
  -> Thanks, ACOZ!
agree  Helen Genevier
18 hrs
  -> Thanks, Helen!
agree  B D Finch: If the hind legs may make a comment: your version would be more elegant without "other".
19 hrs
  -> Thanks, B! :-) At first reading, I thought it was actually important, but as you point it out, yes, it could easily be omitted — thanks!
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42 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -2
Only Switzerland takes better care of drug addicts


Explanation:
That is the meaning.

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Note added at 43 minutes (2017-04-11 14:23:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It definitely means that that is where drug addicts are better managed.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 jours5 heures (2017-04-13 19:34:16 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Hiding my comments doesn't make them wrong!

Drmanu49
France
Local time: 22:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 84

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: 100% confidence = this is the only possibility? Adding to it doesn't make it better and you're ignoring the 'guère' aspect.
13 mins
  -> This is exactly the way a native French speaker would understand the text. Guère is reflected in the only. And I don't often use 100% confidence.
neutral  Tony M: I also feel that "takes better care of" implies a qualitative aspect that is not there in the original, which is primarily quantitative. / I have no problem translating 'guère', but cannot accept your over-interpretation adding 'takes ... care of'
54 mins
  -> That is exactly the way I understand it Tony any other interpretation for me is wrong. Guere que restricts to only one country.
disagree  Anne Bohy: "Il n'y a guère" signifie qu'il peut y en avoir d'autres, mais très peu. "Guère que" ne signifie pas "uniquement". C'est une nuance qui vous échappe, apparemment.
3 hrs
  -> Mauvais et faux raisonnement, en bon français dans cette phrase "guère que" restreint manifestement à la Suisse. Cette nuance est celle qui vous échappe, ou nous ne parlons pas la même langue.
disagree  Jennifer Levey: That interpretation would be plain wrong in any French-speaking country I've lived (and worked) in.
8 hrs
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Reference comments


7 mins peer agreement (net): +2
Reference: no typo (guère)

Reference information:
Definitely not a typo, nothing to do with war. It's not a saying, just a straightforward statement.
See here, for example:
http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/guère/...

writeaway
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 66

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Michele Fauble
2 hrs
agree  Tony M
4 hrs
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