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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

pas de quoi en faire un goitre

English translation:

there really isn\'t anything to make a fuss about

Added to glossary by Chris Hall
Jan 21, 2010 14:21
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term

pas de quoi en faire un goitre

French to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Dear all,

Context is:

On dit que...

Le soja augmente le risque de cancer de la thyroïde.

Jusqu'au cancer, les rumeurs sur le soja ne vont
pas par quatre chemins. Même si les inexactitudes
scientifiques restent en travers de la gorge, **pas de
quoi en faire un goitre**.

Many thanks in advance for your help as always. Chris.
Proposed translations (English)
3 there really isn't anything to make a fuss about
4 nothing to jiggle your Adam's apple at
3 no goitre to fuss about
3 not enough even to cause (a measly/mere) goitre, let alone (thyroid) cancer
3 you'll just have to lump it (!!)
3 Just be gland it isn't worse!
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): writeaway

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Discussion

Chris Hall (asker) Jan 21, 2010:
polyglot Please feel free to post that as an answer.
Chris Hall (asker) Jan 21, 2010:
Many thanks Gilla... It does stick in my throat a bit, you are correct. However, needs must and I cannot for the life of me think of anything better.
Evans (X) Jan 21, 2010:
yes Chris I think you could get away with that (hoping it doesn't stick in your throat as a writer of good prose...)
Jean-Louis S. Jan 21, 2010:
In French: "Il n'y a pas de quoi en faire une maladie!" = "no need to make a song and dance about it ou to throw a fit!".
I know it does not help you for your translation...
polyglot45 Jan 21, 2010:
since they are talking about the thyroid YES
Chris Hall (asker) Jan 21, 2010:
Therefore... would the following be an acceptable translation as suggested by polyglot:

"no point in making a goitre out of them"
Evans (X) Jan 21, 2010:
I agree with you I think it's going to sound as odd in English as it does in the French!
polyglot45 Jan 21, 2010:
nor in French That's the whole point - a play on words - pas de quoi en faire un plat (no need to get your knickers in a twist)

The idea being that a big lump in your throat could resemble a goitre - a bit "tiré par les cheveux" but....
Evans (X) Jan 21, 2010:
gullets and goitres stick in your gullet is a good way of saying unacceptable , but I don't think there's a phrase that includes goitres.
polyglot45 Jan 21, 2010:
well you could stick with the same thing if even the...... stick in your throat, no point in making a goitre out of it/them

Proposed translations

2 hrs
Selected

there really isn't anything to make a fuss about

I think this is one of those cases where it's pointless trying to recreate the frankly hopeless pun of the original; EN culture just doesn't have the same way of looking at illnesses as the FR.

If you really want to keep it faintly anatomical, then why not "nothing to get hot under the collar about"? The 'goitre' allusion is more subtle, but I think people reading it in context would still get the idea.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks for your helpful suggestion Tony. Much appreciated. Best regards, Chris."
34 mins

no goitre to fuss about

To fuss about ... : en faire tout un plat / tout un fromage
Pas de quoi en faire un plat : nothing to fuss about
rester en travers de la gorge : to be hard to swallow
There are several puns about the throat's area.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jim Tucker (X) : more natural EN would probably be "nothing to get a goitre/-er about"
4 mins
Something went wrong...
44 mins

not enough even to cause (a measly/mere) goitre, let alone (thyroid) cancer

since this is about the thyroid, you need somehow to retain the reference to goitre, and the fact that goitre is pretty trivial compared to cancer of the thyroid. Contents of brackets are of course optional. This loses the nice ST construction, but I think that "mere/measly" captures the meaning
Something went wrong...
45 mins

you'll just have to lump it (!!)

my humble, faintly medical, attempt at wit !
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

nothing to jiggle your Adam's apple at

Frivolous, yes, but then quite surprisingly, is the French!

Of course "Adam's apple jiggling" isn't one for the ladies ...
Something went wrong...
19 hrs

Just be gland it isn't worse!

Well, I was reading the comments and I thought of this - it made me laugh (says a lot about me, I know!)

I shall go & sit with Ormiston, I think!
Something went wrong...
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