French: . . . sans structure fixe, du bout des doigts. . .English translation: in the context, without any support institution, walking on eggshells 
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| GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | | French term or phrase: | . . . sans structure fixe, du bout des doigts. . . | | English translation: | in the context, without any support institution, walking on eggshells | | Entered by: | Drmanu49 |
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French to English translations [PRO]
Medical - Medical: Health Care / Government | | French term or phrase: . . . sans structure fixe, du bout des doigts. . . | | This describes conditions under which a team of healthcare workers, with very limited outside support, tries to provide healthcare to those in need. It starts: "We intervened, sans structure fixe, du bout des doigts. . . " I was thinking perhaps "without a support system in place, without a grip on what we were dealing with" |
| jessnh3KudoZ activityQuestions: 11 (all closed) Answers: 0
United States
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| Clarification request(s) and responseDrmanu49: 1:01pm May 8, 2007: Can you give the whole source sentence in French?
It could mean without any support institution as well as without any rigid support depending on the context.
jessnh3: 1:08pm May 8, 2007: Note to Drmanu49 - Thank you for responding. Your question helped me to answer my own question.
Drmanu49: 1:12pm May 8, 2007: I would still like to have the whole sentence or your translation if possible.
jessnh3: 1:16pm May 8, 2007: Here it is. - Nous sommes intervenus sans structure fixe, du bout des doigts, presque cache, sans prendre la parole publiquement, comme si nous avions peur de dire ce que nous faisons. Additional note: Given your recent addendum, I thought I might translate du bout des droits as "walking on eggshells"
Drmanu49: 1:26pm May 8, 2007: Yes according to your sentence, it conveys that meaning, to remain politically correct.
Alain Pommet: 1:28pm May 8, 2007: Given your extra context I would agree that the main meaning is 'hesitantly' -yes eggshells sounds good to me.
Dr Sue Levy: 5:21pm May 8, 2007: Doesn't "structure fixe" imply a "permanent structure" rather than a support system?
jessnh3: 5:42pm May 8, 2007: Note to Sue Levy re: "structure fixe" - Come to think of it, I think it does.
Drmanu49: 7:18pm May 8, 2007: Meaning either no permanent institution (buildings) or no structured association or organization.
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| | Selected response from:
Drmanu49
France
| Note from asker to answererThank you Drmanu49.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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19 mins confidence:   |
| feeling their way
Explanation:
I think it may be used to mean 'à tâtonnements' - the idea being they weren't very sure of how they should proceed - by trial and error.
|  Alain Pommet
France
Meets criteria
Native speaker of:  English
PRO pts in category: 16
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24 mins confidence: |
| slightly ?
Explanation:
faiblement, ils sont impuissants à cause du manque de structure.
Du bout des doigts peut aussi vouloir dire half-heartedly, mais je ne pense pas qu'il s'agissent d'un découragement ici, plutôt d'une impossibilité.
| Lidija Lazic
Serbia
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:  French, Serbian
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45 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1 |
| in the context, without any support institution, walking on eggshells
Explanation:
without any support institution, (or no homebase) and acting very carefully, politicallywise...
thus "walking on eggshells" seems adequate in the context.
According to your sentence, it conveys that meaning, i.e. to remain politically correct.
| Drmanu49
France
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English, French
PRO pts in category: 314
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The translation workplace 
