vent
English translation: bull/hokum
| 05:02 Jun 1, 2010 |
| French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: polyglot45 | ||||||
Grading comment
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| Summary of answers provided | ||||
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| 4 +1 | selling hot air |
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| 4 | fresh air |
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| 3 +1 | bull/hokum |
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| 4 -1 | a breath of fresh air, dreams |
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| 3 | hoaxes |
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| Discussion entries: 4 | |
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Answers
1 hr confidence: 
fresh air Explanation: Medieval charlatans often duped gullible customers by selling bottled air or dreams! -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2010-06-01 06:24:19 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- It seems that gullible customers are still being duped today! http://www.greenmuze.com/nature/sky/2399-fresh-bottled-count... http://www.ecosalon.com/canned-fresh-air/ http://www.treedroppings.com/air.php Example sentence(s):
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Notes to answerer
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6 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1selling hot air Explanation: "c'est du vent" = bunkum / baloney! -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2010-06-01 06:53:39 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Vendre du vent = Vendre quelque chose qui n’a aucune valeur http://www.p-interactif.com/spip.php?article81 |
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Notes to answerer
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1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
peer agreement (net): -1a breath of fresh air, dreams Explanation: Not the same as the previous "fresh air" answer since I read this figuratively, as "dreams". "A breath of fresh air" is like "hope", something to dream about, something to take your mind off your troubles, and therefore quite close to "legends" too. You can buy cans of Paris (or wherever you happen to be) air to this day still, in tourist shops, but hope - unlike ships or Paris - is harder to get in bottle, so I don't see this as a literal turn of phrase. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2010-06-01 07:39:01 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- If Francis is right about the expression having a more conventional meaning, then maybe "sold smoke and mirrors" contains the purely illusory notion while suggesting they might nonetheless have got something (enjoyable) for their money. |
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2 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1bull/hokum Explanation: As Francis says, "du vent" and "vendre du vent" suggests - as do earlier sentences - that these are con men : a lot of nothing/empty promises/candyfloss/thin air. However I can see that this sits fairly ill in the sentence: they sold hope, <B>fantasy and legends... might get you out of a tight corner, though perhaps in the end I like "hokum" best -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2010-06-01 07:50:47 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- there is also "hogwash" |
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Notes to answerer
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6 hrs confidence:
hoaxes Explanation: They sold false pieces of information, they lied intentionally. |
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