amours de vélours sans détours ni contours

11:43 Jun 27, 2012 

Mimi, lol, I meant buttocks as in the speaker is trying to ingratiate himself with an important figure (kiss a**e) by using an expression which s/he may have coined (see my refs); sry for the confusion :-)

10:50 Jun 27, 2012 

It has nothing to do with buttocks. I think it is rather romance in the sense of relationship/collaboration with the mobile operator

08:20 Jun 27, 2012 

I get the distinct impression that the speaker is applying his lips to a pair of highly-placed political buttocks with this expression, if - as I'm inclined to believe - the expression originated with said lofty buttocks. So perhaps the translation should aim to reproduce its puckering effect, rather than the allusion to love/romance.

21:15 Jun 26, 2012 

I also believe that the "amours de vélours sans détours ni contours" bit is just part of the flowery language of speeches and thought of something like "we were set/in for unabridged romance"

21:09 Jun 26, 2012 

Not really relevant, just asking out of curiosity (their flagship colour is yellow).

21:03 Jun 26, 2012 

The speaker is a Mayor and is delivering a speech during the inauguration of the city council library, a donation of a mobile telephone operator. He is referring to municipal elections in 2007 when his team won and they had chosen yellow as their colour.

20:02 Jun 26, 2012 

I think Paul Biya and the CPDM/RDPC have adopted yellow as their colour.

http://blogitude.mondoblog.org/category/non-classe/ (ctrl + F jaune); http://www.camer.be/index1.php?art=13280&rub=12:1.

19:46 Jun 26, 2012 

To the point ; Clear and concise ; Straight and narrow ; Clear and simple ; Without beating around the bush (love this in an "African" context, lol)

19:10 Jun 26, 2012 

Great attitude (and good sense of humour)! : )

18:38 Jun 26, 2012 

I believe in keeping everything safe, especially with my beloved books!

17:59 Jun 26, 2012 

Ok, but just make sure you use condoms!

17:50 Jun 26, 2012 

Kate, I'm not talking about love IN books, I have been indeed referring to love OF books in a metaphysical/metaphorical sense all this time. I think it is very common to express that we might have a "love affair" with a book, as we might have a "love affair" with vanilla ice cream, or red Gucci dresses, or whatever. Simply meaning, we have a passion for... and passions can be long-term affairs that have fairy-tale endings (happily ever after)

17:38 Jun 26, 2012 

I think we have two different meanings of the word love in mind. I'm still inclined to read it as a love of (or for) books, rather than the love in books. So, enthusiasm, not passion - unless you see books as "the beloved"...

17:31 Jun 26, 2012 

But we'll never know without more of the speech to give us context!

17:29 Jun 26, 2012 

It would be great to know who exactly is talking, and his role in the ceremony. And any other extracts.
Another longshot: the "bibliotéque" decor was chosen by them as exclusively yellow and cosy/soft?

17:23 Jun 26, 2012 

The thing is we don't even know if that part of the speech that we see has anything to do with the library or with books. Maybe the speaker is still at election time, and hasn't touched the main theme of his speech yet.

17:19 Jun 26, 2012 

what is love that does not meander? Love that is steady, constant. By little stretch of the imagination, that could be an "unconditional" love or "love pure and simple" or even a fairy tale love ("happily ever after"). Bottom line, it is love that is long-lasting regardless of the inconsistencies of the beloved.

17:12 Jun 26, 2012 

can both mean the bends/curves of a river. So I would regard the phrase as meaning "without meandering". Which would give the whole sentence as something like "we settled on the love of books, pure and simple". This is why I'm having trouble getting my head around your totally different interpretations!

17:05 Jun 26, 2012 

I'm not exactly sure what "party" wears the color yellow on their sleeves, but as regards books, it could refer to those yellowing pages. AFter all the discussion – with some very valid challenges and points made – perhaps Phil you should propose as an answer "an unconditional love of books." If however there is doubt about the "books" part, perhaps the more ambiguous "a live of love unconditional" would do the trick.

17:04 Jun 26, 2012 

Context would be extremely helpful. Because of the mention of "notre equipe lors des élections" I assume this speech is given by a local politician. To me it seems highly unlikely that such a person, either as donor or as recipient, would be specifying soft and fuzzy romances as the highlight of their new library!

16:53 Jun 26, 2012 

J'aimerais bien aussi avoir les réponses aux questions que pose philgoddard!

16:50 Jun 26, 2012 

Unconditional?

16:47 Jun 26, 2012 

"sans detours ni contours" conveys -to me at least- the sense of love unabridged, uninterrupted, undeterred, shapeless, amorphous, undefinable, it is just, well, "love" ... to me that's the "Hollywood story", the perfect love, the "happily ever after" kind of love.

16:36 Jun 26, 2012 

If indeed there is an importance to "velours"=vellum=books, then I think you could expand the expression to read "a life of love of books happily ever after"

16:30 Jun 26, 2012 

Who is this speaking? What is "l'équipe"? What elections? What is the relevance of yellow? Who is XXX?
It's velours, not vélours.

16:09 Jun 26, 2012 

that velours can = vellum, i.e. animal skin that was used for the pages of old books previous to parchment/paper

15:32 Jun 26, 2012 

15:18 Jun 26, 2012 

Gosh, the author just put 4 unrelated words with the same ending together (and one with a typo), leading to a phrase that has no sense whatsoever. I suppose you could do the same in English... without the typo! : )