fût-ce à des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui par la Maison-Blanche
English translation: even if in idiocies denied with supporting proof by the White House
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:
fût-ce à des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui par la Maison-Blanche
English translation:
even if in idiocies denied with supporting proof by the White House
French to English translations [PRO] Journalism / Editorial, Commentary
French term or phrase:fût-ce à des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui par la Maison-Blanche
I can't seem to get the parsing in this sentence.
"Mais les mentalités ne fonctionnent pas comme ça. La vérité prouvée n'empêche pas le désir de croire, fût-ce à des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui par la Maison-Blanche et reprises par les media. Ne revenons par sur le lieu de naissance. Pour la religion, on peut trouver dans le début du mandat un maillon de l'explication."
This is what I THINK they're trying to say:
"...even things like these, shown to be idiotic by supporting evidence from the White House."
But when I re-read, it almost seems like they're saying:
"...even these idiotic things, proven with supporting evidence from the White House."
It seems strange there wouldn't be a "malgré" somewhere in this sentence, considering the article and the context.
La vérité prouvée n'empêche pas le désir de croire, fût-ce à des idioties démenties, preuves à l'appui, par la Maison-Blanche et reprises par les médias.
fût-ce = even if
(croire) à des idioties démenties =
preuves à l'appui = (with) supporting proof
even if it is in idiocies denied with support support by the White House and taken up by the media
Second time this week there are punctuations issues that could lead to poor comprehension.
It should read: La vérité prouvée n'empêche pas le désir de croire, fût-ce à des idioties démenties, preuves à l'appui, par la Maison-Blanche et reprises par les médias.
fût-ce à *des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui* par la Maison-Blanche
you've more or less understood
Explanation: fût-ce à *des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui* par la Maison-Blanche
But that's not how people's minds work. Even when the truth has be been demonstrated, that doesn't stop people from still wanting to believe even the most abject stupidities shown - with evidence in support - to be false
polyglot45 Native speaker of: English, French PRO pts in category: 20
4 hrs confidence:
fût-ce à *des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui* par la Maison-Blanche
to believe, even if they are in idiocies denied with supporting proof by the White House and...
Explanation: Hello,
You need to punctuate the sentence properly:
La vérité prouvée n'empêche pas le désir de croire, fût-ce à des idioties démenties, preuves à l'appui, par la Maison-Blanche et reprises par les médias.
fût-ce = even if
(croire) à des idioties démenties =
preuves à l'appui = (with) supporting proof
even if it is in idiocies denied with support support by the White House and taken up by the media
I hope this helps.
MatthewLaSon Local time: 14:33 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thanks again! I want to email the original article of this and tell them that commas are our friends. :)
Notes to answerer
Asker: THANK YOU! That completely changes the whole thing and is totally comprehensible now. Much appreciated!
fût-ce à *des idioties démenties preuves à l\\\'appui* par la Maison-Blanche
baloney, denied with supporting evidence
Explanation: Quite a lot of words can be suggested for "idioties", mostly depending of the register selected to match the proper level of formality or informality (hooey, hogwash, humbug, nonsense, baloney). I select the latter. Web.Ref.1.
"Démenti" = "denial" - no problem !
"Preuve à l'appui": either "substantiated", or "supporting" evidence. Here too, I select the latter which is the most simple.
David Salas United States Local time: 13:33 Works in field Native speaker of: English, French
Notes to answerer
Asker: While the poster below's explanation was the most helpful to understanding, I really liked your wording, and it was also really helpful. Thanks!
MatthewLaSon's old entry - "fût-ce à des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui par la Maison-Blanche" => "even if in idiocies denied with supporting proof by the White House and..."
MatthewLaSon's old entry - "fût-ce à des idioties démenties preuves à l'appui par la Maison-Blanche" => "to believe, even if they are in idiocies denied with supporting proof by the White House and..."
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
