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French to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
French term or phrase:biberon
Here is the context :
"Pornographie, psychotropes, alcool et chair animal sont les biberons modernes d’une humanité troublée, aveugle, à qui il faudrait dire la vérité : rien ne commence vraiment, sur le plan de l’âme, tant que l’on dort avec son biberon."
The usual word for "biberon" is 'bottle', but I'm afraid that in this context it might not be clear... Should I use "nursing bottle", "feeding bottle"?
Explanation: Following on from the comments in 'Discussion', I think these could be appropriate here, reflecting to some extent the notion of a 'panacæa for the masses' referred to by David. I don't know about US usage, but certainly 'dummy' in GB tends also to convey the idea of 'stuffing something in baby's mouth to shut them up'! I have been known to upset parents when their child was bawling by flippantly suggesting they should "put the stopper back in!"
I don't think that "comforter" and Joanna Tabet's interesting interpretation are so different. But if you go with rephrase, one possible idea would be "bottle-fed". You could even use both as we have two occurrences of the idea: "Biberon modernes" = comforter "Dort avec son biberon" = bottle-fed.
And that is why I don't think the two interpretations are in opposition as we are bottle-fed, "we come to like it" as she says and so we are "comforted" by this.
I agree that "blankie" or "security blanket" is in widespread usage and would work well for the context of going to bed clutching a blankie for comfort but I think we also need something like (a modern) "emotional/psychological crutch for the addictive part of the sentence? So perhaps a combination of the 2 concepts?
Ah yes, that's exactly where I first heard it, and how it came to be coined in my own family; however, I don't think Peanuts had a very great penetration in the UK, so not sure how widespread that would have been; however, it was a certain '60s generation who perhaps first employed it on a large scale.
Yes, our families are US not UK and yet we always had this. I assumed Schulz invented the term for Linus's accoutrement in the Peanuts comic, perhaps accounting for its trans-Atlantic acceptance
I don't think that feeding bottle works so well here. It's about being overly) attached to an object and soothing yourself. That would normally be associated with a dummy/pacifier or a blanket
Babies do sleep with bottles (cf Tony). In US in my experience these are most often "baby bottles" but "feeing bottle" may be less ambiguous (per Asker). These also would carry the connotation of an unwholesome surfeit (per David), in US at least, because they rot a sleeping baby's incoming teeth (yes, also in my experience) and are nutritionally inferior and disrecommended as compared with breast milk.
If this is in the context of a discussion about religion/spirituality, it seems to me that 'biberon' is being used figuratively to speak of things that give immediate pleasure/comfort but are actually harmful to spiritual sensibilities. I think the notions of addiction and of pandering to animal instincts are key here (pornography, alcohol, psychotropic drugs, etc.). Maybe 'addictive gratification' or 'harmful gratification' would cover it. Seen from a religious perspective, these are all things that stimulate immediate pleasure but dull deeper sensitivity and even dehumanize people who indulge in them.
'Dummies' is still current for the baby's soother, but the word is a bit ambiguous since it also has the sense of a stupid person - I think 'soother' as Frank suggests is a better option. 'Comforter' would be another option that would work - although 'comforter' is really 'doudou' rather than 'biberon' it gets the sense of the French.
Thanks a lot Tony. "Biberon" does make sense in French in this context, I'm pretty sure, but maybe not in English. If "dummies" is still current, I think it would fit perfectly here (both in terms of the level of usage and meaning).
I think 'biberon' is almost ill-chosen here; it seems to me they are talking more about a 'sucette' (note it mentions sleeping with one, which you wouldn't do with a baby's bottle!) I'd be inclined, therefore, to translate it as 'pacifier' [EN-US?] or maybe 'comforter' (though I think that may also have another meaning, probably along the lines of 'doudou') — in EN-GB we used to call them 'dummies', but I'm not sure if that is still really current?
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soother
Explanation: 'bottle' n'est en effet pas très clair dans ce contexte. soother = tétine, pourrait peut-être faire l'affaire?