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jouer parole contre parole

20:38 Mar 1, 2012
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Other
French term or phrase: jouer parole contre parole
Expliquez-moi s'il vous plait comment vous comprenez cette expression : "jouer parole contre parole". Le francais n'est pas ma langue maternelle et je ne trouve pas cette expression nulle part sur le net...

Contexte: "Et si refermant le livre, celui qui a lu se demande pourquoi Szpilman, le pianiste immortalisé sous les traits d'Adrien Brody, accusa Wiera, refusa de l'aider, offrit au monde sa version de l'histoire en effaçant la chanteuse qu'il accompagnait, il se refuse à accuser encore, à jouer parole contre parole. Car alors il aurait lu pour rien."

Source: http://www.lefigaro.fr/livres/2011/01/13/03005-20110113ARTFI...
kay89
Local time: 07:44


Summary of answers provided
4 +1his word against her's
Kim Jolicoeur
4weigh accusations
cc in nyc
2 +1confronting one word against another
Laurette Tassin
3fight word against word
MatthewLaSon


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
his word against her's


Explanation:
"Sa parole contre la sienne" est l'expression que je comprend par l'exemple, le contexte donné.

Example sentence(s):
  • "(...) he refuses to accuse again, to put his word against her's (...)"
Kim Jolicoeur
Local time: 00:44
Native speaker of: French

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sofia Dervisi
25 mins
neutral  Jennifer White: Don't know for sure, but the apostrophe should not be used here.
54 mins
neutral  cc in nyc: mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs ;-)
19 hrs
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46 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
confronting one word against another


Explanation:
a proposal

Laurette Tassin
France
Local time: 07:44
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alison Sparks (X): without the confronting peferably.
11 hrs
  -> Thanks Alison , *play the game of* seemed to me difficult to work with here
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
weigh accusations


Explanation:
IMO, in this context, which is the closing paragraph of this book review:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/livres/2011/01/13/03005-20110113ARTFI...



cc in nyc
Local time: 01:44
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
fight word against word


Explanation:
Hello,

I think this is a more natural way of saying this in English.

Again, when you are renting you need to get all agreements in wrighting because it is extremely hard to fight word against word. Hope this .

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/advice/t-312901.html


I hope this helps.

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Note added at 2 days20 hrs (2012-03-04 17:29:57 GMT)
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You could use "play the game of his word against hers" here, but I prefer "to fight word against word" as it is less verbose as well as something we're more likely to say ("game" is fine, but not as common)


MatthewLaSon
Local time: 01:44
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 64
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