Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Sep 6, 2006 20:48
18 yrs ago
French term
mince!
French to English
Marketing
Cosmetics, Beauty
slimming care
Brainstorming call!
This is at the top of a brochure on slimming products. For women, it says:
Mince! Un probleme de taille?!?
And for men, it says:
Mince! En manque de tablettes de chocolat?
I know the usual drat, oops, nuts, etc. for mince, but how an earth can I can the play on words here? Cheesy isn't a problem, since obviously the French is ;-)
Many thanks in advance for your help.
This is at the top of a brochure on slimming products. For women, it says:
Mince! Un probleme de taille?!?
And for men, it says:
Mince! En manque de tablettes de chocolat?
I know the usual drat, oops, nuts, etc. for mince, but how an earth can I can the play on words here? Cheesy isn't a problem, since obviously the French is ;-)
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 2 +6 | Sugar! ...telling on your waist/hips? |
Peter Shortall
|
| 4 +5 | Sugar! No six-packs! |
Bourth (X)
|
| 3 +2 | Some ideas... |
Terry Richards
|
| 3 | Slim pickings with men? got a waist problem? |
Julie Barber
|
| 3 | slim down! |
Julia Bogdan Rollo (X)
|
| 3 | Whoops, where's my/your waistline? and Huh! No more chocolate for you/me! |
Cervin
|
| 3 | the skinny on new (?) products |
sarahl (X)
|
| 2 | drat! no fat! / no chocolate for you ; |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
|
| 1 | alors... |
Jeffrey Lewis
|
Proposed translations
+6
37 mins
Peter Shortall
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Legal / Business / Government
Native in: English
Works in: Romanian to English, Russian to English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
Sugar! ...telling on your waist/hips?
Maybe someone will be able to do more with the idea of "sugar" than I can at the moment, but this is about as inspired as I get after 10pm! I'm not sure if people say "sugar!" to express frustration outside the UK (as an alternative to you-know-what), but then maybe you're working into BE.
Sugar does kind of tie in with the chocolate theme in the next part, so for the first one, how about something like: "Sugar!... (is it) telling on your waist/hips?" (suggesting sugary food is causing a visible waist problem - which it may well be!)
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Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-06 22:22:14 GMT)
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For the second one... maybe something like
"Losing tabs on those abs?"
"Lost track of your six-pack?"
Not really a play on words, but maybe something else could be done with them...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-09-06 22:53:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Another few germs of ideas, maybe: one or two people have suggested "slim chance", though how about "fat chance" with something else? (even though it says "mince", I know)
Or for "problème de taille"... "Weighty problem?/(something) weighing on your mind/weighing you down?" (since as Bourth points out, "de taille" = considerable/sizeable)
Sugar does kind of tie in with the chocolate theme in the next part, so for the first one, how about something like: "Sugar!... (is it) telling on your waist/hips?" (suggesting sugary food is causing a visible waist problem - which it may well be!)
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-06 22:22:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For the second one... maybe something like
"Losing tabs on those abs?"
"Lost track of your six-pack?"
Not really a play on words, but maybe something else could be done with them...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-09-06 22:53:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Another few germs of ideas, maybe: one or two people have suggested "slim chance", though how about "fat chance" with something else? (even though it says "mince", I know)
Or for "problème de taille"... "Weighty problem?/(something) weighing on your mind/weighing you down?" (since as Bourth points out, "de taille" = considerable/sizeable)
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Bourth (X)
: Sugar (euph. for sh-excrement) (cf. mince for me-excrément, in case anyone hadn't realized) gets it perfectly.
4 mins
|
|
Thanks - it reminds me of a series of enigmatic billboard adverts I saw years ago where the messages were anagrams: one was "tells on hips", but I can't remember what the product (or the solution) was... does anyone remember them?
|
|
| agree |
Sara Freitas
8 hrs
|
|
Thanks
|
|
| agree |
Andreas THEODOROU
8 hrs
|
|
Thanks
|
|
| agree |
Sandra Petch
: "Losing tabs on those/your abs" is brilliant!
