French: essuyer les plâtresEnglish translation: stick one's neck out 
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French to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings | | French term or phrase: essuyer les plâtres | From a journalistic article about an enquiry into a prisoner's death in custody. It has been declared a suicide but doubts hang over the issue. I'm not familiar with this expression myself, but my dictionary is telling me it means 'to remedy initial or teething problems'. However, this really doesn't seem to fit the context. This quote is from the victim's mother and I don't think she is concerned with reforming the prison system, I think she just wants someone to look into the nature of her son's death. To my mind, what would fit better would be 'get your hands dirty' or 'do the dirty work'. There is no mention elsewhere in the text of teething problems. Can this expression be translated this way?
Autant de questions auxquelles la famille aimerait avoir des réponses. «Nous sommes au Luxembourg : tout ce qui dérange est enterré; personne ne veut essuyer les plâtres ». Pascale s'est heurtée à une administration opaque qui ne veut pas lui donner de réponse. |
| | Clarification request(s) and response
| | stick one's neck out | Explanation:
nobody wants to be the first to stick his neck out/raise his nose above the parapet |
| Selected response from:
xxxCMJ_Trans
France
| Note from asker to answererThanks CMJ, this fits the bill. And the damn thing's due!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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9 mins confidence:   peer agreement (net): +1 |
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The translation workplace 
