English translation: tends to be in the background / to play second fiddle
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:
à la secondante
English translation:
tends to be in the background / to play second fiddle
French to English translations [PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Numerology
French term or phrase:à la secondante
leprenom est une femme qui tend ***à la secondante***: secrète, réservée, méfiante et prudente, elle ne se laisse pas aller facilement à ses émotions ou à ses sensations, préférant garder toujours la tête froide. Deux tendances complémentaires ou contradictoires sont présentes.
I am at a bit of a loss with this one... (numerology report). Any ideas?
Explanation: has a tendency to be in the background
Je pense que c'est ça
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 horas (2012-02-03 19:05:55 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The woman tends to play second fiddle but in reality she has a dual personality and she proves to be someome cold blooded analyzing the problems. This tendency to be in the background is just to show her duality.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 horas (2012-02-03 19:29:14 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Dual woman, she hides her feelings to protect herself
No problem...
Because "numerology report" was mentioned, I changed the "detailed field" to "Esoteric" and wrote in "Numerology." Now that the discussion has moved towards more concrete territory, I've changed the detailed field back to "General/Conversation/..." Beats me which is right. :o
BTW, I'm just "cc" – not a "Chris." ;-)
also a pragmatist. Have you finished with numerology Kelly? How about some real translation - like company accounts, articles of association, powers of attorney?
Chris: Lol - you're right (for once).
Emiliano: Sounds good but I'm not 100% convinced so I think she's going to keep us guessing after all!
Everyone: Thank you for lending your gray matter and google personified searches!!
The woman tends to play second fiddle but in reality she has a dual personality and she proves to be someome cold blooded analyzing the problems. This tendency to be in the background is just to show her duality.
Look at the words surrounding this. Choose a suitably vague word that encompasses them all. Close the question. This is just a guessing game, not professional translation.
I did as Verginia suggested and I found a hint that the word "secondante" could be used to indicate the opposite of "emotional" (except they talk about "secondarité" in that part of the text... so I'm still hesitant.
Which obviously is not quite "playing second fiddle" oh dear I really don't want to guess, it could possibly change the course of somebody's destiny... (overdramatic sigh)
Thank you, from what I've found it appears to refer to a certain stoicism... I think I'm going to put that she keeps one guessing... hows that for a cop out?
That's the first line of her description, otherwise just afterwards the author goes on to talk about a tendency to suppress her emotions and how she could appear cold and unfeeling when in fact she is very strict with herself...
She does indeed seem a little that way inclined, here's a bit further on: leprenom aime le contact, partager et communiquer, mais mettra parfois certaines limites à son extériorisation. Volontiers bavarde, elle ne livrera pas vraiment l'intensité de ses sentiments. Pour bien vivre cette tendance d'extraversion, elle pourra choisir des activités créatives, artistiques ou liées à tous types de communication, son sens social étant alors strictement lié à ses activités professionnelles. Affectivement, il faudra savoir cerner son personnage, l'amuser, l'émouvoir, lui donner confiance, sous peine de la voir s'enfermer dans un mutisme total, une pirouette lui permettant de se protéger. etc
but re-reading the description, I am led to think this might be in the direction of "has you second-guessing", in the sense of: she keeps the cards close to herself, does not easily let you in on her feelings and keeps people at arm's length.. would this fit into your context at all?
numerology is worse than guessing, but no, seriously, don't guess. I think the sense of a "secondary person" (which frankly is about as vague as it gets) is encapuslated in some of the Thesaurus results I have posted. And yes, try to make it fit the rest of the words in the sentence. Or ask the I Ching ;)
Since these cursed numerology reports probably contain about the most cryptic descriptions that mankind can dream up, why not try a Thesuarus? I am being quite serious Kelly. This person appears to be "reserved" so, for ex.:
hidden [hid-n] Show IPA
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: unseen, secret
Synonyms: QT, abstruse, buried, clandestine, cloaked, close, clouded, concealed, covered, covert, cryptic, dark, disguised, eclipsed, esoteric, hermetic, hermetical, imperceivable, in the dark, indiscernible, invisible, latent, masked, mysterious, mystic, mystical, obscure, occult, out of view, private, recondite, screened, secluded, sequestered, shadowy, shrouded, surreptitious, ulterior, undercover, underground, undetected, undisclosed, unexposed, unknown, unrevealed, veiled, withheld
..including Larousse
It is however an Italian word
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Answers
1 hr confidence:
behind the scenes / in the background / out of the spotlight
Explanation: I also came across this in reference to sport - 'secondant' = 'dans un match de haut niveau, joueur qui contribue aux analyses et à la préparation d'un des deux adversaires'. In English, a 'second' (e.g. in chess or boxing) is an assistant who offers the main player strategic advice and support.
So - and this could be horribly tenuous - perhaps you could translate 'tend à la secondante' as something along the lines of 'tends to stay in the background / behind the scenes / out of the limelight'? i.e. someone who analyses from the sidelines and keeps a 'tête froide' when the pressure is on...
tends to be in the background / to play second fiddle
Explanation: has a tendency to be in the background
Je pense que c'est ça
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 horas (2012-02-03 19:05:55 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The woman tends to play second fiddle but in reality she has a dual personality and she proves to be someome cold blooded analyzing the problems. This tendency to be in the background is just to show her duality.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 horas (2012-02-03 19:29:14 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Dual woman, she hides her feelings to protect herself
Emiliano Pantoja Local time: 13:32 Specializes in field Native speaker of: Spanish PRO pts in category: 8
Verginia Ophof Belize Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 19
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thank you, but my confidence is wobbly as this would be the first time that primary or secondary numbers have been mentioned, and I'm almost finished...
Reference information: I'm not sure this helps, but not exactly absent from all dictionaries.
Here's Wiktionary: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/secondant#French
(OK, not exactly a dictionary.)
cc in nyc United States Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 111
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
