la bonne conscience martiale

English translation: self-image as \'world policeman\'

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	la bonne conscience martiale
English translation:	self-image as \'world policeman\'
Entered by:	Katherine Rutter

14:14 Feb 27, 2016

French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Government / Politics

French term or phrase: la bonne conscience martiale

This is in a translation test that I am doing, the full sentence is below. It dates back to the 2012 presidential elections, and this paragraph of the article is speculating about what would have happened if Romney had won.

"L'Amérique, rendue à son arrogance et à sa bonne conscience martiale, aurait de nouveau pris, ici ou là, le sentier de la guerre et fait reculer dramatiquement l'idée d'une coopération entre les Etats, les régions ou les civilisations"

I can only think of "militarism" but that doesn't really include the idea of "bonne conscience", and Google isn't bringing up any examples of the phrase in use.

Katherine Rutter KudoZ activity Questions: 5 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 9 United Kingdom
Local time: 02:34

self-image as 'world policeman'

Explanation:
This is a commonly used version of the meaning of the phrase in English language journalism. The idea of 'policeman' covers 'bonne conscience'.

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Note added at 8 hrs (2016-02-27 22:17:21 GMT)
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Yes. The art of translation is to convey the meaning behind the words into the cultural expression of the target language, rather than trying to transcribe the actual words. This is why google translate etc will never replace humans. :-)

Selected response from:

Ben Gaia
New Zealand
Local time: 13:34

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

self-image as 'world policeman'

Ben Gaia

militaristic mindset

Sheri P

pride in its martial glory

Margaret Morrison

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

52 mins confidence:

militaristic mindset

Explanation:
Here's an example of the phrase, which interestingly refers to *Obama* having a militaristic mindset.

"It's a militaristic mindset. And Obama has not gotten out of that militaristic mindset. He talks about sending tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan."
From Howard Zinn Speaks: Collected Speeches, 1963-2009
https://books.google.com/books?id=U2lfFcHfXkwC&pg=PA261&lpg=...

Sheri P
United States
Local time: 21:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks, that is just the word that I couldn't find!

1 hr confidence:

pride in its martial glory

Explanation:
the import is in the feeling about the militarism

Margaret Morrison
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

self-image as 'world policeman'

Ben Gaia
New Zealand
Local time: 13:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

Notes to answerer

Asker: thanks, that is helpful. It conveys the idea that they feel they ought to do it, rather than the idea that they just love fighting.

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