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Apr 15, 2017 03:38
7 yrs ago
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French term

encourager les sourds

French to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Idiom??
I'm working on translating a play. It's very abstract AND it's written in Québécois so there has been a learning curve as I have been working on it.

This phrase appears in a Christmas dinner scene. The play does not have any written characters or punctuation - it reads more like a poem and a stream of consciousness.

Obviously I know what the words mean. But I have been working on this piece for a month and a half and my brain is fried - is there some idiomatic meaning I am not aware of? Or should I just accept that these people have multiple Christmas cards to support the Deaf?

Thank you!!!!

Context:

Le sapin est vraiment petit
mais y'a vraiment beaucoup
beaucoup de boules pis de cheveux d'ange
C'est comme si la madame rouge-mauve avait choisi le p' tit dernier
le p' tit sapin dans l' coin qui fait pitié
Y' a pas bin bin de cadeaux
Quelques cartes accotées dans les branches
Des cartes de pharmacie pis des cartes pour ****encourager les sourds****
Y' a le frère pis sa femme qui sont arrivés avec des paquets
C'est des trucs du Dollorama
des trucs utiles par exemple
comme des lampions pour celle qui croit aux anges
pis des épingles à linge en bois
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 (cards) to support the deaf
3 awaken deaf ears

Discussion

Graeme Jones Apr 16, 2017:
Loud As in brash, cheap, in your face?
Roberta Beyer (asker) Apr 15, 2017:
@sporran Thank you!!! That is extremely helpful, that is the missing information I needed. Please do feel free to put it as an answer because I think it is very helpful.
AllegroTrans Apr 15, 2017:
to support/in support of the deaf sounds right to me
Nikki Scott-Despaigne Apr 15, 2017:
@Phil Exactly what I thought. Charity cards, usually quite expensive, the proceeds of sale going to charity. (E.g. Oxfam cards).
sporran Apr 15, 2017:
In Canada, at Christmas, charities send, unsollicited, packets of free greeting cards, addresss and gift stickers, in the hope of getting donations for their cause. Greeting cards are huge over there. These are obviously sent by someone who supports the deaf :-) And I always got a card from my local pharmacy. Hope this helps.
Roberta Beyer (asker) Apr 15, 2017:
@philgoddard You know you say I suggested it and I am rereading my question and I guess I was suggesting that... but I didn't think about them being, say, cards with a donation to a charity in lieu of a gift. That does make sense. I suppose this is one where I will have to ask the author what she meant!
philgoddard Apr 15, 2017:
In that case, maybe they're charity Christmas cards as you suggest.
Roberta Beyer (asker) Apr 15, 2017:
@philgoddard But she jumps around sometimes and breaks up lines that go together with a disparate line between them, and many of the things she writes either have layered meanings or are referencing some other expression, if that makes sense. So sometimes I am looking for that meaning so much that I miss the obvious things, and vice versa.
Roberta Beyer (asker) Apr 15, 2017:
@philgoddard I took "cartes de pharmacie" to mean greeting cards, like Christmas cards, that you can buy at the drugstore. Hallmark and the like. I think tree and gifts and cards alike are all somewhat on the practical and inexpensive side, cheap and useful, nothing very exciting.
philgoddard Apr 15, 2017:
That's good. If you work for agencies, they can be really obstructive about talking to the writer.
What do you make of "carte de pharmacie"? Does that provide any clues? Do you think the things in the tree are well meant but oddly chosen presents?
Roberta Beyer (asker) Apr 15, 2017:
@philgoddard Definitely! I am in contact with the author but her availability is limited so I try to do my best to answer as many of my own questions as possible through research and other resources so that on the occasions that I do get to Skype with her, I can focus on questions that only she can answer, and I can present her with options instead of just saying "what does this mean?" I have no idea how I would do this without input from her!!
philgoddard Apr 15, 2017:
You should be in regular contact with the author on a text like this, assuming they're alive.

Proposed translations

+1
1 day 15 hrs
Selected

(cards) to support the deaf

See note in discussion
Peer comment(s):
agree Odette Grille (X) : Absolutely, cards sold for profits going to the deaf
5 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
3 mins

awaken deaf ears

maybe

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Note added at 5 mins (2017-04-15 03:43:22 GMT)
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would seem to cover the figurative aspect at least

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Note added at 6 mins (2017-04-15 03:44:56 GMT)
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ok and having worked for many years in translation (and now just looking in), I know what you mean
Note from asker:
OH that's great! Thank you so much. I desperately need other eyes (or ears as the case may be) because when I have spent this long trying to work something out it becomes practically meaningless to me.
Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : I may be wrong, but I can't help feeling it's something less abstract than this, an ordinary object described in an unusual way, like a child would.
23 mins
neutral Victoria Britten : Agree with Phil G
1 hr
neutral writeaway : any refs to back this? it sounds lovely but how much sense does it make in the context: Des cartes de pharmacie pis des cartes pour encourager les sourds Can you back it in any way?
3 hrs
agree Jennifer White : Why not? The meaning is obscure anyway. No point trying to second-guess (Maybe they are musical cards or those with birdsong?? ;))
6 hrs
disagree Odette Grille (X) : It is just cards sold so the profits go to some association supporting deaf people
7 days
Something went wrong...
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