Apr 6, 2014 11:58
10 yrs ago
French term

eau vinaigrée acide

French to English Medical Medical (general) the menopause (personal hygiene during the menopause)
Hi,
I'm translating patient information about the menopause and there is a section about personal hygiene. This contains information about caring for/ hygiene of the vagina, which includes the following:
"Au besoin, par example en cas de modification du milieu vaginal, les produits suivants peuvent etre utiles: creme hydratantes, gels, globules vaginaux, eau vinaigrée acide, yaourt nature, acide lactique ou lactobacilles".
I assume "eau vinaigrée" water mixed with vinegar but I'm not sure what to do about "acide". Somehow "acidic vinegar" doesn't seem right!

Discussion

philgoddard Apr 6, 2014:
I agree.
mchd Apr 6, 2014:
redondance à partir du moment où on ajoute du vinaigre à de l'eau, cela devient de l'eau acide !

Proposed translations

+2
3 hrs
Selected

vinegar(-)water or vinegar-water solution

As mchd points out in his/her discussion entry, “acide” is redundant here, since adding acetic acid to water necessarily results in an acidic solution. In the context of feminine hygiene, I believe one speaks of vinegar water or a vinegar-water solution or douche.
Example sentence:

Vinegar/water douches have been used for decades to restore the vagina to its healthy acidic pH.

Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : Or water with a little vinegar added.
2 hrs
agree mchd
5 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks. I think given the informal tone of the text, there is no need to add any superfluous technical terminology. "water mixed with vinegar" or something to that effect seems fine to me."
9 mins

acetic vinegar water

-
Peer comment(s):

neutral B D Finch : Vinegar is acetic acid, so "acetic vinegar" is a pleonasm.
21 hrs
As I understand it, you can have acetic or lactic vinegar.
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+1
8 mins

water (lightly) acidulated with vinegar

I'd say that in EN it is better to reverse the participle, to avoid it sounding like you are making nitric acid!

I'm assuming these are relatively informal instructions for patients?

But I also hasten to add that I am not in any way a medical expert!

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Note added at 10 minutes (2014-04-06 12:08:26 GMT)
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If you want to avoid the rather technical-sounding 'acidulated', you might be able to explain it with something like 'water made slightly acidic by the addition of vinegar'

Do you think we need to tell them not to try using balsamic...? :-)
Peer comment(s):

agree B D Finch : Acidulated is correct, not "technical-sounding". Acidulated water often features in recipes e.g. for cooking artichokes. I usually use lemon-juice rather than vinegar for that.
21 hrs
Thanks, B! Indeed yes — and the use of lemon juice in the water to stop apples discolouring...
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+1
25 mins

vinegar-acidified water

You are absolutely right, the water pH changes (the water becomes acid by adding vinegar), so the word acid is superflous. Here is my suggestion if you want to stick to a literal translation.
Note from asker:
Thanks to you Anca and everybody else who has responded. I personally think that there is no need to add "acidified", I think it's enough to say vinegar mixed with water. As Tony says, the tone is fairly informal and I think I can get away with omitting the "acidic" bit.
Peer comment(s):

agree Lorraine Dubuc : Reconnue pour rétablir le pH d'un milieu trop alcalin.
11 mins
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