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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

effets secondaires non recherchés

English translation:

unintended / unintentional side effects

Added to glossary by Heather Phillips
May 12, 2010 12:27
14 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term

effets secondaires non recherchés

French to English Science Agriculture document on pesticides
Are these unintentional side effects? I have data on effects on yield, plant quality, etc. and now have a paragraph on "effets secondaires non recherchés" which reports no negative effect on adjacent crops. Can anybody please tell me how to translate this? Many thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 unintended / unintentional side effects
4 +4 unintended side effects
References
Unintended or unintentional

Discussion

Desdemone (X) May 12, 2010:
Also, "unintended consequences of pesticide use"
Desdemone (X) May 12, 2010:
Google "unintended side effects of pesticide use"

Proposed translations

+5
5 mins
Selected

unintended / unintentional side effects

As you called it.

"effets secondaires" = side effects (definitely sure of this).

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Note added at 33 mins (2010-05-12 13:00:35 GMT)
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Google entries.

"unintended side effects" = 1,820,000 results
"unintentional side effects" = 19,900 results

This proves fairly conclusive that your definitive translation should be "unintended side effects". Hope this helps you out.


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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-05-12 15:18:40 GMT)
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Happy to be of help, Heather. My advice would be to go for "unintended side effects". All the best with the rest of your translation. Chris.
Note from asker:
Many thanks Chris, that's really helpful!
Peer comment(s):
agree SueE
3 mins
Many thanks Sue.
agree John Speese : Sounds good, effects on non-target organisms is also used in certain contexts.
56 mins
Many thanks John.
agree Carol Gullidge : you were first! (but beware of relying on g-hits too heavily: try googling "their's no reason" or any similar nonsense, and see what you get!
4 hrs
Many thanks Carol. You make a valid point - I have just tried it out myself. I agree that sometimes I get a bit too obsessed with G-hits / entries.
agree philgoddard
5 hrs
Many thanks Phil.
agree Tally Fenney : Agree with your choice. Unintended and unintentional don't have exactly the same meaning - did not expect it vs did not mean it.
9 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Sorry for the late points, but thanks again."
+4
14 mins

unintended side effects

unwanted side effects was my first intuition, but it has a negative connotation. Unintended seems to be more commonly used than unintentional.
Example sentence:

Another fear regarding GM technology in agriculture is that a pesticide produced by the GM crop could end up causing harm to animals. In one instance, a GM crop did successfully reduce weeds as intended but there was an unintended side effect.

Reference:

http://www.exploredna.co.uk/

Peer comment(s):
agree Sandra Petch : Nice to have some references.
2 mins
agree mimi 254
53 mins
agree B D Finch
1 hr
agree emanesp
1 hr
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

Unintended or unintentional

"unintended ADJECTIVE not intended; unplanned.

unintentional ADJECTIVE not deliberate; accidental: the killing had been unintentional"

Collins English Dictionary

The difference is subtle, but I think it is important.
Something went wrong...
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