Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
botter en touche
English translation:
dodge the issue/elude the question/stall/sidestep the issue
Added to glossary by
Isabelle Barth-O'Neill
Mar 19, 2011 17:52
13 yrs ago
6 viewers *
French term
More than 21 years of experience...
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, Dutch to French, French to English, and 1 more.
botter en touche
French to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Ici, je cale !
Voici la phrase :
Interrogé sur la question des moyens, le ministre botte en touche et invoque Internet. Autrement dit, à quelques jours d'intervalle, le ministre aura dit une chose et son contraire.
Voici la phrase :
Interrogé sur la question des moyens, le ministre botte en touche et invoque Internet. Autrement dit, à quelques jours d'intervalle, le ministre aura dit une chose et son contraire.
Proposed translations
(English)
References
| Definition |
B D Finch
|
| botter en touche - dicos |
cc in nyc
|
Proposed translations
+3
9 mins
polyglot45
Native in French
&
English
Native in: English , French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
227
Selected
dodge the issue/elude the question/stall/sidestep the issue
the Minister, when asked a direct question, fudged it !
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Note added at 22 mins (2011-03-19 18:15:08 GMT)
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I think this may be a wrong choice of expression - perhaps they mean that he "scored an own goal" but normally "botter en touche" means to get oneself out of trouble by kicking into touch when your opponents are getting too close to your line
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Note added at 51 mins (2011-03-19 18:44:29 GMT)
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he chose to OBFUSCATE - a rare chance to place this one
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Note added at 22 mins (2011-03-19 18:15:08 GMT)
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I think this may be a wrong choice of expression - perhaps they mean that he "scored an own goal" but normally "botter en touche" means to get oneself out of trouble by kicking into touch when your opponents are getting too close to your line
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Note added at 51 mins (2011-03-19 18:44:29 GMT)
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he chose to OBFUSCATE - a rare chance to place this one
Note from asker:
| Thanks |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
jmleger
: Yes, that's what you do in rugby when you are out of options in order to secure an anchor.
16 mins
|
| agree |
cc in nyc
19 hrs
|
| agree |
LINDA WATKINS
: loads of good options here!
2 days 16 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
5 mins
comes up dry
There are a number of ways to translate this.
Note from asker:
| Thanks |
+1
48 mins
England's hope of the grand slam thanks to Ireland!
Looking at the latest score this is a certainty!!
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
polyglot45
: ne parlons pas de choses qui fâchent
2 mins
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Nobody's 'facheed' that I know of.
|
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| agree |
Bourth (X)
: Nice to see this place being used for the sort of thing that should be allowed more frequently!
19 hrs
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Merci, I'll go and cry in my beer, again.
|
+1
52 mins
Jocelyne Cuenin
Germany
Germany
Native in French
Specializes in field
Germany
Linguist, tourist guide, GDR/RDA/DDR
Native in: French (Variant: Standard-France) 
Works in: German to French, English to French, French
Related KudoZ points
:
8
parry
Une autre possibilité pour rester dans le monde du sport, même si ce n'est plus le rugby, un peu moins "colloquial" :
to parry =
1. (Individual Sports & Recreations / Fencing) To deflect or ward off an attack (a fencing thrust, for example).
2. To deflect, evade, or avoid: He skillfully parried the question with a clever reply.
to parry =
1. (Individual Sports & Recreations / Fencing) To deflect or ward off an attack (a fencing thrust, for example).
2. To deflect, evade, or avoid: He skillfully parried the question with a clever reply.
Example sentence:
the minister parried all other questions terming it a ...
the Russian prime minister, parried that it was pointless to involve Washington, arguing that Georgia needed to ...
+1
1 hr
Marlene Gbedo
Italy
Italy
Native in English
Works in field
Italy
Quality,reliability,just in time!
Native in: English
Works in: Italian to English, French to English
avoid the question
fuir les responsabilités publiques
+3
12 mins
to kick into touch
A sporting metaphor, used both literally and figuratively.
Without having more of your context, difficult to see just how it applies here, but I suppose this is referring to the fact that this was the last straw, that he has now said something "to cap it all", etc. etc.
Would that fit with your context?
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Note added at 7 heures (2011-03-20 01:21:15 GMT)
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There seems to be an odd divergence of opinion here as to the actual meaning of the metaphor (which I'm sure in its original, literal form must surely mean the same thing in both FR and EN?)
