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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

il n'avait que faire des subtilités de ....

English translation: he had no time for the subtleties of ....

21:18 Jan 30, 2015
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / colloquial expression
French term or phrase: il n'avait que faire des subtilités de ....
the expression occurs in a novel I am translating and I think it must mean " he only had to flatter him a little bit....", or "he only had to make a bit of a fuss about....", and I would like to get confirmation whether I am right or wrong
Diotima28
South Africa
Local time: 02:50
English translation:he had no time for the subtleties of ....
Explanation:
..
Selected response from:

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:50
Grading comment
Thank you very much, Daryo, yours was definitely the most helpful answer and you deserve the points. Diotima 28



Summary of answers provided
4 +7he had no time for the subtleties of ....
Daryo
3 -1he only needed to drop some gentle hints about/regarding/referring to......
Verginia Ophof
3 -2he only had to perform the niceties of....
AllegroTrans


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


43 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
"il n'avait que faire des subtilités de ...."
he only needed to drop some gentle hints about/regarding/referring to......


Explanation:
suggestion

Verginia Ophof
Belize
Local time: 18:50
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 53

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Daryo: "some gentle hints" - quite the opposite: he couldn't care less about it / he wouldn't give a ... about it
2 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
il n'avait que faire des subtilités de
he had no time for the subtleties of ....


Explanation:
..

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:50
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 105
Grading comment
Thank you very much, Daryo, yours was definitely the most helpful answer and you deserve the points. Diotima 28
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hi Daryo, thank you very much, I am convinced you got it right, and I am selecting yours as the best answer. Kind regards from Vera


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway: too late for me. I misread n'avoir que faire as n'avoir faire que......
2 hrs
  -> Thanks!
neutral  Juan Jacob: ...he couldn't care less about it... me paraît très bien. Pourquoi proposer autre chose, relativement éloignée ?
3 hrs
  -> as long as it expresses the idea, a bit of variety won't hurt, especially for this kind of rather informal expressions.
agree  Mollie Milesi: Yes. He had not time for...; he didn't care about...; he didn't give a damn about...
4 hrs
  -> and many other more or less colorful variations ... Thanks!
agree  Philippa Smith: Yes, just right!
10 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
10 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  katsy
12 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  Tony M
12 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  Simo Blom
4 days
  -> Thanks!
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
"il n'avait que faire des subtilités de ...."
he only had to perform the niceties of....


Explanation:
But more context needed

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:50
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 115

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Daryo: no more context needed
1 hr
  -> Yes. I misread it
disagree  writeaway: context or not, wrong translation: http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/n’avoir_que_faire
1 hr
  -> Yes. I misread it
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