Emmanuelle ARBELLINI Oct 18, 2019:

@ B D Yes you are right about robins, we know them, I was talking about the colour of their eggs :p and of course anyone can google to have the info (but let's be honest, how many will take the trouble?).
I completely agree with you that the english text is poetic. Maybe something like "bleu comme un oeuf de rouge-gorge" would do? As long as a colour is mentioned, you can compare it with anything and the reader knows what colour it is (I'm not sure I'm expressing myself clearly, sorry !)

B D Finch Oct 18, 2019:

@Emmanuelle Many French people know and all can find out the colour of a robin's egg (the French name for robin is rouge-gorge). However, the point I was trying to make is that the text is saying that in English the colour was called by names comparing it to robin's eggs and that of forget-me-nots. That is rather poetic. One can make the same comparison in French, but, unless that comparison had already been commonly made in French, it cannot be said that it was "referred to" in that way unless the translation mentions that the reference was made in English.

So, the Asker needs to decide how important this is to the text being translated and whether to include or omit it.

Emmanuelle ARBELLINI Oct 18, 2019:

It is difficult to find a term that matches the colours here. As I said, I don't think a french person would know what robin egg's blue refers to unless he or she is an ornithologist :D and same with forget-me-nots.
It is a pity but I think something has to be lost in translation here :( Either you make the text understandable (or find a way to convey the hue) or translate accurately and take the risk of losing your audience. IMO.
An other option is to look at images of blue diamonds and hope to be inspired by their beauty :p

B D Finch Oct 18, 2019:

Context This is slightly odd because, though it is about a specific colour, robin's egg blue is a greenish blue, while forget-me-not blue isn't. More importantly, however, I think that you are making a mistake in trying to translate the names of these colours in any way that is not completely literal, because your text is specifically giving these colour names as how this colour was referred to in English.