ressembler à du bricolage

English translation: improvised

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	ressembler à du bricolage
English translation:	improvised
Entered by:	Stephen Schwanbeck

14:46 Sep 16, 2013

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

French term or phrase: ressembler à du bricolage

"Avant, cela ressemblait à du bricolage. On prenait des photos sur l'oeilleton d'un vieux microscope. Cela prenait du temps, ce n'était pas pratique et les images obtenues n'étaient pas d'aussi bonne qualité"

The text above comes from an article describing a high-power digital microscope. I understand what the speaker means (poor quality images obtained using an amateur method), I'm just having trouble finding the right expression. "Crappy" and "half-assed" spring to mind, but that's not the right register (press release). Can anyone out there prod me into the right direction. "Amateurish" perhaps?

TIA,

Stephen Schwanbeck KudoZ activity Questions: 13 (2 open) (2 closed without grading) Answers: 14 France
Local time: 14:48

improvised

Explanation:
In the light of comments from peers, and taking into account the register of the document here, my original afterthought suggestion would probably be better here, so I am posting it as a separate suggestion for the sake of the glossary.

Thanks to all for their various comments!

Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:48

Grading comment

My apologies for the late reply. These past few days have been hectic. I’d like to thank everyone for their helpful and interesting suggestions and comments. I’d say that all your suggestions are, to varying agrees, acceptable and I'll remember to refer to them if I ever have to translate this expression again. I wish I could award points to more than one answer. In any case, I decided to go with Tony’s alternate suggestion of “improvised” as it best reflects the register of the press release.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +8

it wasn't very professional

Claire Nolan

4 +6

(pretty) amateurish

Victoria Britten

4 +4

rather Heath Robinson

kashew

4 +2

looked like so much jerry-rigging

jmleger

3 +3

a bit primitive

kashew

4 +2

it looked pretty DIY

Robert Rowe

4 +1

it looked like it had been thrown / cobbled together

Helen Shiner

4 +1

it was a bit of a lash-up / bodge

Tony M

quite unprofessional

Jane F

improvised

Tony M

4 -2

shoddy

Graham Patrick Cox

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

6 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

rather Heath Robinson

Explanation:
http://retrocosm.net/2013/01/18/retrochallenge/
18 Jan 2013 ... Hopefully aforementioned community won't see the rather Heath Robinson
replacement battery pack that I hacked together. Short of parts to ...

kashew
France
Local time: 14:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 74

Notes to answerer

Asker: Interesting. I had never heard of this person before. I'm sure your suggestion could work for something published solely for the UK market, but this press release is aimed at an international audience.

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

it wasn't very professional

Explanation:
your ''amateurish'' is also very good.

Claire Nolan
Local time: 08:48
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

8 mins confidence:

quite unprofessional

Explanation:
another word for 'amateurish'

Jane F
France
Local time: 14:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 58

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

looked like so much jerry-rigging

Explanation:
par exemple

jmleger
Local time: 07:48
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 115

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

(pretty) amateurish

Explanation:
as, indeed, you suggest: it was my first thought

Victoria Britten
France
Local time: 14:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 31

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -2

shoddy

Explanation:
poor design

Graham Patrick Cox
France
Native speaker of: English

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

a bit primitive

Explanation:
*

kashew
France
Local time: 14:48
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 74

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

it looked like it had been thrown / cobbled together

Explanation:
More suggestions. It seems to be about the way the images looked as a group. Maybe because they weren't able to standardise the result - possibly due to lack of control, for instance.

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:48
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 44

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

it looked pretty DIY

Explanation:
DIY is short for "do it yourself". In British English it connotes doing work round the house like painting, hanging wallpaper. laying carpets, fitting electrical appliances yourself, rather than bringing in professionals to do it, or making your own furniture etc. rather than buying it ready-made.
By extension it functions as an adjective describing anything which looks as if it's been done or put together by someone without the requisite skill.

Example sentence(s):

I'm doing some DIY decorating this weekend to save money.
Why don't you buy a properly designed spreadsheet instead of using that DIY thing?

Robert Rowe
Local time: 13:48
Native speaker of:

English

6 days confidence:

du bricolage

improvised

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:48
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 348

Grading comment

32 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

it was a bit of a lash-up / bodge

Explanation:
IN UK EN, at least, this sort of expression might well be used, and even though it is fairly informal, would not be out of place in the register you describe (unlike the suggestiosn you have wisely rejected!)

However, I don't know if either of these options would be usable for the US; I have a feeling they say 'botch' rather than 'bodge' anyway.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2013-09-16 15:39:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I'd just like to correct one of my comments above, which might be seen as misleading: in the UK, we do of course use both 'botch' and 'bodge' — both seem to date from around the same period, so it's anybody's guess if one is a corruption of the other, or vice-versa. But I am aware that 'botch' is the only version commonly used in the US.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-09-16 16:08:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You might want to consider something along the line of 'Before, everything was rather improvised', etc.

I prefer the notion of 'improvise', which corresponds well to 'bricoler', rather than emphasizing the pro/am issue, which in my view is a bit of a side issue, really and truly.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 days (2013-09-22 16:51:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Please disregard this suggestion, I shall leave it up simply for the interesting discussion. I have reposted my final, afterthought suggestion separately.

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:48
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 348

Notes to answerer

Asker: You're right: we do say "botch" in the U.S. As for "lash-up", I can't say that I've heard it before. In any case, I think I should go for something that's neither too American nor too British. Perhaps "amateurish" would be the best solution.

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

neutral

Victoria Britten: My understanding is that is not a one-off, nor a description of a previous state, in both of which cases this would be a contender, but rather of the way they used to work before improving the the technique.

35 mins

-> That's my understanding too: perhaps it would wotk better if one replaced 'it' with something more global like 'what we were doing...' or 'the way we used to have to work...' etc.?

neutral

kashew: I like your lash-up: or shaded back to "improvised". Botch/bodge isn't right for something that worked? // Maybe cock-up is more explicit?

47 mins

-> Thanks, J! Yes, I have added a suggestion above that I think would be both internationally-acceptable and in-register. No, 'bodge' can mean simply to do a poor job, not necessarily to fail (e.g. as found in 'a botched attempt...') / LOL!

agree

Claire Nolan: "Improvised" is good.

1 hr

-> Thanks, Clain!

neutral

Jane F: to bodge something is to make a mess of it, which is not the case here

2 hrs

-> I really can't agree, Jane: that is ONE meaning, when used transitively; but used as I have here, it is perfectly natural; 'we bodged something together and luckily it worked' etc. etc. That's the difference in UK EN 'bodge' / 'botch': a botched job.

neutral

AllegroTrans: suggests an abject mess/failure/something that doesn't function rather than an amateurish/DIY/Heath-Robinson jobby (that nevertheless works)//"improvised" works, you can post it separately as a 2nd suggestion

5 hrs

-> I don't agree, C; we've obviously experienced different lash-ups! However, what do you think about my revised suggestion of 'improvised'?

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English translation: improvised

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