je n'ai eu de cesse de mettre dans la lumière

English translation: I have made it my mission to raise the profile of

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	je n'ai eu de cesse de mettre dans la lumière
English translation:	I have made it my mission to raise the profile of
Entered by:	James A. Walsh

14:55 Jun 5, 2021

French to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

French term or phrase: je n'ai eu de cesse de mettre dans la lumière

Hello,

This is from the website of a French company that makes height access solutions for buildings such as suspended platforms, cradles, harnesses, etc., which are lifted by many different types of hoists and winches also made by this company.

The passage below is from the “About us” section of the site, and more specifically it is a message from the company’s chairman in the “Mission statement” subsection.

I’ve been going around in circles and haven’t come up with anything I’m happy with yet, so would love to hear other takes on it. The “mettre dans la lumière” part is proving trickiest, as the closest thing I can think of in English is “shine a light on” or “shine a spotlight on”, but more often that not these phrases are used in English to highlight something negative like a problem or issue, so I’m not sure they would be the right choice here.

Here’s the context:

“[Company Name] est depuis de très nombreuses années une référence française de l’accès en hauteur suspendu.

Depuis son acquisition en 1999, je n'ai eu de cesse de mettre dans la lumière cette entreprise presque centenaire.

Nous avons, ensemble, engagé une croissance significative à l’international, consacrée par la création de [Company Name] Asia en République Populaire de Chine et de [Company Name] North America aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique.”
_________________

Source: FR-FR
Target: EN-UK

James A. Walsh KudoZ activity Questions: 186 (none open) (23 closed without grading) Answers: 1950 Spain
Local time: 21:26

I have constantly striven to raise the profile of

Explanation:
This is not a literal translation, but I believe it conveys the CEO's meaning.

In the Larousse bilingue, "mettre quelque chose en lumière " (locution adverbiale) means " to bring something out, to shed light on something". However, I do not believe that "shed light on the company" would be entirely correct here, as you shed light on a fact rather than a company. (https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/lumiè...

(Btw, in French, the usual expression is "mettre en lumière", not "mettre dans la lumière".)

Selected response from:

SilenceOnTou (X)

Grading comment

Thanks a lot for your excellent suggestion, SilenceOnTourne! I wish you could split the points on here, as I'm actually using a big part of Suzie's suggestion "I have made it my business to", which I feel is perfect for the tone and register of that part of the sentence. But it was the second part I was finding hardest to translate, and your suggested “raise the profile of” couldn’t be more perfect, IMO, so this was the clincher when it came to awarding points :)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

I have constantly striven to raise the profile of

SilenceOnTou (X)

3 +3

I have made it my business to showcase

Suzie Withers

4 +1

I have been relentless in -ING

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

4 +1

I have consistently (...) this company

AllegroTrans

I have constantly striven to promote/raise the stature of

Barbara Cochran, MFA

promote

Saeed Najmi

I have never stopped putting Xxxx (, which will soon celebrate its centenary,) in the limelight

Conor McAuley

4 -1

I have had no rest until this almost 100 years old company is in the limelight

Francois Boye

Discussion entries: 4

Answers

23 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

I have constantly striven to raise the profile of

SilenceOnTou (X)
Native speaker of:

English,

French
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks a lot for taking the time, I like it!

50 mins confidence:

promote

Explanation:
Simply promoting the business

Saeed Najmi
Morocco
Local time: 20:26
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

French
PRO pts in category: 4

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

I have made it my business to showcase

Explanation:
Or perhaps "I have worked tirelessly..."

Just a couple of suggestions

Suzie Withers
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:26
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Liking these suggestions a lot, Suzie — thanks!

Asker: Liking these suggestions a lot, Suzie - thanks!

Asker: I've researched this chairman, and he actually bought the company with two siblings in 1999, so "made it my business" seems very fitting indeed (I'd even be tempted to add "personal", but that might be OTT)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

ormiston: Showcase in the sense of highlighting sounds good

1 hr

-> Thanks!

agree

AllegroTrans: You could add "always" to get closer to the French

2 hrs

-> Yes, good idea. Thanks :)

agree

SafeTex

3 hrs

-> Thank you :)

agree

David Hollywood: le mot juste :) perfect

9 hrs

-> Thanks, David :)

neutral

philgoddard: Can you showcase a company?

11 hrs

-> Hmmm, good point... others have used the phrase. Maybe "showcase our work at..." or "showcase what we do at"

disagree

Francois Boye: This does not translate the expression 'n'avoir eu de cesse de'//il faut traduire correctement les expressions idiomatiques d'une langue.

