This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. French to English
  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

milieu ouvrier

English translation: working class grandparents

13:28 Feb 20, 2008
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: milieu ouvrier
I'm having a little trouble with this sentence and want to verify my translation

Né en 1968, il a grandi entre des grands-parents issus du milieu ouvrier et une mère chanteuse d’opéra.

he grew up among grandparents who were the children of middle-class workers....

thanks
Mary Barattucci
United States
Local time: 22:16
English translation:working class grandparents
Explanation:
I don't disagree with the others here but think there may be confusion over the rest of the sentence - you propose saying that he grew up 'among ... grandparents'. In fact, it sounds like he was cared for by both his grandparents and his mother and there was some kind of contradiction in their class backgrounds. I would translate the whole sentence as "born in 1968, his childhood was split between his working class grandparents and his mother, who was an opera singer". Hope ti helps!
Selected response from:

Irene McClure
Local time: 04:16
Grading comment
I like the way you translated this. Thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +9working-class background
Carol Gullidge
4 +6working class background
Tony M
3 +4working class grandparents
Irene McClure
5working class
Valerie Scaletta
5Blue collar environment
emiledgar
4working-class upbringing / background
Chris Hall
2 +1working class environment
Jonathan MacKerron


  

Answers


1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
working class environment


Explanation:
for starters

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Angeliki Papadopoulou
22 mins
  -> thx
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +9
working-class background


Explanation:
... were/came from a working-class background

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:16
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 124

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  MMFORREST
2 mins
  -> thanks, MMFORREST!
agree  Kate Hudson (X)
3 mins
  -> thanks, Kate!
agree  ST Translations
5 mins
  -> thanks, ST Translations!
agree  David Goward
20 mins
  -> Thanks, David!
agree  cmwilliams (X)
27 mins
  -> thanks, cmwilliams!
agree  Ingeborg Gowans (X)
34 mins
  -> thanks, Ingeborg!
agree  AllegroTrans
37 mins
  -> thanks, Allegro!
agree  Victoria Porter-Burns:
1 hr
  -> thanks, Victoria!
agree  Assimina Vavoula
2 hrs
  -> thanks, Assimina!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
working-class upbringing / background


Explanation:
I prefer working-class background, but working-class upbringing is a nice alternative perhaps.

Chris Hall
Local time: 03:16
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: a milieu isn't an upbringing. that's not an alternative here at all
3 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
working class grandparents


Explanation:
I don't disagree with the others here but think there may be confusion over the rest of the sentence - you propose saying that he grew up 'among ... grandparents'. In fact, it sounds like he was cared for by both his grandparents and his mother and there was some kind of contradiction in their class backgrounds. I would translate the whole sentence as "born in 1968, his childhood was split between his working class grandparents and his mother, who was an opera singer". Hope ti helps!

Irene McClure
Local time: 04:16
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
I like the way you translated this. Thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: I agree that tightening it up like this would be a good translation solution, instead of being slavishly literal.
33 mins
  -> Thanks Tony
agree  Sandra Petch
44 mins
  -> Thanks Sandra
agree  Charlie Bavington: Finally.... :-)
7 hrs
  -> Cheers Charlie...
agree  sporran
1 day 10 hrs
  -> cheers sporran!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
working class


Explanation:
... who were working-class

Valerie Scaletta
Italy
Local time: 04:16
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: how is this different to other answers?
38 mins
  -> it is different in that I did not add background/environment/milieu, but just left it plainly as working calss grandparents
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Blue collar environment


Explanation:
The US way of expressing this.

emiledgar
Belgium
Local time: 04:16
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 125
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
working class background


Explanation:
Nothing to do with middle-class, I'm afraid!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2008-02-20 13:42:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I don't honestly think 'blue collar' quite fits here (though we don't exactly know what the context of your document is). Terms like 'blue collar' and 'white collar' tend to be used in more formal, demographic / economic documents, but would feel rather out of place in what seems like a simple bigoraphy?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2008-02-20 14:37:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I agree in principle with Carol's comment about the hyphen — and normally I myself am a great advocate of the use of hyphens.

However, even though 'working-class' has historically usually been seen with a hyphen, I note there is a strong trend these days to drop hyphens wherever possible — this seems particularly prevalent in US English, often greatly to the detriment of proper comprehension!

My own feeling is that this collocation is sufficiently familiar these days to no longer need hyphenating, and I don't think that there is any risk of ambiguity in the context it ie being used here: one could not imagine, for example, that it should read 'working class-background'!

Tony M
France
Local time: 04:16
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 348
Notes to answerer
Asker: Ah yes, "blue collar" was what I was trying to come up with here. Thanks 1054

Asker: After re-reading it, I didn't like blue collar as much either, but it was the "idea" that I was going after.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: agree in principle, but of course the hyphen is required here!//I also agree that "blue collar" would sound odd here!
1 min
  -> Thanks, Carol! Well, I don't think we can say "of course" any more — these days, the humbe hyphen seems to be very unfashionable (esp. in AE), and I think this is one of those collocations that has become so familiar as to be able to drop it
agree  MMFORREST
2 mins
  -> Thanks, MMF!
agree  Jean-Claude Gouin: Working-class background OR blue collar background ...
4 mins
  -> Thnaks, J-C ! Perhaps for the US, but I feel that would fit less well if this were BE.
agree  ST Translations
5 mins
  -> Thanks, ST T!
agree  cmwilliams (X): I agree that "blue collar" would sound odd here.
28 mins
  -> Thanks, CMW!
agree  Jack Dunwell: It's a pity about the hyphens, but I suppose we go along with the OED (do we?)
1 hr
agree  Assimina Vavoula
2 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search