PREFACE
The French language, like some other languages, is very vivid. Most of these expressions use the conjunction "Comme" to express stereotypical comparisons with intensive value.
If French speakers know the meaning of the vast majority of these expressions (which is, after all, logical!), this becomes a headache for a foreigner who has to translate these phrases. And vice versa, a French speaker will have the same problem, but to a lesser degree, to find the right translation in a foreign language.
A literal translation will mean nothing or worse, will be ridiculous: "Fauché comme les blés" would not be “reaped like wheat” in English, and would be a rough translation if there was an existing idiomatic expression into the target language: "stony-broke" and you would then be considered as "parlant comme une vache espagnole"(Eng : To speak rotten French/English)
.
If some comparisons do not induce any particular problem of understanding, such as “Dormir comme un bébé” (Eng : sleeping to sleep like a baby), others are much more figurative or picturesque, such as "être beurrée comme un Petit Lu" (Eng : drunk as a Lord or “as drunk as a skunk”) and therefore almost impossible to translate.
And there are thousands of sentences using the conjunction "Comme", which are commonly used in conversation and writing and related to nature, animal, human life, culture, history or even geography. Therefore, it requires from the reader to have a very broad general knowledge, which makes translation into a foreign language even more difficult.
Consequently, we wanted to remedy this difficulty by publishing this dictionary.
This work is published in 3 editions, each covering a different language to meet the needs of the greatest number of people: French, of course; English, simplified and traditional Chinese and Japanese.
The translations have been done by specialists, university professors, or certified translators.
We have listed 200 expressions at first step, which we will be completed into additional volumes. This is to prevent the book from becoming so heavy that it loses its user-friendly purpose.
We also offer readers the possibility of searching on different media : printed books and Internet on-line. The latter is limited to 10 free searches before a subscription is offered giving access to all the expressions treated. We will regularly complete the number of expressions to become as exhaustive as possible.
In this dictionary, we wanted to be very didactic for a friendly and time-saving use:
- the expressions are listed in alphabetical order of the word following "comme" with few rare exceptions.
- the translations into foreign languages are listed in alphabetical order of the most significant word, at the end of the book with the page number and the reference of the expression.
In this work, you will find for each expression
- its French transcription
- the translation in English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and Japanese (or in case of printed material, one of them depending on the edition)
- An illustration of the literal meaning for some expressions,
We hope that this little dictionary of French expressions will meet your expectations and as we are not infallible, we are at your disposal for any comment or suggestion you may wish to send us. Please contact us at comment@comment-en-dire.com
序文
フランス語は、他の言語と同様に、イメージや比喩に飛んだ表現が多く使われる言語です。これらの表現の多くは、接続詞 「Comme 〜」「〜の様に」を用いて、ステレオタイプな比較対象により、集約された意味を表現します。
フランス語圏の人々は当然これらの表現の大半の意味を知っていますが、翻訳する外国人にとっては頭の痛い問題です。またその逆も然りで、フランス語圏の人が外国語で正しい翻訳を見つけるには、程度の差こそあれ、同様の問題がおこります。
直訳では全く意味しない、または酷く馬鹿げた内容になってしまう例として：「Fauché comme les blés」（小麦の様に刈られた）は英訳では「very poor」がほぼ適していて、英語特有の比喩的表現に置き換えるなら「stony-broke」（一文無し）となりますから、直訳英語の「mowed like wheat」と訳すと、あなたは「スペインの牛みたいに話す」（下手なフランス語を話す）という事になるのです。
「赤ん坊のように眠る」というような、理解するのに特に問題のない比喩もあれば、「小さなビスケットLUみたいにバターを塗られる」のように一風変わった比喩で「酔っ払った」と翻訳する事がほとんど不可能なものまであります。
そして、接続詞「Comme〜」「〜の様に」を使った文章は何千とあり、会話でも文中の様によく使われます。比喩対象としては、自然、動物、人間、文化、歴史、あるいは地理的な要素にまで及び、そのため、読者には非常に幅広い一般知識が要求され、外国語への翻訳はより困難なものとなるのです。
そこで、このコレクションを出版することで、この困難を改善したいと考えました。
本書は、フランス語はもちろん、英語、中国語（簡体字・繁体字）、日本語とより多くの人のニーズに応えるために、それぞれ異なる言語をカバーする3つのエディションで発行されています。
翻訳は、専門家、大学教授、公認翻訳者などが担当しています。
当初は200の表現を掲載し、順次完成させていく予定です。これは、本が重くなって使い勝手が損なわれるのを防ぐためです。
また、読者の皆様には、さまざまなメディア（紙媒体 / インターネット）で検索していただくことも可能です。このサービスは10回まで無料で検索でき、その後、すべての表現にアクセスできる定期購読が提供されます。今後、定期的に擬声語・擬音語の数を増やし、より多くを網羅するコレクションへと構築していく予定です。
本書では、素早く簡単に使っていただくために、教育的な内容にしたいと考えました。
- 表現のリストは、"comme "に続く単語のアルファベット順にまとめました。
＊書籍本体中に一部の例外有り
- 外国語訳は、その表現の中で最も重要なキーワードのアルファベット順にリストされています。巻末にはページ番号と表現の参照先を記載しています。
本文中では、それぞれの擬声語・擬音語に対して
- フランス語表現
- 翻訳：英語、中国語（簡体字）、中国語（繁体字）、日本語（発行別では、これらのうち1言語）。
- いくつかの表現には、文字通りの意味を説明する挿絵付き。
この小さなフランス語表現辞典が皆様のご期待に添えますよう、また、内容は必ずしも完全ではありませんので、ご意見やご感想をお寄せいただければ幸いです。お問い合わせは、comme.en.dire@yahoo.fr までお願いします。
PREFACE
The French language, like some other languages, is very vivid. Most of these expressions use the conjunction "Comme" to express stereotypical comparisons with intensive value.