9 hrs
|
|
Thanks Sandra!
|
|
| agree |
NancyLynn
1 day 2 hrs
|
|
Thanks
|
|
| agree |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
: excellent! That beats all other solutions...
4 days
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Peter, these are simply great! I went with both Sugar! Telling on your waist? and Losing tabs on those abs? Your help is very appreciated indeed!"
5 mins
Slim pickings with men? got a waist problem?
is that an evil answer??
I'll try an' find a serious one....
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2006-09-06 20:57:47 GMT)
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Slim chances?
I'll try an' find a serious one....
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2006-09-06 20:57:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Slim chances?
22 mins
slim down!
Slim down! Problems with your waistline?
Slim down! Lacking chocolate tablets? (this could refer to diuretics or x-lax, which come in chocolate tablets). Is this brochure sarcastic in nature or genuine. If sarcastic (or done as a joke), this makes sense.
Slim down! Lacking chocolate tablets? (this could refer to diuretics or x-lax, which come in chocolate tablets). Is this brochure sarcastic in nature or genuine. If sarcastic (or done as a joke), this makes sense.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Sara Freitas
: "tablette de chocolat" means cut abs (aka "a six pack" in English) nothing to do with actual chocolate.
8 hrs
|
23 mins
Whoops, where's my/your waistline? and Huh! No more chocolate for you/me!
Hi Mara-well you did say cheesy....
Note from asker:
| I like the alliteration of "whoops, where's your waistline". Alas, I could only choose one answer :-) |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Sara Freitas
: the meaning of chocolate in the original is not literal...a "tablette de chocolat" means cut abs.
8 hrs
|
|
It was only a play on words!
|
28 mins
Jeffrey Lewis
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
academic and scientific translations
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
12
alors...
For ladies
1. Tight fit? The straight skinny...
2. Slim chances? Yes!
3. How long since you - felt svelte?
For the guys
Chocolate craving? Calorie saving?
Chocolate goodness that won't go to waist!
1. Tight fit? The straight skinny...
2. Slim chances? Yes!
3. How long since you - felt svelte?
For the guys
Chocolate craving? Calorie saving?
Chocolate goodness that won't go to waist!
29 mins
drat! no fat! / no chocolate for you ;
just another option, not terribly original
unless you want to go with a nursery rhyme take-off:
Jack Spratt could eat no fat...
unless you want to go with a nursery rhyme take-off:
Jack Spratt could eat no fat...
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Sara Freitas
: again, the chocolat refers to abs, not actual chocolate
8 hrs
|
+5
51 mins
Sugar! No six-packs!
Of course it must be realized that the "tablette de chocolat" referred to here translates as "six-pack", i.e. the abdominal muscles hunks will display.
GRAND DROIT DE L'ABDOMEN Localisation: cette bande musculaire plate et relativement large (souvent désignée par les termes "tablette de chocolat") va du ...
www.muscle-fitness-france.com/352.html
débutants en bodybuilding veulent obtenir la fameuse "tablette de chocolat. ... Rappel: les muscles sont stimulés à l'entraînement, mais ils grossissent ...
www.muscle-fitness-france.com/393.html
MUSCULATION des ABDOMINAUX et programme d'entrainement - [ Translate this page ]
Il s'agit d'un seul muscle même s'il ressemble à une tablette de chocolat formée de plusieurs carrés. Il va du sternum jusqu'au pubis et sert à la flexion ...
www.musculaction.com/abdos.htm
qu'en gnrl on a plus d'adiposites sur le bas de l'abdomen que sur le haut :o] ... sait pourquoi les adbos ont cette forme de tablette de chocolat ? ...
www.musculaction.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1631&highlight=b...
This comes at a time when it has been announced in France that as of next February all advertising for foods containing sugar (sweets, cakes, sodas ...) must carry a warning that it is bad for one's health. Next they'll be putting "Oxygen kills" labels on medical gas bottles!
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 55 mins (2006-09-06 21:44:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For the ladies, of course, "problème de taille" is also a play on words:
- waist problem
- big problem, problem of consequence.
