exerçait

English translation: exerted works for me

23:43 May 20, 2005

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama / Film scenario (documentary)

French term or phrase: exerçait

Would it be "exerted over people" or do we have a better way of phrasing it? Client has requested I do not change the text very much from the original. Thank you ever so much.

Ce qui me surprenait, à chaque fois qu’ils venaient, c’est la fascination qu'Ilya exerçait sur les gens. Il semblait détenir un savoir que tout le monde désirait avidement s’approprier.

Anna Maria Augustine (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 195 (none open) (4 closed without grading) Answers: 3167 France
Local time: 00:12

English translation:exerted works for me

Explanation:
and indeed for Mr Collins and Mr Robert who use the example of 'exerting fascination over' in their fine bilingual dicstionary.

It also looks a but like exercait so should please a client keen not to depart to much from the source :-)

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Note added at 8 mins (2005-05-20 23:52:17 GMT)
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dicstionary? Humble apols from a thick-fingered buffoon. Please remove the \'s\' and save it for another time, perhaps when a plural is required, for instance....

Selected response from:

Charlie Bavington
Local time: 23:12

Grading comment

Thanks and to Kalyani too.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +6

exerted works for me

Charlie Bavington

4 +5

the power he had over people/effect he had on people

RHELLER

5 +3

exerted

Pierre Renault

4 +2

the way Ilya fascinated people

Kalyani Menon

3 +1

would elicit

Protradit

had

Maurice Thibaux

having over / playing over

Loubna Benkirane

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

2 mins confidence:

exerçait having over / playing over

Explanation:
:)

Loubna Benkirane
Local time: 00:12
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

French

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

exerçait the power he had over people/effect he had on people

Explanation:
-

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 16:12
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Michael Powers (PhD): the effect of fascination he had on people // the fascination he had over people - Mike :)

3 mins

-> can't say that I am familiar with those phrases, thanks

agree

swisstell: the effect he had on people -

8 mins

-> thank you :-)

neutral

Charlie Bavington: I don't want to appear nit-picking, but since fascination is not a faux ami & since we know we're not supposed to depart much from the original, why change fascination to power or effect? Or have I missed something obvious?

13 mins

-> yes, Mr. Nit-Picker, it is not commonly used in the U.S. - both of the phrases I listed above are used more often - I am just trying to give the asker what I think is the best translation - got a problem w/that?

agree

Can Altinbay: You tell 'im, Rita!

1 hr

-> merci bien :-)

agree

Jean-Claude Gouin

2 hrs

-> merci :-)

agree

emiledgar: Yes, but if you want to stick with fascinate it could be "the way he fascinated people".

2 hrs

-> thanks Emile but that changes the meaning slightly :-)

agree

Ian Burley (X)

8 hrs

disagree

df49f (X): power and effect mean something other than fascination

10 hrs

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

exerçait

exerted works for me

Charlie Bavington
Local time: 23:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12

Grading comment

Thanks and to Kalyani too.

48 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

exerçait would elicit

Explanation:
What amazed (or surprised) me each time they would come over is the fascination that he would elicit among (or from) people. He seemed to possess knowledge that everyone ardently desired to inculcate.

Protradit
Local time: 15:12
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

exerçait exerted

Explanation:
Nothing wrong with "exerted" for "exerçait", the problem is the direction the fascination takes.

If your client insists on sticking close to the words, perhaps something like: "What surprised me whenever he visited was the fascination he exerted over people. He seemed to hold knowledge everyone avidly wanted to appropriate."

But it would not be a very good translation. A refined machine translation done by a person instead of a machine.

Your client should understand that the impression a word or phrase makes in one language might not be the same in another language, even for two languages as close to one another as French and English. And, particularly if your client is not *totally* and *fluently* bilingual as well as bicultural, your client might not be competent to make that decision (or judge your translation).

Translation at its best is not only "accurate" and faithful and beautifully done, it also give the same impression to the audience in the target language as the source text gives to the target source audience. It why, for instances, its pointless to literally translate "go f*** yourself" or "va ch***".

I would do it something like: "What struck me was the hold he had on everyone whenever he visited. As if he held some secret knowledge they all wanted to get their hands on."

HTH

P

Pierre Renault
Local time: 18:12
Native speaker of:

French,

English

4 hrs confidence:

exerçait had

Explanation:
"exercer sa fascination" is such a stock phrase that I don't think we should attach any special meaning to it. Using a stronger term in English might exagerate it, when it should not be. "the fascination Ilya had on people." Funny name to be called "il y a"! "There is". Reminds me of Night on Earth by Jim Jarmush with the taxi driver called Helmut (helmet) and the passenger called Yoyo.

Maurice Thibaux
Local time: 08:12
Native speaker of:

French

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

the way Ilya fascinated people

Explanation:
Another suggestion

Kalyani Menon
India
Local time: 03:42
Native speaker of: English

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