a couple of simple translations

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Permalink Reply by Erwan on December 26, 2011 at 11:34pm

1. Tu ne sembles pas bien/Tu n'as pas l'air bien. Ne te sentirais-tu pas bien?/Ca ne va pas ?

2. an overtone

3. they send

4. I don't want it anymore

Honnêtement, je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on December 28, 2011 at 12:10am

Erwan -- might I just suggest a couple of alterations to the English.

For (2), "overtone" could work, but maybe "hidden message" or "innuendo" might be clearer, or indeed "double entendre" (an expression which is still used in English, even though it is no longer actually used in French) if the idea is an innuendo of a sexual nature.

For (4), there are a couple of possible interpretations, aren't there?: either literally "I don't want any anymore", or with a more negative interpretation "I don't want any more of that" or "I don't want anything more to do with that".

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Permalink Reply by Erwan on December 28, 2011 at 12:20am

For (2), I've not thought about the sexual interpretation. But I've never seen "double entendre"; it's a strange expression construction in French.

You're right for (4), there are different interpretations. Without the context it's difficult to give the right translation. I've given the easy one ;)

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on December 28, 2011 at 5:47am

Yes, "double entendre" is a bit weird: English people use it thinking it's a 'French expression', unaware that it's not actually used in French.

Possibly what happened is that at one stage of the language it was more common to use the infinitive as a noun, so that maybe "double entendre" genuinely did exist in French a few centuries ago. On the other hand, it's quite possible that an Englishman misheard either "double entente" or "double entendement" (which historically could have a meaning more similar to "entente"). If anyone ever finds out any more about this, then please post feedback!

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Bishop on December 28, 2011 at 1:14pm

Wiki says....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_entendre

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on December 28, 2011 at 6:02pm

Yes, although without much in the way of evidence. In current French, the only surviving possibility is entente, but historically entendre and entendement appear to have been possible in principle, so it would be nice to see more evidence that the English version is actually an oral corruption and not an actual loan of a phrase that did historically exist.

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