Perhaps it is the fact that I flunked out of rugby whenever I could, but I thought "kicking into touch" meant that somebody gave the final touch to something to round it off; obviously, as JML points out, this is to some extent making the best of a bad situation... but I'm not sure just to what extent the full implication of the literal meaning carries across when it is used figuratively.
I've heard it used in contexts where (empirically) I understood it like this: "The XYZ team did most of the donkey work with the research, then Prof. ABC came along and kicked the project into touch, thereby picking up all the accolades."
Without having more of your context, difficult to see just how it applies here, but I suppose this is referring to the fact that this was the last straw, that he has now said something "to cap it all", etc. etc.
Would that fit with your context?
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Note added at 7 heures (2011-03-20 01:21:15 GMT)
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There seems to be an odd divergence of opinion here as to the actual meaning of the metaphor (which I'm sure in its original, literal form must surely mean the same thing in both FR and EN?)
Perhaps it is the fact that I flunked out of rugby whenever I could, but I thought "kicking into touch" meant that somebody gave the final touch to something to round it off; obviously, as JML points out, this is to some extent making the best of a bad situation... but I'm not sure just to what extent the full implication of the literal meaning carries across when it is used figuratively.
I've heard it used in contexts where (empirically) I understood it like this: "The XYZ team did most of the donkey work with the research, then Prof. ABC came along and kicked the project into touch, thereby picking up all the accolades."
Note from asker:
| Thanks ! In fact, the Minister got muddled up as he said one thing and its contrary !! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
rkillings
: Your fellow translators will always suggest a different metaphor, but why not keep this one? Very close in spirit to its fashionable cousin in the US, "kick the can down the road". :-)
2 hrs
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Thanks, R! I think it's quite important to keep the same metaphor, though I'd like to be surer I really understand what the writer thought it meant as they used it here?
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| agree |
chris collister
: Keep the whole thing: "booted into touch" - one of my dad's favourite expressions.
13 hrs
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Thanks, Chris! I think your Dad and mine must have come from different backgrounds... ;-)
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| agree |
B D Finch
: Indeed, why paraphrase? I believe it is a tactic to put the ball out of play to neutralise the other side's advantage.//i.e. avoiding an awkward question and shifting discussion to (or restarting it at) different ground.
16 hrs
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Thanks, Barbara! Yes, though I'm not sure it always has quite that meaning when used figuratively? Certainly can't see how that would really fit here... Can't help wondering if perhaps the author wasn't getting their metaphors muddled?!
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| neutral |
Joseph Jeffries (X)
: Hi Tony - right metaphor, wrong meaning! You kick into touch 1) to clear the danger when pegged back by an opponent or 2) to win territory in the opponent's half. No glory involved at all
1 day 17 hrs
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Thanks, J! Yes, I'm well aware of the literal meaning of the sporting metaphor, but like I said, empricially, it seems to be employed rather differently in figurative usage; maybe by people who don't understand the origins!
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1 day 4 hrs
to curtail
Direct translation is possibly 'to kick into touch' but in this context 'to curtail', may be more appropriate.
Reference comments
17 hrs
Reference:
Definition
"It's a footballing phrase. If the ball goes over the "touchline" which marks the edge of the pitch, the ball is said to be "in touch" and is considered "dead". Play stops and must be started again by one of the players throwing the ball on to the pitch. I think this holds good, more or less, for soccer, both codes of rugby, and American football. Aussie rules too, for all I know. THe OED gives the first use of "touchline" as 1868, at which time the various codes of football were still evolving from a common point of origin.
: In figurative use, to kick something (e.g. a plan or project) into touch is to halt it, just as kicking a ball into touch stops play. (VSD)"
: In figurative use, to kick something (e.g. a plan or project) into touch is to halt it, just as kicking a ball into touch stops play. (VSD)"
Peer comments on this reference comment:
| agree |
Bourth (X)
: That's certainly the standard meaning, but here - and very often in French - it does come across as "avoid the issue", jouer son joker, "ignore the question".
3 hrs
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20 hrs
Reference:
botter en touche - dicos
éviter un sujet épineux en abordant un autre sujet
source: http://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-definition/botter e...
to stall, play for time
source: http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french-english/botte...
to avoid the question
source: http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/botter en touch...
source: http://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-definition/botter e...
to stall, play for time
source: http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french-english/botte...
to avoid the question
source: http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/botter en touch...
Discussion