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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Je me sens aggressée par le bruit

English translation:

I feel/am overwhelmed by the noise

Added to glossary by jmleger
Mar 24, 2013 16:46
11 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

Je me sens aggressée par le bruit

French to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters conversational
Ok, this is just a sentence but I'm finding hard to find a proper equivalent in spoken English.

I feel attacked or I feel bothered, or I feel brutalised by the traffic just doesn't work

context: imagine a place where there is deep and intense honking, beeping and fast cars, motorbikes etc etc and at some point you had to convey this sentence in English, how would you say that?

thanks in advance
Fabrizio
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 I feel/am overwhelmed by the noise
4 +6 assailed by the din
3 +7 The noise does (is doing) my head in!
5 +5 All this noise is really getting to me
4 +1 I feel like I'm being bombarded by noise
4 I feel oppressed by the noise
3 I feel like I'm being physically attacked by the noise
Change log

Mar 24, 2013 22:41: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (specific)" from "Poetry & Literature" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"

Mar 27, 2013 13:08: jmleger Created KOG entry

Discussion

Fabrizio Zambuto (asker) Mar 25, 2013:
my mistake sorry for the misleading choice, I was actually looking for the greetings conversation and could not find it.
My mistake, again, I apologise.
Catharine Cellier-Smart Mar 25, 2013:
me too!
John Holland Mar 24, 2013:
Conversational English I like polyglot45's "the noise is driving me crazy" for a colloquial expression. I would vote for it.
Fabrizio Zambuto (asker) Mar 24, 2013:
well, hard to specify but it's just conversational, I give you a situational example:
two persons are having a conversation and one of them says:
"Je me sens, parfois, aggressé par le bruit (du traffic)" meaning that the traffic is so loud and intense that he/she feels some kind of aggression.
it's not poetic, just pure conversational and it's about to convey the same feeling using some English equivalent, not just a literal translation.
Makes any sense? :)
Catharine Cellier-Smart Mar 24, 2013:
Polyglot's and Jim's answers are both good, but it really depends on the type of English required to know which would be best.
Sheri P Mar 24, 2013:
Poetic English or colloquial spoken English? Perhaps the asker could clarify what's needed here. The category suggests poetic, but you mention "spoken English" in your explanation.
polyglot45 Mar 24, 2013:
the noise is driving me crazy is getting on my nerves
I rather feel we would structure it differently in spoken English

Proposed translations

+1
47 mins
Selected

I feel/am overwhelmed by the noise

That is if you are looking for something that would actually come out of someone's mouth
Note from asker:
this sounds pretty close
Peer comment(s):
agree Jean-Claude Gouin
2 hrs
neutral writeaway : not really a conversational register, unless it's a country club crowd
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks"
+6
2 mins

assailed by the din

"brutalized" ain't bad
Peer comment(s):
agree Sheri P : just lovely
7 mins
agree Michele Fauble
11 mins
agree Louisa Tchaicha
14 mins
agree Victoria Britten
35 mins
agree Verginia Ophof
2 hrs
agree Helen Shiner : or 'assaulted by the noise'
2 hrs
neutral Jennifer White : would we really say that in conversation though?
3 hrs
neutral John Holland : Neutral on register. I think it's a great literary translation, but I'm not so sure for a spoken expression.
5 hrs
neutral writeaway : asker has posted this as 'conversational'. so the poetry-literature bit was rather misleading.
5 hrs
neutral Carol Gullidge : "assailed" would sound a bit odd in a conversation, although I like "din"
7 hrs
neutral AllegroTrans : not "wrong" but neither is it normal convesation (altough I can imagine Prince Charles saying it)
7 hrs
neutral SafeTex : The asker wants conversational English, not some form of medieval English
1 day 12 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
14 mins

I feel like I'm being bombarded by noise

or

Besieged

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052288/Why-average-...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2013-03-24 17:03:49 GMT)
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it would be nice to have the sentence before and after...

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Note added at 19 mins (2013-03-24 17:06:33 GMT)
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I think "bombard" or "beseige" gets the effect of being under attack from all the noise. I would not use "brutalized" though.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bombard

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 20 mins (2013-03-24 17:07:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

besiege
Peer comment(s):
agree Wolf Draeger
17 hrs
many thanks Wolf!
Something went wrong...
+7
3 hrs

The noise does (is doing) my head in!

Colloquial, but often used.
Peer comment(s):
agree Helen Shiner : Or driving me mad, if you want it to be a little more accessible. But point taken about the colloquial requirement, despite lack of context...
1 hr
yes, thanks.
agree Carol Gullidge : this sounds more natural for a conversation. I was going to post "... driving me nuts", but it's the same difference
3 hrs
yes, thanks.
agree AllegroTrans
4 hrs
thanks
agree Jane Proctor (X)
18 hrs
thanks
agree James Perry : Is doing my head in...- this is the best "spoken" equivalent here. ACOZ's version is also OK (not as good as this, though). The rest are not used at all in spoken English.
20 hrs
thank you!
agree SafeTex : excellent
1 day 9 hrs
thanks
agree John Holland
2 days 1 min
thanks
Something went wrong...
+5
10 hrs

All this noise is really getting to me

Just another suggestion.
Peer comment(s):
agree Bertrand Leduc
4 hrs
agree Wolf Draeger
7 hrs
agree Carol Gullidge : this also sounds natural for conversation
13 hrs
agree David Goward
15 hrs
agree John Holland
1 day 16 hrs
Something went wrong...
14 hrs

I feel like I'm being physically attacked by the noise

Or "the noise feels like a physical attack", but that's a bit more formal.

What's distinctive about the French phrase for me is that the word "aggressée" is usually used for physical attacks, whereas we don't think of noises as physical (cf. "names will never hurt me"), so this is basically a literal translation.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Emma Paulay : Just for info, the French often use the word "agressé" in situations other than physical attacks.
10 hrs
Something went wrong...
17 hrs

I feel oppressed by the noise

Lots of good suggestions here. I think one must also retain the sense of the Fr; i.e. the feeling of being assaulted or abused; it's almost a physical sensation, like the noise is literally battering down on you in a barrage of blows.

Variations: the noise is very oppressive, etc.
Something went wrong...
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