expression
English translation: a destiny of little importance; Hewers of wood and drawers of water
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| 18:18 Apr 1, 2003 |
| French to English translations [Non-PRO] | |||||
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|  Selected response from: Jack Doughty United Kingdom Local time: 07:56 | ||||
Grading comment
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| Summary of answers provided | ||||
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| 5 +6 | voir ci-dessous |
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| 4 | born to a family of limited means |
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| 4 | to believe oneself unworthy of success |
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| 2 +1 | Hewers of wood and drawers of water |
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| 2 | born for small works/actions |
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Answers
9 mins confidence: 
born to a family of limited means Explanation: Not really an idiom, but this is what it means. Né pour un petit pain : Personne née d'une famille modeste et dont les possibilités sont limitées. |
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9 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +6
peer agreement (net): +6voir ci-dessous Explanation: être né pour un petit pain (expr.) : expression québécoise qui s'emploie avec une pointe de fatalisme pour exprimer le manque d'ambition, un destin de peu d'envergure : on l'sais ben, nous autres les Québécois on est nés pour un p'tit pain... http://www.angelfire.com/pq/lexique/lexique1.html I believe you could translate this with: "be happy with nothing" -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2003-04-01 18:31:21 (GMT) -------------------------------------------------- I\'ll translate the definition above (in case you need it): it says that people in Quebec use that expression with fatalism in order to express their lack of ambition, a destiny of little importance. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2003-04-01 18:34:36 (GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Je vise toujours plus haut, au risque de ne pas parvenir a toucher mes objectifs. J\'ai toujours a l\'esprit que je dois m\'accorder une marge d\'erreur.. Quoi de plus decevant que d\'accepter d\'etre né pour un petit pain? http://www.geocities.com/julie_6_6/moi.html |
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