If French speakers know the meaning of the vast majority of these expressions (which is, after all, logical!), this becomes a headache for a foreigner who has to translate these phrases. And vice versa, a French speaker will have the same problem, but to a lesser degree, to find the right translation in a foreign language.
A literal translation will mean nothing or worse, will be ridiculous: "Fauché comme les blés" would not be “reaped like wheat” in English, and would be a rough translation if there was an existing idiomatic expression into the target language: "stony-broke" and you would then be considered as "parlant comme une vache espagnole"(Eng : To speak rotten French/English)
.
If some comparisons do not induce any particular problem of understanding, such as “Dormir comme un bébé” (Eng : sleeping to sleep like a baby), others are much more figurative or picturesque, such as "être beurrée comme un Petit Lu" (Eng : drunk as a Lord or “as drunk as a skunk”) and therefore almost impossible to translate.
And there are thousands of sentences using the conjunction "Comme", which are commonly used in conversation and writing and related to nature, animal, human life, culture, history or even geography. Therefore, it requires from the reader to have a very broad general knowledge, which makes translation into a foreign language even more difficult.
Consequently, we wanted to remedy this difficulty by publishing this dictionary.
This work is published in 3 editions, each covering a different language to meet the needs of the greatest number of people: French, of course; English, simplified and traditional Chinese and Japanese.
The translations have been done by specialists, university professors, or certified translators.
We have listed 200 expressions at first step, which we will be completed into additional volumes. This is to prevent the book from becoming so heavy that it loses its user-friendly purpose.
We also offer readers the possibility of searching on different media : printed books and Internet on-line. The latter is limited to 10 free searches before a subscription is offered giving access to all the expressions treated. We will regularly complete the number of expressions to become as exhaustive as possible.
In this dictionary, we wanted to be very didactic for a friendly and time-saving use:
- the expressions are listed in alphabetical order of the word following "comme" with few rare exceptions.
- the translations into foreign languages are listed in alphabetical order of the most significant word, at the end of the book with the page number and the reference of the expression.
In this work, you will find for each expression
- its French transcription
- the translation in English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and Japanese (or in case of printed material, one of them depending on the edition)
- An illustration of the literal meaning for some expressions,
We hope that this little dictionary of French expressions will meet your expectations and as we are not infallible, we are at your disposal for any comment or suggestion you may wish to send us. Please contact us at comment@comment-en-dire.com
PREFACE
The French language, like some other languages, is very vivid. Most of these expressions use the conjunction "Comme" to express stereotypical comparisons with intensive value.
If French speakers know the meaning of the vast majority of these expressions (which is, after all, logical!), this becomes a headache for a foreigner who has to translate these phrases. And vice versa, a French speaker will have the same problem, but to a lesser degree, to find the right translation in a foreign language.
A literal translation will mean nothing or worse, will be ridiculous: "Fauché comme les blés" would not be “reaped like wheat” in English, and would be a rough translation if there was an existing idiomatic expression into the target language: "stony-broke" and you would then be considered as "parlant comme une vache espagnole"(Eng : To speak rotten French/English)
.
If some comparisons do not induce any particular problem of understanding, such as “Dormir comme un bébé” (Eng : sleeping to sleep like a baby), others are much more figurative or picturesque, such as "être beurrée comme un Petit Lu" (Eng : drunk as a Lord or “as drunk as a skunk”) and therefore almost impossible to translate.
And there are thousands of sentences using the conjunction "Comme", which are commonly used in conversation and writing and related to nature, animal, human life, culture, history or even geography. Therefore, it requires from the reader to have a very broad general knowledge, which makes translation into a foreign language even more difficult.
Consequently, we wanted to remedy this difficulty by publishing this dictionary.
This work is published in 3 editions, each covering a different language to meet the needs of the greatest number of people: French, of course; English, simplified and traditional Chinese and Japanese.
The translations have been done by specialists, university professors, or certified translators.
We have listed 200 expressions at first step, which we will be completed into additional volumes. This is to prevent the book from becoming so heavy that it loses its user-friendly purpose.
We also offer readers the possibility of searching on different media : printed books and Internet on-line. The latter is limited to 10 free searches before a subscription is offered giving access to all the expressions treated. We will regularly complete the number of expressions to become as exhaustive as possible.
In this dictionary, we wanted to be very didactic for a friendly and time-saving use:
- the expressions are listed in alphabetical order of the word following "comme" with few rare exceptions.
- the translations into foreign languages are listed in alphabetical order of the most significant word, at the end of the book with the page number and the reference of the expression.
In this work, you will find for each expression
- its French transcription
- the translation in English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and Japanese (or in case of printed material, one of them depending on the edition)
- An illustration of the literal meaning for some expressions,
We hope that this little dictionary of French expressions will meet your expectations and as we are not infallible, we are at your disposal for any comment or suggestion you may wish to send us. Please contact us at comment@comment-en-dire.com
