Lorraine Dubuc Sep 9, 2017:

One could also say 'ralentit' instead of 'paralyse' that would also work or even 'empêche'

Tony M Sep 9, 2017:

@ Alain Thanks a lot! That's rather what I was assuming, empirically, but without the necessary knowledge to be sure.
In the case, I'd say thet "grind the gears" would mean "stop the gears from working smoothly" (as when one fails to declutch sifficently in one's car, so that the gears make a horrible 'grinidng' noise) — but not quite as far as blocking them completely.

Alain Marsol Sep 9, 2017:

@ Tony 'Siloed infrastructures' are usually seen as negative.

Tony M Sep 9, 2017:

@ Asker Can you tell if this is a positive or negative judgement? I know the term in terms of literally "faire grincer les pignons" dans une boîte de vitesses automobile, et ensuite son utilisation figurative... so that might be a negative temr for some kind of poor functioning?
Or is it a positive term, meaning that it HELPS the action... something like "oils the wheels"? — seems unlikely, but we really need the context to see what is going on.