Dec 27, 2018 15:05
5 yrs ago
French term
tel un figurant paumé.
Non-PRO
French to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Adriana était à portée de mains et lui impuissant, tel un figurant paumé.
How's this? "He was just a frightened stand-in."
How's this? "He was just a frightened stand-in."
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +3 | like a by stander at a loss |
Verginia Ophof
|
| 4 | standing around / there some kind of helpless extra, a bit lost |
Tony M
|
Proposed translations
+3
3 hrs
Verginia Ophof
Belize
Belize
Native in English
Specializes in field
Belize
Near Native Proficiency in Source langua
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, Dutch to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
16
Selected
like a by stander at a loss
suggestion
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
writeaway
: bystander -een woord in het engels
4 hrs
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sorry writeaway :(
|
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| agree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: I like "at a loss" for "paumé" here. I'd not have thought of "bystander" here for "figurant" (extra, stand-in, etc.), it might work really well. It could give the asker food for thought!
4 hrs
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|
Thank you Nikki !
|
|
| agree |
Elisabeth Gootjes
: Agree w/ you and w/ writeaway. Gelukkig nieuwjaar!
18 hrs
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Thank you Elisabeth
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| agree |
Tony M
: I'm glad you liked my suggestion of 'bystander' — and I like your 'at a loss', which helps render the 'impuissant'.
1 day 17 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
28 mins
French term (edited):
tel un figurant paumé
standing around / there some kind of helpless extra, a bit lost
I think you need to treat the sentence as a whole, and make something like this out of it.
I'm quite sure 'stand-in' is wrong — it sounds as thought 'he' was some kind of person in some way not directly involved in what was happening, or at least unable to do anything about it...
You may find it easiest to get away completely from the cinematic notion of an extra, which is why in my discussion post I suggested possibly something like 'bystander'.
Presumably, your knowledge of the wider context will enable you to choose the most approproate terms.
I'm quite sure 'stand-in' is wrong — it sounds as thought 'he' was some kind of person in some way not directly involved in what was happening, or at least unable to do anything about it...
You may find it easiest to get away completely from the cinematic notion of an extra, which is why in my discussion post I suggested possibly something like 'bystander'.
Presumably, your knowledge of the wider context will enable you to choose the most approproate terms.
Discussion
I think the word you want is 'an extra' — a 'spare part at a wedding'! Presumably here with the sense of a bystander, a peripheral role, not one of the main players...
It was a situation he couldn’t control/have an impact on, like wandering onstage without knowing what you’ve stepped into/what you’re supposed to do.
Of course it depends on the wider context.