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  3. Poetry & Literature

broyées par la lumière

English translation: dispersed by the light

07:37 May 25, 2011
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / sculpture
French term or phrase: broyées par la lumière
Context:
Dans mon village de pêcheurs au sud de Marseille, les couleurs semblaient bannies, ***broyées par la lumière***… Seuls, les bleus intenses du ciel et de la mer s'affrontaient...
The intense light of the Midi.
kashew
France
Local time: 04:38
English translation:dispersed by the light
Explanation:
Possibly not as strong as the French, but at least it makes sense in English! Could be made stronger by saying 'fully dispersed by the light' or something similar.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-05-25 10:00:34 GMT)
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So now the astronomers had indirect evidence of a disk left over from the stars formation they had to get direct evidence. For this they used the ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (the VLTI), and with this they directly observed the disk .The disk is over 1,000 solar masses and its 130 AU wide; which is much less than a light year. The inner part of the disk has a temperature of around 2000 K, whereas the parts of the disk farther out are cooler. The stars disk will not last for much longer; it will soon be dispersed by the light being emitted by the star, which is 30,000 times brighter than our own star.
http://ya.astroleague.org/?p=1303

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Note added at 5 days (2011-05-30 11:12:24 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks, kashew
Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:38
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1overwhelmed by the light
Philippa Smith
3 +2drained/faded/crushed/belittled by the brightness
polyglot45
5subdued by the light
Dieezah
3 +1dissolved by the light
Nerino
3 +1colours were reduced to nothingness
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
3 +1obliterated/disintegrated by the (intensity of the) light
Colin Rowe
3dissipated by the light
Carol Gullidge
3dispersed by the light
Helen Shiner


  

Answers


22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
dissolved by the light


Explanation:
It is the most poetic verb that I could think of.

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Note added at 27 min (2011-05-25 08:05:19 GMT)
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Or else, pulverized by the light.

Nerino
Local time: 04:38
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Colin Rowe: I like "pulverized" :-)
3 hrs
  -> Thank you!
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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
overwhelmed by the light


Explanation:
One option among many; the light is so overwhelming in its brightness that the colours seem to fade away....

You could also used "crushed", like in the French.

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Note added at 38 mins (2011-05-25 08:16:15 GMT)
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Another thought: "defeated by the light" to reflect the slightly war-like tone. The colours have been defeated by the enemy - the light - and thus banished from light's territory, whereas the blues manage to stand firm and fight it out...

Philippa Smith
Local time: 04:38
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 48
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks - I think "crushed" might suit.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Verginia Ophof
6 hrs
  -> Thanks Verginia!
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50 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
dissipated by the light


Explanation:
you can imagine the light breaking up/fading the colours

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-05-25 08:52:12 GMT)
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DIFFRACTED BY THE LIGHT is perhaps closer to the source meaning

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:38
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 80
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51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
drained/faded/crushed/belittled by the brightness


Explanation:
some ideas (I find the light hanging on the end a bit odd)

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Note added at 53 mins (2011-05-25 08:31:41 GMT)
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squashed/flattened

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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-05-25 13:02:55 GMT)
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or how about - colours seem to have been bannished, unable to compete with the brighness of the light

polyglot45
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 52
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks - "crushed" pleases me.

Asker: I had crushed but went for the colder, more scientific answer by Helen S.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marian Vieyra: Crushed.
1 hr
agree  mimi 254
2 hrs
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
les couleurs semblaient bannies, broyées par la lumière
colours were reduced to nothingness


Explanation:
Broyées is quite strong. Your image has to be strong but not heavy. I suggest taking the bit it depend upon into the language equation as it were.

les couleurs semblaient bannies, ***broyées par la lumière***

"colours were reduced to nothingness"

I've turned it round a little, but I'm not a great fan of lining up bits of sentences in English. I think that stylistic English cannot support it to the extent which French can.


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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-05-25 13:05:10 GMT)
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"In my village... it was if colour had been reduced to nothingness"

"Colour" or colours" ? Not sure whether singular or plural works better.

ANother suggestion : "...had been fired into oblivion".


Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 04:38
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Carolyn Yohn: as if the colors had been exiled, or reduced to nothingness by the light" ... I like this best! Very poetic.
2 days 1 hr
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
obliterated/disintegrated by the (intensity of the) light


Explanation:
Adding to the thesaurus of destruction!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-05-25 10:04:17 GMT)
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Or, while we are at it, how about...

"annihilated"

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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-05-25 10:46:28 GMT)
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or even

"shattered"

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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-05-25 11:31:54 GMT)
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"fragmented" might also work.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-05-25 11:34:35 GMT)
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or

"ground to dust"

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Note added at 4 hrs (2011-05-25 11:57:17 GMT)
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Another one:

"diminished"

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Note added at 6 hrs (2011-05-25 13:42:20 GMT)
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"dashed to pieces"

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Note added at 8 hrs (2011-05-25 15:40:55 GMT)
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"washed out"

Colin Rowe
Germany
Local time: 04:38
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Terry Richards: I like annihilated
1 hr
  -> Thanks!
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18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
subdued by the light


Explanation:
In my fishermen's village south of Marseille, colors were seemingly banned, completely subdued by the light...
subdued completely = crushed = broyée (see web reference)


    Reference: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crush?show=0&t=130...
Dieezah
Martinique
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in Creoles & Pidgins (French-based Other)Creoles & Pidgins (French-based Other)
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
dispersed by the light


Explanation:
Possibly not as strong as the French, but at least it makes sense in English! Could be made stronger by saying 'fully dispersed by the light' or something similar.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-05-25 10:00:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

So now the astronomers had indirect evidence of a disk left over from the stars formation they had to get direct evidence. For this they used the ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (the VLTI), and with this they directly observed the disk .The disk is over 1,000 solar masses and its 130 AU wide; which is much less than a light year. The inner part of the disk has a temperature of around 2000 K, whereas the parts of the disk farther out are cooler. The stars disk will not last for much longer; it will soon be dispersed by the light being emitted by the star, which is 30,000 times brighter than our own star.
http://ya.astroleague.org/?p=1303

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2011-05-30 11:12:24 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks, kashew

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:38
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 72
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks - yes, it's this or crushed.

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