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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

ou

English translation: omit

10:16 Sep 17, 2019
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Marketing - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: ou
Bonjour je dois traduire OU dans des slogans du style
"le chocolat XX ou le plaisir ultime"
Comment traduiriez-vous ce OU en anglais (OR me semble inapproprié) ?
D'avance merci pour votre aide...
Cecile NOWACZYK
France
Local time: 18:01
English translation:omit
Explanation:
Simply " XX chocolate, the ultimate pleasure"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2019-09-17 10:33:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or "XX chocolate. The ultimate pleasure."
Selected response from:

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Spain
Local time: 18:01
Grading comment
Thanks to everybody. I simply have decided to avoid the "OR" and to put a coma to separate the slogan as it is not a matter of choice. I leave the client to have the final word on this.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +8omit
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
3 +3or
Rebecca Breekveldt


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
or


Explanation:
I don't think 'or' would sound strange...

Maybe you can give a bit more context, but I am imagining that the slogans are like questions of the 'which would you rather?' type. 'XX chocolate or ultimate pleasure?' 'XX chocolate or ...?' In that case I think 'or' works.

Rebecca Breekveldt
Austria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  liz askew
41 mins
neutral  Tony M: I don't read the context the way you do. This formulation is sometimes used in EN, but often seems rather "forced"; I'd advise Asker to tackle it rather as marketing copywriting, and avoid slavish translation.
1 hr
agree  Adrian MM.: as in the law, to be read conjunctively rather than disjunctively.
1 hr
agree  Eliza Hall: This is a normal turn of phrase in titles (Thoreau's "Walden, or, a Life in the Woods," for instance).
2 hrs
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +8
omit


Explanation:
Simply " XX chocolate, the ultimate pleasure"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2019-09-17 10:33:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or "XX chocolate. The ultimate pleasure."

Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Spain
Local time: 18:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks to everybody. I simply have decided to avoid the "OR" and to put a coma to separate the slogan as it is not a matter of choice. I leave the client to have the final word on this.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you Beatriz and thanks as well to the other translators for their explanations. I think I will finally omit the "OR" as I initially thought, and my client will have the last word. I have taken an example with chocolate to illustrate, but the real slogan is for a perfume and is talking about the feeling XX perfume is providing. So it is not a matter of choice between the perfume or "the chocolate" and the feeling it is providing.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway: It's marketing...
44 mins
  -> "Il est, n'est-il pas?".
agree  Tony M: Really needs copywriting properl in EN, as FR formulations often sound clumsy or clunky when translated too literally.
1 hr
  -> I couldn't agree more.
agree  Simret Jaussaud
1 hr
  -> Thank you Simret.
agree  Rachel Fell: or with a colon or a dash in between
1 hr
  -> Yes, much better!
agree  B D Finch: I think this question illustrates why copywriting should be done by native speakers who can relate to the context, rather than picking out specific words.
2 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Michele Fauble
5 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Yolanda Broad
12 hrs
  -> Thank you.
agree  Michael Davies
21 hrs
  -> Thank you Michael.
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