11 hrs

-> It's not a literal translation, no. It's difficult to find an elegant way to say it. My other suggestion is probably closer to the French

5 hrs confidence:

I have constantly striven to promote/raise the stature of

Explanation:
After the correction of my UK peers.

...of this almost 100-year old enterprise, by putting the spotlight on...

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 15:26
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

1 hr confidence:

I have never stopped putting Xxxx (, which will soon celebrate its centenary,) in the limelight

Explanation:
There is something slightly awkward and old-fashioned about the turn of phrase (although I'm not a native speaker).

My hunch is that the company's chairman is of a certain age, since he refers to China and the US as "République Populaire de Chine" and "Etats-Unis d’Amérique”.

So, while I do like "raise the profile" from SilenceOnTourne, I feel that this is a more like-for-like translation.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2021-06-05 21:05:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I used to have a colleague who spent a lot of her time "improving" texts, basically interpreting what she thought the writer intended to say (and not what the writer actually said) and effectively rewriting the texts.
That is not our job.

A recent business school graduate might go on about "roadmaps" and "leveraging our core values" here, or whatever the latest fashion is, but this guy uses plain words to say simple things, and there's nothing at all wrong with that, so you translate that like for like.

I'm totally ok with "raise the profile" here though, that said.

Personally, I think the long-form country name thing is a bit barmy, but maybe that's in the company's style guide.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2021-06-05 22:22:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To James: there's no real value judgement on my part, but a stylistic assessment and maybe judgement, yes. Different people write and talk in different ways, and that's fine.
But a translation reveals all these things, people can be surprised by the image in the mirror held up to their texts. A milk powder company once told me to make their products sound more exciting, when I was working from rather flat and uninspired text.

As I often think to myself, you don't hire a stand-up comic to the CEO of a big multinational, and vice versa! Horses for courses!

I would have "engagé" as "begun" or "started".
"Nous nous sommes engagé à..." would be "We have committed to...", but well, it's late night if you're in Spain.

This corporate communications stuff can be tricky, good luck with it!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2021-06-05 22:23:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

correction: to BE the CEO

Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 21:26
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks Conor! Couldn't agree more with you re the chairman's rather outdated and awkward wording. Here's how I'm handling "République Populaire de Chine" and "Etats-Unis d’Amérique" so far: "Nous avons, ensemble, engagé une croissance significative à l’international, consacrée par la création de [XXXX] Asia en République Populaire de Chine et de [XXXX] North America aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique." "We have committed to significant international expansion plans as a company, which our [XXXX] Asia (China) and [XXXX] North America (US) subsidiaries only serve to demonstrate."

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

AllegroTrans: clunky//French sentence construction is often clunky and English translation needs to be adapted to arrive at something natural-sounding

2 hrs

-> That's my point really -- the original is clunky. How many people do you know who go around saying "PRC"? :-) / Not clunky in fact, the word order in French is sometimes different, you re-order that, no problem, but the expression used is just a bit dull!

neutral

SilenceOnTou (X): Hello Conor, the chairman is using the countries' official (long) names. I have to use them all the time on first mention in the texts I translate. Thereafter I can write "Chine" or "Etats-Unis".

3 hrs

-> I was aware that this was the case when writing for the EU (see https://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000500.htm), but for me, in business, it makes no sense, and feels old-fashioned. Unless you've trying not to offend Taiwan or whatever country.

12 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

I have been relentless in -ING

Explanation:
.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2021-06-06 03:29:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I will not rest until I...

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 21:26
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 119

13 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

I have had no rest until this almost 100 years old company is in the limelight

Explanation:
N'avoir cesse de = to have no rest until in English

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 15:26
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 41

Notes to answerer

Asker: This is not English. It is a horrible attempt at English... but thanks for taking the time, none the less.

Asker: I say your English is "horrible" because you seem to think it's amazing!

1 day 1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

I have consistently (...) this company

Explanation:
There are countless ways to translate this
(...) part:
sung the praises of
promoted
endorsed
highlighted
publicised
reccomended
admired
extolled

Out with the Thesauris James

The problem is that we don't know who is saying this and with what, if any, particular emphasis

Any discussion about "accurate" translation here is rather naive imo. What is needed is natural-sounding English. It's from a website after all said 'n done.

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:26
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 115

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for this truly elucidating information Alegro!

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English translation: I have made it my mission to raise the profile of

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