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dans les piquets

English translation: in the slalom

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:dans les piquets
English translation:in the slalom
Entered by: Sheila Hardie

12:10 Mar 3, 2022
French to English translations [PRO]
Sports / Fitness / Recreation / skiing
French term or phrase: dans les piquets
"J’ai mis mes premiers skis à XXX. Commencé mes premières compétitions ***dans les piquets*** avec le ski club, du coup. J'ai toujours fait du ski."

This is from an interview with a professional freerider. I'm not 100% sure what they mean by 'dans les piquets' here. Does it just refer to them using poles to mark out their course? Or are they skiing between the poles? I have come across the phrase 's'entraîner entre les piquets' but I'm not sure whether this is what is meant here.

Many thanks in advance!
Sheila Hardie
Spain
Local time: 19:50
in the slalom
Explanation:
Piquets are slalom poles, as my Google Images reference shows, but I think it's better to refer to the event rather than the equipment.

http://www.google.com/search?q=piquet ski&biw=602&bih=777&tb...
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Thank you both for your help! In the end, I used the client preferred this version, but to be honest, I think both (well all) of your answers were great. Thanks again!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2in the slalom
philgoddard
4 +1zigzagging between gates
Conor McAuley


  

Answers


43 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
in the slalom


Explanation:
Piquets are slalom poles, as my Google Images reference shows, but I think it's better to refer to the event rather than the equipment.

http://www.google.com/search?q=piquet ski&biw=602&bih=777&tb...


philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Thank you both for your help! In the end, I used the client preferred this version, but to be honest, I think both (well all) of your answers were great. Thanks again!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  ph-b (X): Wouldn't that be slalomer?
21 hrs
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: I think "in the slalom" is faithful to the original as it retains a clear reference to the event. It might be less idiomatic than the soruce but I think it's sufficiently simple and in keeping with the rest for it to be a good choice here.
3 days 5 hrs
agree  Cyril Tollari
4 days
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
zigzagging between gates


Explanation:
The terms "dans les piquets" feels kind of casual to me, as a non-specialist, and so is slaloming, to a lesser extent.


Maybe even "zigzagging between gates", if you're feeling adventurous:

"The skier must pass *between the two poles forming the gate*, with the tips of both skis and the skier's feet passing between the poles."

Slalom skiing - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Slalom_skiing




Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 19:50
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: That's what slalom is! It sounds a bit odd to paraphrase it, like saying "sliding down a mountain" instead of "skiing".
35 mins
  -> Well, isn't "dans les piquets" a way of paraphrasing slaloming too? So it's a very faithful translation. A bit like the way the French say "taper dans le ballon" for football (soccer), you would translate that as "having a kickabout".
agree  ph-b (X): with the need to reflect the source text and not just the meaning. "Zigzaging between poles", perhaps?
19 hrs
  -> Thanks ph-b!
neutral  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: Yes, "between the poles", fits the idiomatic choice in the source but it seems less natural in English. Maybe a trade-off this time round, using the actual term "slalom" is good. FR is s/times more familiar than EN.
3 days 2 hrs
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