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devant l'Éternel

English translation: one of the greatest...of all time

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:devant l'Éternel
English translation:one of the greatest...of all time
Entered by: Mark Nathan

12:54 Mar 10, 2008
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / \
French term or phrase: devant l'Éternel
In parts of this generally practical book on farm animals, the author occasionally waxes "poetical" and has twice used the phrase"devant l'Éternel" - once re donkeys and once re chickens, as follows:
"Grands voyageurs devant l'Éternel, les ânes possèdent une capacité de résistance et une robustesse extraordinaires ..."
And:
"Le coq combattant du Nord, grand belliqueux devant l'Éternel, est un familier des combats clandestins".
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Jennifer Forbes
Local time: 16:18
a long standing...
Explanation:
Or for more emphasis, "one of the greatest....of all time"
Selected response from:

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 17:18
Grading comment
Thank you, Mark. Good idea. I've said "one of the greatest ... of all time".
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1in the grand scheme of things
Gabrielle Leyden
4please see below..
Debbie Tacium Ladry
3a long standing...
Mark Nathan
3under heaven
B D Finch


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
a long standing...


Explanation:
Or for more emphasis, "one of the greatest....of all time"

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 17:18
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
Thank you, Mark. Good idea. I've said "one of the greatest ... of all time".
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23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
please see below..


Explanation:
Éternel is a Biblical word (Old Testament) for "God" or "the Lord". If you wish to keep that idea, you could say something like: "one of the Lord's hardest working creatures" or something more poetic (it's Monday morning, I'm obviously not inspired ;-)

Debbie Tacium Ladry
Local time: 12:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Debbie. I did consider "the Lord's creatures" myself, but in the end thought I'd keep it "multicultural".

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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
in the grand scheme of things


Explanation:
Debbie's explanation (l'Eternel = the Lord) is right. Here's a suggestion off the top of my head. You could also say"among God's creatures" or "among the Almighty's creatures" or opt for an expression that includes everlasting (the everlasting scheme of things?)
HTH - Gaby

Gabrielle Leyden
Belgium
Local time: 17:18
Native speaker of: English
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, Gabrielle.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  sueaberwoman: Any of your suggestions would work, but I like the first.
3 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
under heaven


Explanation:
You would need to amend the sentence to include a superlative: "best under heaven", "most ... under heaven". This is a very (but far from exclusively) Chinese expression.

"Guilin is one of China's most picturesque cities, with a population of 670000, ... Its scenery is reputed by many Chinese to be the "finest under heaven", ..."
www.china.org.cn/english/travel/217363.htm

"Cigars and rum in the fairest land under Heaven ... The northern coast of the DR has long been the most popular spot on the island for tourists, ..."
www.escapeartist.com/OREQ24/Dominican_Republic.html


B D Finch
France
Local time: 17:18
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, BD. I did think of "under heaven" myself. A difficult choice.

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