I'm working on it ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 56 mins (2006-09-06 21:45:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For starters: "Sugar! Everything going pear-shaped?"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-06 21:49:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
And NO! If you're selling advertising copy, you don't want cheesy! I don't actually think the French is cheesy, but maybe I've been living here too long ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-06 22:41:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I guess since our Latinate French bodybuilders are smaller than their Anglo-German US/UK counterparts, their "tablettes de chocolat" are correspondingly smaller than our six-packs!
GRAND DROIT DE L'ABDOMEN Localisation: cette bande musculaire plate et relativement large (souvent désignée par les termes "tablette de chocolat") va du ...
www.muscle-fitness-france.com/352.html
débutants en bodybuilding veulent obtenir la fameuse "tablette de chocolat. ... Rappel: les muscles sont stimulés à l'entraînement, mais ils grossissent ...
www.muscle-fitness-france.com/393.html
MUSCULATION des ABDOMINAUX et programme d'entrainement - [ Translate this page ]
Il s'agit d'un seul muscle même s'il ressemble à une tablette de chocolat formée de plusieurs carrés. Il va du sternum jusqu'au pubis et sert à la flexion ...
www.musculaction.com/abdos.htm
qu'en gnrl on a plus d'adiposites sur le bas de l'abdomen que sur le haut :o] ... sait pourquoi les adbos ont cette forme de tablette de chocolat ? ...
www.musculaction.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1631&highlight=b...
This comes at a time when it has been announced in France that as of next February all advertising for foods containing sugar (sweets, cakes, sodas ...) must carry a warning that it is bad for one's health. Next they'll be putting "Oxygen kills" labels on medical gas bottles!
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 55 mins (2006-09-06 21:44:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For the ladies, of course, "problème de taille" is also a play on words:
- waist problem
- big problem, problem of consequence.
I'm working on it ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 56 mins (2006-09-06 21:45:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
For starters: "Sugar! Everything going pear-shaped?"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-06 21:49:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
And NO! If you're selling advertising copy, you don't want cheesy! I don't actually think the French is cheesy, but maybe I've been living here too long ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-06 22:41:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I guess since our Latinate French bodybuilders are smaller than their Anglo-German US/UK counterparts, their "tablettes de chocolat" are correspondingly smaller than our six-packs!
Note from asker:
| I agree that Sugar is an excellence solution of Mince, especially since this particulary job is BE English. Thanks for your help. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Karen Tkaczyk
: Excellent for both the men's one and pear-shaped. Great thinking!
1 hr
|
| agree |
Sara Freitas
: Thanks for being one of the only answerers to understand the meaning of "tablette de chocolat" : )
7 hrs
|
|
Aw shucks, sonely nachural, ma'am. And thanks to YOU for noticing THAT ;-)
|
|
| agree |
Andreas THEODOROU
: yes, i like 'pear-shaped'
8 hrs
|
| agree |
Ingeborg Gowans (X)
: well, I'm glad you made Sara happy; we are all dumbos, I guess
19 hrs
|
| agree |
Tony M
: Nice ones, Alex!
1 day 9 hrs
|
|
Thanks! I think my abs are pretty nice too. Pity you can't see them for a healthy layer of fat ...
|
4 hrs
the skinny on new (?) products
bare bones info? nah, maybe too much.
+2
13 hrs
Terry Richards
France
France
Native in English
France
30 years in IT, Engineering degree.
Native in: English (Variants: US, British, UK) 
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Some ideas...
Ladies: A sizeable problem?
Men: Your ab-flab isn't ab-fab?
Well, you said you wanted silly answers :)
Men: Your ab-flab isn't ab-fab?
Well, you said you wanted silly answers :)
Note from asker:
| These aren't so silly! It's a pity I could only choose one. Thanks for your help. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Sandra Petch
: "Your ab-flab isn't ab-fab?" - not silly, just great!
1 hr
|
| agree |
Tony M
: Excellent!
21 hrs
|
Discussion
Bourth, the French plays on words throughout this text make me cringe I think they're so bad, but to each his/her own, hee hee :-)
Seriously though, what I meant by "cheesy isn't a problem" is that I welcome all suggestions in this brainstorming session, because what one person might think is a silly answer could be used as a springboard or trigger other ideas. Thanks again for your great suggestions.