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French: sentier de fortune

English translation: rough track







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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:sentier de fortune
English translation:rough track
Entered by:Katherine Hodkinson
Options:
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6:42pm Aug 6, 2006Login or register (free) for more options.
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Geography
French term or phrase: sentier de fortune
Talking about rocks/mountain landscapes.

"Elles s'affaissent d'année en année sur le petit *sentier de fortune*. Il y a toujours du pain sur la planche pour le pauvre cantonnier."

TIA
Katherine Hodkinson
United Kingdom
Clarification request(s) and response
Sandra Petch: 4:13pm Aug 8, 2006: Thanks for giving me a mention Katherine :-)

(rough/makeshift) mountain trails
Explanation:
something like this ... paths that have been cut into the mountains by people and which change with time according to the obstacles that block them

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Note added at 37 mins (2006-08-06 19:19:22 GMT)
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perhaps paths instead of trails
Selected response from:

suezen
France
Note from asker to answerer
i'm choosing this as the most useful term to enter into the glossary for future reference, but sandra's "time-worn path" actually fit very nicely with the style of the text. thank you to everyone!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
2 +9(rough/makeshift) mountain trails
suezen
3 +5haphazard pathDr Sue Levy
3time-worn pathSandra Petch
4 -2walking track
Ben Gaia
1 -4path of good luck
Jonathan MacKerron


  

Answers

1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5 peer agreement (net): -4
path of good luck

Explanation:
a generic take

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Note added at 3 mins (2006-08-06 18:45:16 GMT)
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"path of good fortune" gets nearly 1000 googles

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Note added at 20 mins (2006-08-06 19:02:44 GMT)
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perhaps something like "rough and ready"?

Jonathan MacKerron
Germany
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree xxxCMJ_Trans: It also gets the bull's rush from me. It's nonsense//because I know what a sentier de fortune is and it ain't that... see Suezen's answer
31 mins
  -> how can you be so sure with so little context - see my confidence level
disagree xxxdf49f: nonsens: phrase anglaise n'a pas de sens et le sens de l'expression française est incomprise - cf. Sue's & Suezen's answers for correct meaning
1 hr
disagree JCEC: In French, the expression "de fortune" means something which has been improvised, hastily put together.
1 hr
neutral writeaway: Askers want help, not casual guessing. the number of Googles is really no reference. "creamy peanut butter" gets 204,000 Ghits but it's not right either. guessing like this is not helping anyone.
2 hrs
disagree Tony M: Way too literal, special meaning in this sort of usage.
14 hrs
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +5
haphazard path

Explanation:
It means a path that's been worn by people or animals (cf goat or sheep path), meandering between obscacles.

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Note added at 22 mins (2006-08-06 19:04:59 GMT)
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The expression "de fortune" means "makeshift" or "rough-and-ready" (see R-C Senior dictionary).

Dr Sue Levy
Luxembourg
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree xxxdf49f
1 hr
  -> thanks D!
agree JCEC
2 hrs
  -> thanks John :-)
agree writeaway: see R-C and Larousse and Hachette and amazingly enough, Harraps too ;-)
2 hrs
  -> thanks P! what good fortune :-D
agree xxxCMJ_Trans: this is also on the right track !!!
11 hrs
  -> well I wouldn't want to lead anyone down a merry trail ;-)
agree Tony M: The idea is exactly right, even though I have some hesitation about the actual term you've suggested // Oh, mine too!! And not much 'fortune' about it either ;-)
14 hrs
  -> thanks Tony, yes maybe this expression is used too often in a figurative way - the haphazard path of my life ;-)
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27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +9
(rough/makeshift) mountain trails

Explanation:
something like this ... paths that have been cut into the mountains by people and which change with time according to the obstacles that block them

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 mins (2006-08-06 19:19:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

perhaps paths instead of trails

suezen
France
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Note from asker to answerer
i'm choosing this as the most useful term to enter into the glossary for future reference, but sandra's "time-worn path" actually fit very nicely with the style of the text. thank you to everyone!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree xxxCMJ_Trans: this is the closest - though - confession - I don't have the perfect answer...
8 mins
  -> thanks CMJ
agree Cervin
19 mins
  -> thanks Cervin
agree xxxdf49f
1 hr
  -> thanks Df
agree JCEC
1 hr
  -> thanks JCEC
agree writeaway
2 hrs
  -> thanks W/A
agree Uma Hariharan
7 hrs
  -> thanks Uma
agree Michelle Jones
9 hrs
  -> thanks Michelle
agree Tony M: Yes, i think 'rough track OR path' would probably do here.
14 hrs
  -> Ah yes, track ... excelent. Thanks Tony :-)
agree gad
22 hrs
  -> thanks G :-)
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
time-worn path

Explanation:
Just an idea. The path has been worn away over the years through use.

Sandra Petch
France
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral xxxdf49f: le sentier de fortune is indeed time-worn as stated in the text, but where's the idea of "fortune"? (cf. Sue & Suezen & other comments)
1 hr
  -> A path that has been worn away rather than deliberately created is, in my mind, "de fortune". When the meaning has been made obvious (cf Sue/Suezen) I still think it's useful to give alternatives (hence "just an idea").
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -2
walking track

Explanation:
This is what it would be in New Zealandish. :-)

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Note added at 15 hrs (2006-08-07 09:44:59 GMT)
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Smileys generally mean humour in computer text world, guys. :-)

Ben Gaia
New Zealand
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree xxxCMJ_Trans: with all due respect, I think you must mean "outlandish". Just look up "fortune" in ANY bog-standard dictionary (Collins Robert, etc.) and - lo & behold - the answer is there... Or was this supposed to be a joke? If so, perhaps you should warn readers
3 hrs
  -> I guess there is an element of humour there, however everything in NZ is makeshift by UK standards, so a makeshift track in Europe is a walking track, pure and simple, in New Zealand.
neutral Tony M: Dangerous: an ordinary 'sentier' (i.e. NOT 'de fortune') often used to mean a 'formally-defined' footpath for walkers, so your term could be ambiguous / But over here in FR, could be WRONG mental picture!
6 hrs
  -> I was trying to translate the mental image conjured by the words of the passage rather than consult a literal dictionary rendering. "Makeshift" is insufficient in this context. We are not translating into French. That said, I like your "rough track".
disagree xxxdf49f: walking, riding, hiking trail, track, path, whatever, but where is the idea of "de fortune" which is precisely the point of the question??
6 hrs
  -> In the mountains all trails are haphazard so it could be seen as a tautology. How much mountain walking do you folk do?
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Voters for reclassification as PRO / non-PRONon-PRO (1): Sandra Petch


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