donner dans le veuvage

English translation: you know what it's like to be widowed

05:54 Sep 23, 2007

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature

French term or phrase: donner dans le veuvage

From a fiction novel:

"Vous avez donné dans le veuvage, vous aussi!"

is this a phrase meaning "to be a widow/be widowed" ?

Just wanted some clarification, as the "donner" part was throwing me a bit.

Many thanks in advance..

Emily Plank KudoZ activity Questions: 105 (none open) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 2 Australia
Local time: 16:18

English translation:you know what it's like to be widowed

Explanation:
"donner dans" does usually have the sense of suffering - mock or not. It's usually said with a bit of a groan.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2007-09-23 10:05:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You've been through widowhood...

Selected response from:

Emma Paulay
France
Local time: 10:18

Grading comment

Thanks to everyone for your help! Because of the nature of the conversation in the novel, there wasn't much more context I could have given, as it appeared to be a passing comment. I think this one probably best fits the tone, but I do appreciate all of your insight!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

you're a widow now/ you've gone into widowhood

David Hollywood

3 +5

join the widows' club

CMJ_Trans (X)

You have gone into windowhood

Forty

3 +1

you know what it's like to be widowed

Emma Paulay

to be a victim of / fall foul of widowhood

Melzie

play at widowhood, enjoy widowhood

helene_d (X)

Discussion entries: 5

Answers

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

you're a widow now/ you've gone into widowhood

Explanation:
veuvage Bachelorhood; Celibato; Veuvage; Widowhood; ...
cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15200899 - Similar pages

David Hollywood
Local time: 05:18
Native speaker of: English

33 mins confidence:

You have gone into windowhood

Explanation:
Your second proposal is the best, as "donner" here means "entrer dans"

Forty
Tunisia
Local time: 09:18
Works in field
Native speaker of:

French

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

join the widows' club

Explanation:
something like this?

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 10:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 94

3 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

you know what it's like to be widowed

Emma Paulay
France
Local time: 10:18
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 56

Grading comment

6 hrs confidence:

to be a victim of / fall foul of widowhood

Explanation:
depending on when the novel is set, pehaps before a woman was 'free' to make her own way and was expected to have some male or other to fall back on for income, food, clothing etc.
in that case, quite a catastrophe.

Melzie
Local time: 10:18
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 3

9 hrs confidence:

play at widowhood, enjoy widowhood

Explanation:
There could well be an ironic connotation to this. It's difficult to tell without more context, but "donner dans" is often used in an ironic way, as in "donner dans la dentelle" (to be overly fond of lace and frills).
It almost sounds here as if widowhood was embraced as a full-time occupation or treated as a convenient social identity.

helene_d (X)
Local time: 04:18
Works in field
Native speaker of:

French

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations