Aug 5, 2009 17:27
14 yrs ago
French term
gagnent le monde comme une inondation sournoise
French to English
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
There is written about a progression of a certain knowledge. The above expression is used to indicate this gradual movement.
To give some context:
-
Ces vérités gagnent actuellement le monde comme une inondation sournoise ; elles filtrent ici ou là, aux points les plus éloignés les uns des autres.
On apprend fréquemment qu'il y a un nouveau foyer imbibé de ces pratiques et de ces idées, dont l'orbe s'étend lentement.
To give some context:
-
Ces vérités gagnent actuellement le monde comme une inondation sournoise ; elles filtrent ici ou là, aux points les plus éloignés les uns des autres.
On apprend fréquemment qu'il y a un nouveau foyer imbibé de ces pratiques et de ces idées, dont l'orbe s'étend lentement.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+3
9 mins
Selected
insidiously infiltrating the world
OK, this does leave out the flood, but I think that infiltration is a similar image.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Jim Tucker (X)
: pretty good solution; the insidiousness is explicitly taken up in the text that follows
58 mins
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Thanks Jim
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|
agree |
whither has fle
: clear as a bell to me.
3 hrs
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Thanks whither
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agree |
George C.
13 hrs
|
Thanks solarstone
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neutral |
Emma Paulay
: I think infiltration is fine. You just need water to convey the message. The idea in the French isn't great - floods are not insidious because they're conspicuous by nature. I think the author meant "stealthy" by "sournois" - not anything harmful.
15 hrs
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Thanks Emma, I think the water can be left out, but the stealthy spread of ideas can be harmful as it avoids open debate. (We haven't been told what the "truths" are.)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
50 mins
these truths are sweeping through the world like a flood without warning
Hello,
My try...
I hope it helps
My try...
I hope it helps
3 hrs
are treacherously permeating the world
A suggestion.
4 hrs
overwhelm the world like a perfidious undertow
It's a very poetic metaphor. I like the play on over / under, and the allusion to water correlating to "inondation" as well as the unseen nature of an "undertow"– as if these thoughts taking over the world all of a sudden suck us in. But there's probably lots of good metaphors that can work here.
Note from asker:
The waves, flows and undertows are important for being able to explain the rest of the text. The suggestion you made is a real beauty. |
20 hrs
gradually spreading the world over like slowly mounting floodwaters
a variation on the theme...
Discussion
...gradually encroaching upon...
...stealthily spreading...