This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
ordonne
chef de mission

Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

y prennent successivement un point d’appui

English translation:

both sides took turns making use of the park as a staging area

Added to glossary by Barbara Cochran, MFA
Sep 19, 2021 21:46
2 yrs ago
30 viewers *
French term

y prennent successivement un point d’appui

French to English Art/Literary Military / Defense From An Art History Book
Contexte :

La lutte entre FFI et Allemands continue autour des pesantes murailles jusqu’à la Libération ; les adversaires y prennent successivement un point d’appui. Le 29 août 1944, à la grande inquiétude des conservateurs, un bataillon allemand stationne dans le parc. Pendant plusieurs jours on peut tout craindre de la rancœur et de l’amertume de ces soldats en retraite ; aussi les voit-on s’éloigner avec un inexprimable soulagement.
Sitôt partis, ce sont les FFI qui s’installent à leur place, bien décidés à y demeurer jusqu’au dernier règlement de comptes…

Merci Beaucoup,

Barbara
Proposed translations (English)
4 both sides made use of the park as a staging area
3 +3 made it [the park] a/their rallying point
4 +2 took uo positions there in turn
3 +1 Used successively as a stronghold by both sides
2 traded places at the scene (the fortifications) as a fulcrum point
Change log

Sep 30, 2021 16:06: Barbara Cochran, MFA Created KOG entry

Discussion

writeaway Sep 19, 2021:
Please let us know what you have already and what the exact problem is. It would be nice to involve colleagues by contributing your own input.

Proposed translations

3 days 16 hrs
Selected

both sides made use of the park as a staging area

In military usage, a staging area is a place where troops or equipment in transit are assembled or processed.
Often and historically this military staging area has been termed a point d'appui, which is often on high ground and sometimes coincident with a significant prehistoric monument, as in the case of Catto Long Barrow in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Unlike normal bases, the facilities of a staging area are temporary, mainly because for a certain time it will hold much more troops and materiel than would be reasonable in peacetime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staging_area

STAGING AREA:
a place where soldiers and equipment are brought together and prepared before military activity
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/stag...

or assembly point
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : I think this is inadvisable, as it removes the notion of 'successively', whereas by adding 'both' tends to imply it might have been at the same time!
19 mins
Get your point - I was concentrating on the translation of 'point d'appui' and have no objections to 'successively' or 'in turn'
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+3
17 mins

made it [the park] a/their rallying point

...; the adversaries, each in turn, made it [the park] a/their rallying point.
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
10 hrs
agree writeaway
15 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher
1 day 12 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
2 hrs

Used successively as a stronghold by both sides

Robin's is the right term but it is perhaps not obvious to readers. I wonder if put like this it would work

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 heures (2021-09-20 00:05:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Perhaps better thus: "used as a stronghold by one side after the other"
Peer comment(s):
agree Clive Phillips : Or preferably strongpoint. In military tactics, a strongpoint is a key point in a defensive fighting position which anchors the overall defence line. This may include redoubts, bunkers, pillboxes, trenches or fortresses, alone or in combination.
1 day 9 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
10 hrs

took uo positions there in turn

The struggle between the FFI and the Germans continued around the heavy walls until the Liberation; the adversaries took up positions there in turn. On 29th August 1944, to the great concern of the conservatives, a German battalion was stationed in the park. For several days, the bitterness and resentment of these retreating soldiers was to be feared, and they left with inexpressible relief.
As soon as they left, the FFI took their place, determined to remain there until the last reckoning...


Peer comment(s):
agree Saeed Najmi : "p"
24 mins
Yes, sorry for typo, thanks!
agree ormiston : I like took up position but 'in turn' sounds a bit like an agreed rota!
3 hrs
Thank you! Well, one side took a stance, then the other;
Something went wrong...
15 hrs

traded places at the scene (the fortifications) as a fulcrum point

> assuming the 'adversaries' are FFI as the Free French vs. the Germans, rather than referring to the FFI as the opponents alone.

Low confidence level as the other answers are so good....
Example sentence:

Later, the Resistance was more formally referred to as the \

IATE: fr point d\'appui en fulcrum pin > The fulcrum point is the center of a key activity or situation.

Reference:

http://eng.proz.com/personal-glossaries/entry/1470986-point-d’appui-point-of-support

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trade places with (someone)

Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search