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être au bout de ses moustaches

English translation: totally at one with itself

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:être au bout de ses moustaches
English translation:totally at one with itself
Entered by: Yvonne Gallagher

23:00 Jan 19, 2013
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Psychology, self-help
French term or phrase: être au bout de ses moustaches
The phrase is found in a paragraph about self-knowledge, peace, and serenity.
"Tout comme le chat ronronnant est au bout de ses moustaches, certaines prises de conscience conduisent à la quiétude."
Janet Ross Snyder
Canada
Local time: 20:43
totally at one with itself
Explanation:
I think Laenai has the right idea. The cat "au bout de ses moustaches" is fully aware of its surroundings and is happy and content there is no danger or would NOT be purring away.

It is totally at peace with itself, aware of itself and its surroundings and one could liken that to the exhortation that we should all live in the present moment.

So, being at one with oneself (like the cat) could bring inner peace

(By the way, I have 4 cats, or perhaps better to say, 4 cats have me!)

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Note added at 16 hrs (2013-01-20 15:18:25 GMT)
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of course I don't mean to say that cats don't purr at other times too! They basically purr when they are happy:-) So it could be after they finish grooming but I don't really see how that (grooming) fits with second half of sentence

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Note added at 16 hrs (2013-01-20 15:29:56 GMT)
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By the way, my cats START grooming at their whiskers/head and then move on to other areas.

"the end of whiskers part" is the cat's radar system which is why I mentioned surroundings

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Note added at 4 days (2013-01-24 13:17:31 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

glad to have helped. It is the first thing that came to my mind when I read the sentence and then I saw Laenai had had the same impression... emulating cats could help us all:-)
Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 00:43
Grading comment
I think that this idea is the one that is most in harmony with the general themes of the book. Many thanks for your help.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2after its cleaning ritual
Jane F
4 +2totally at one with itself
Yvonne Gallagher
4be at the end of its whiskers
Victoria Britten
3finish grooming its whiskers
cc in nyc
3 -3to loose one's mustache
idomyjob


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -3
to loose one's mustache


Explanation:
J'ai fait des recherches sur l'importance du ronon aussi bien que les moustaches du chats.
Les moustaches lui serviraient de radars. Il les utilisent pour determiner la distance des objets, la provenance d'une odeur... Il les utilise aussi pour determiner la largeur d'un passage afin de ne pas se trouver y coince. En bref, ils permettent les mouvements agiles du chat.
Quand au ronronnement, il permet au chat de faire face au stress. C'est une capacite acquise des l'enface et gardee chez les animaux domestiques. Chez les animaux sauvage, il disparait au cours du developpement. Mais peut apparaitre dans des cas de stress extreme.
Je comprends donc que la figure ici est literalle. Je la traduirait literallement.
Mais il s'agit icic de poesie, donc j'ose simplement ouvrir le debat


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Note added at 1 hr (2013-01-20 00:17:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My apologies for the typos: to lose* ronron*


    Reference: http://www.quebecscience.qc.ca/Investigatron/Animaux-et-plan...
    Reference: http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/182242-pourquoi-le-...
idomyjob
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  cc in nyc: not in keeping with the context
37 mins
disagree  laenai: Cats have whiskers and not moustaches. Secondly, your answer does not translate the meaning at all.
1 hr
  -> As I said, I was simply opening the debate and would be happy to hear what people have
disagree  B D Finch: This is about a cat and (figuratively?) its whiskers. This is about trying to help the Asker, not opening up a playful and amusing debate.
22 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
finish grooming its whiskers


Explanation:
I could be wrong, but I think "être au bout de ses moustaches" is a twist on "être au bout de ses peines":

Être au bout de quelque chose, être sur le point d'avoir consommé entièrement quelque chose ; être près de voir la fin d'un travail, d'une peine, d'un effort, etc.
http://www.larousse.com/en/dictionaries/french/au bout de/10...

♦ Au bout de + art. déf. (ou adj. possessif, etc.) + subst. Aller jusqu'au bout d'une affaire. Jusqu'à sa conclusion. Aller (jusqu')au bout. Jusqu'à la limite du possible. P. anal. Être au bout de ses économies, de ses provisions, de ses munitions, etc. Voir (ou non) le bout de ses déboires, être (ou non) au bout de ses peines, de ses ennuis. En avoir terminé (ou non) avec eux.
http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/bout

So perhaps the image might be something like:

"a purring cat after it has finished grooming its whiskers" OR
"a cat purring after grooming its whiskers"

Maybe there's a more elegant turn of phrase...

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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-01-20 01:32:00 GMT)
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A note for those not familiar with cat's grooming techniques... They are generally extremely fastidious, and not easily satisfied that they have absolutely and thoroughly cleaned their whiskers after eating.

cc in nyc
Local time: 19:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
after its cleaning ritual


Explanation:
'like a contented cat after its cleaning ritual' or 'like a contented cat when its cleaning ritual is finished'.

Thanks to Carol for pointing out my previous answer contained three apostophes that shouldn't have been there!


Jane F
France
Local time: 01:43
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Carol Gullidge: I think this is the sense. The ability to relax with the satisfaction/contentment of having groomed every last whisker./ It's a pity to sacrifice those 2 other Agrees though!
7 mins
  -> Never mind, maybe there will be other Agrees and you were right to point out the error!
agree  B D Finch: I'll help make up for lost Agrees. The cat is, of course, at the blunt end of its whiskers, but that isn't what this means.
11 hrs
  -> thanks B D Finch!
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
be at the end of its whiskers


Explanation:
It's an image, which to my mind is there for the reader to interpret, not the translator.

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Note added at 2 days16 hrs (2013-01-22 15:03:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or "... has got to the end of its whiskers"


Example sentence(s):
  • "Just as a purring cat is at the end of its whiskers..."
Victoria Britten
France
Local time: 01:43
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Sheila Wilson: when what you read makes absolutely no sense, you have to interpret it; but the obvious interpretation means the opposite, "at the end of its tether"
23 hrs
  -> My point exactly: for me, there isn't an obvious interpretation, but if there were one it wouldn't be the same as yours!
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
totally at one with itself


Explanation:
I think Laenai has the right idea. The cat "au bout de ses moustaches" is fully aware of its surroundings and is happy and content there is no danger or would NOT be purring away.

It is totally at peace with itself, aware of itself and its surroundings and one could liken that to the exhortation that we should all live in the present moment.

So, being at one with oneself (like the cat) could bring inner peace

(By the way, I have 4 cats, or perhaps better to say, 4 cats have me!)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 hrs (2013-01-20 15:18:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

of course I don't mean to say that cats don't purr at other times too! They basically purr when they are happy:-) So it could be after they finish grooming but I don't really see how that (grooming) fits with second half of sentence

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 hrs (2013-01-20 15:29:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

By the way, my cats START grooming at their whiskers/head and then move on to other areas.

"the end of whiskers part" is the cat's radar system which is why I mentioned surroundings

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2013-01-24 13:17:31 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

glad to have helped. It is the first thing that came to my mind when I read the sentence and then I saw Laenai had had the same impression... emulating cats could help us all:-)

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 00:43
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 40
Grading comment
I think that this idea is the one that is most in harmony with the general themes of the book. Many thanks for your help.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Verginia Ophof
17 hrs
  -> many thanks Virginia:-)
agree  Yolanda Broad
1 day 19 hrs
  -> many thanks Yolanda:-)
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