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par paquets affinité
grammar

Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Drole de vibrion libre

English translation:

'real pain in the ass'

Added to glossary by Vladimir Dubisskiy
Mar 26, 2002 12:19
22 yrs ago
French term

Drole de vibrion libre

French to English Art/Literary Slang
This is what a soviet general thinks about a man who caused him a lot of trouble by bringing in some western journalists.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 'pain in the ass' might work
5 +2 one hell of a busybody
4 +2 a wild fidget
1 +5 Not exactly an answer to your query, but...
3 +2 what a pest! (funny kind of free-roaming bacteria)
4 +1 loose cannon
4 -1 funny, loose fidget
Change log

Apr 22, 2005 08:27: Florence Bremond changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary" , "Field (specific)" from "(none)" to "Slang"

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com Mar 27, 2002:
Thanks Thank you all for your suggestions. "Pain in the ass" is what I like the best, however, as Jacek knows, now I have to put it in Polish ("cholerna zaraza" or something like that). Yolanda's point is very interesting but Steven is right: it wasn't translated from Russian. As a matter of fact the general doesn't say anything.This is what he might think, sitting red-faced, his uniform suddenly too tight, watching a film about soviet crimes in Afghanistan shown in a GRU military school by the author and his staff mistaken for "French comarades". Siergiey, the "pain in the ass", was a russian journalist who got them invited to that school. So it's hard to guess why the French writter (who doesn't speak Russian)used this very expression which doesn't seem to be common in French.
LM

Proposed translations

+3
4 hrs
Selected

'pain in the ass' might work

This is funny.
The idea is pretty understandable and I would render it generally 'pain in the ass'(that person was for the general).
'As energetic and active as (cholera, but not necessariyl) vibrio'.

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Note added at 2002-03-26 16:50:32 (GMT)
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ie that guy was a \"real pain in the ass\" for the general.

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Note added at 2002-03-26 16:54:48 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I believe I know what that general might say in Russian besides mentioning \'a vibrio(n)\'. It could be \'as active as spermatozoon\' or alike (though \'cholera vibrio(n)\' was quite \'usable\' as well).
Peer comment(s):
agree zaphod
3 mins
thanks
agree Yolanda Broad : Thanks for coming to the rescue and bringing your trilingual expertise into play here. I still think it would be good for ProZ to have a trilingual query function for KudoZ, too. :-)
31 mins
sure, it's worthy of consideration
agree Jacek Krankowski (X) : The problem for the asker, of course, remains how to say it now in Polish which was his original question...
4 hrs
oh, Polish is as rich as Russian or Ukrainian :-)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
-1
5 mins

funny, loose fidget

fidget
inf
à vi
[be restless] avoir la bougeotte, gigoter
stop fidgeting! arrête de gigoter!
to fidget with sthg jouer avec qqch, tripoter qqch
à n
1. [restless person]: she's a little fidget elle ne tient pas en place, elle gigote tout le temps
what a fidget you are today! tu ne tiens pas en place OR tu as la bougeotte aujourd'hui!
don't be such a fidget! arrête de gigoter!
2. phr: to have OR to get the fidgets [be restless, nervous] ne pas tenir en place

Copyright © 1996 Larousse. Computer software copyright © 1996 INSO Corporation. All rights reserved.
Peer comment(s):
disagree Theresa Pisani Moniez : Would anybody SAY that?!
5 mins
Hum! I have already agreed with somone else's response !!!
Something went wrong...
+2
6 mins

a wild fidget

(vibrion = fidget : Harrap's)

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Note added at 2002-03-26 12:53:47 (GMT)
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we\'re trying to translate a translation as I don\'t expect the soviet general to have spoken in French.
Peer comment(s):
agree Lise Boismenu, B.Sc. : Like this one!
1 min
thanks !
agree Yolanda Broad
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
7 mins

what a pest! (funny kind of free-roaming bacteria)

the first is how I would translate it.
The second in brackets is a direct translation, a vibrion being a bakteria.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-03-26 13:10:12 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

bacteria, of course
Peer comment(s):
agree Dr. Chrys Chrystello
1 min
obrigado, Doutor!
agree Jacek Krankowski (X)
8 hrs
thank you, Jacek!
Something went wrong...
+2
10 mins

one hell of a busybody

Vibrion is a fidget, but I can't think of an expression using fidget like that. "Fussbudget" would work also, but I don't know if you want to be THAT colloquial.

Source for vibrion = Robert & Collins; I'm also a native speaker.

Good Luck!

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Note added at 2002-03-26 12:41:42 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I justify the use of hell by the source. Military personnel (I dislike stereotypes, but there you are), especially when displeased with someone, tend to not mince their words.

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Note added at 2002-03-26 12:42:48 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

change hell to \"heck\", if it makes you feel better
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lise Boismenu, B.Sc. : I'd leave the HELL out...just for the HELL of it!
4 mins
agree Linda Young (X) : I agree with Lise haha
28 mins
agree Sheila Hardie
31 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
48 mins

loose cannon

I suspect they mean that the journalist was a "loose cannon".
Peer comment(s):
agree zaphod
3 hrs
neutral FranH (X) : Depends on the context. "Loose cannon" is used re someone on your own side who has stepped out of line, isn't it? It would apply for instance if the man was on the general's staff.
11 hrs
You seem not to be familiar with the expression "loose cannon". It means "uncontrollable" or "out of control". It has no connotation whatsoever, which could possibly be construed to pertain to sides. Please try to be more careful.
Something went wrong...
+5
2 hrs

Not exactly an answer to your query, but...

...I wonder what was actually said in *Russian*. After all, you are translating a subjective term that has already been translated from another language, a language that, as we have learned recently, has heavily coded subjective terms. Cf. what happened to Russian President Putin's very derogatory references to Chechen rebels, when interpreted by a US State Department interpreter. I think I'd probe a bit deeper, maybe ask the ProZ Russian community what *they* think "vibrion libre" might have translated. Some of the most active Russian ProZ are in Canada, and know French as well as English, so they should be able to help. Maybe ProZ needs a trilingual function to deal with this kind of situation?
Peer comment(s):
agree Florence Bremond : yes, that's what I said too
11 mins
agree cldumas (X)
41 mins
agree Theresa Pisani Moniez : this is a very good observation!
50 mins
neutral Steven Geller : I agree with your observations, however there is nothing that specifically suggests that it was translated into French from Russian.
2 hrs
agree Jacek Krankowski (X) : The connection between the proposed "pain in the ass" and "drole de vibrion libre" being contextual rather than literal/etymological, the issue IMHO remains unsolved. Worth pursuing!
6 hrs
agree reliable
16 hrs
Something went wrong...
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