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.
13:01 Aug 11, 2010
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other
French to English translations [PRO] Science - Science (general) / Freeze-drying qualification document
French term or phrase:vanne barrage piège
This term is referred to in input/output verification tests. It is simply given, as is, alongside a 'Pass' and a 'Fail/No d'écart' column. (I have just raised the translation of 'écart' in a separate question).
The client got back to me to say they weren't sure, so they have taken the various suggestions relating to this three word phrase and are passing it back to their own client to make a decision! If I find out what happens, I will make an addendum to this posting. Previous experience, however, tells me that I probably won't. Thanks all for your suggestions and just more proof that sometimes the documents we are given just don't make sense (in the source language!)
Perhaps it's a choice of three items, like the Pass and Fail. So, try interpreting the words as though they had slashes between them. Only you have the full context, so you can do this: vanne / barrage / piège
...liquid nitrogen (and in one small instance in the document, defrosting water). I don't know if that helps at all. The forms are one of those funny things that assume you know the process, yet this is a testing document, so only explains the testing process, not the actual process being tested!! (I do hope that makes sense...)
...it just being a group of words thrown together! That's what most of the phrases in the testing forms in this document look like. The individual words I know, the combinations leave absolutely loads of room for interpretation. I've produced a list for the client to say 'can you help please?' explaining that my colleagues were even having trouble coming up with ideas. We'll see what they say. In the meantime, any other inspired suggestions will be greatly welcomed :-)!
of those horrible composite German words where you know what each one means but can't quite make out the whole. Vanne = valve, barrage = blocking, piège = trap. There is definitely such a thing as a steam trap, but you don't say what the fluid concerned is. See: http://www.spiraxsarco.com/products-services/products/steam-...
otherwise you won't get many answers, if any. All I can say is that vanne = valve. An hour has passed and you have received no answers. I think I know why.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
22 hrs confidence:
bear trap dam
Explanation: A suggestion
said Lemonnier Local time: 23:39 Works in field Native speaker of: French
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for this suggestion. The only definition I can find for the term is "A kind of movable dam, in one form consisting of two leaves resting against each other at the top when raised and folding down one over the other when lowered, for deepening shallow parts in a river." So, I'm not really sure it's appropriate for the context.
The translation workplace 
