Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
air de rien
English translation:
With feigned indifference/despite appearances
Added to glossary by
Fiona McBrearty
Mar 17, 2005 16:05
19 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term
air de rien
Non-PRO
French to English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
My brain has gone dead after too many hours in front of the screen!
Anyone got a neat way of translating "air de rien" in "L'air de rien, il écoute la conversation de Nancy"?
Anyone got a neat way of translating "air de rien" in "L'air de rien, il écoute la conversation de Nancy"?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | With feigned indifference/despite appearances |
CMJ_Trans (X)
|
| 4 +8 | nonchalantly evesdropped ... |
Connor
|
| 5 +3 | Pretending not to, or pretending that he wasn't |
Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)
|
| 3 +1 | inconspicuously |
Sandra C.
|
| 4 | without batting an eyelid |
IanW (X)
|
| 4 | distractedly |
David Hollywood
|
| 3 +1 | seemingly unconcerned |
Nick Somers (X)
|
Proposed translations
+1
2 hrs
Selected
With feigned indifference/despite appearances
Although you wouldn't think so
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Note added at 2005-03-18 13:48:56 (GMT) Post-grading
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post-grading comment: nonchalence would be OK if you said \'with feigned nonchalence\" or something to that effect
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Note added at 2005-03-18 13:48:56 (GMT) Post-grading
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post-grading comment: nonchalence would be OK if you said \'with feigned nonchalence\" or something to that effect
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "There were so many good suggestions here but I liked this one the best. Just a comment about "nonchalently": I don't think this sufficiently conveys the fact that he is actually VERY interested in what Nancy is saying."
+3
3 mins
Pretending not to, or pretending that he wasn't
I would say
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jennifer White
: I would too
12 mins
|
| agree |
Estelle Demontrond-Box
19 mins
|
| agree |
JennyC08 (X)
2 hrs
|
+1
5 mins
inconspicuously
he listens inconspicuously to Nancy's conversation
2 mins
without batting an eyelid
I'd say "Without (so much as) batting an eyelid"
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Note added at 7 mins (2005-03-17 16:13:11 GMT)
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Or \"As if it were the most natural thing in the world\"
(My brain is fried too - let me know if you come up with a cure!)
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Note added at 7 mins (2005-03-17 16:13:11 GMT)
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Or \"As if it were the most natural thing in the world\"
(My brain is fried too - let me know if you come up with a cure!)
4 mins
David Hollywood
Native in English
Works in field
worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
28
distractedly
one option
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Note added at 13 mins (2005-03-17 16:19:12 GMT)
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the idea could be along the lines of \"distractedly on purpose\"
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Note added at 13 mins (2005-03-17 16:19:12 GMT)
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the idea could be along the lines of \"distractedly on purpose\"
+8
13 mins
nonchalantly evesdropped ...
another way :-)
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-03-17 16:20:27 GMT)
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eavesdropped even !
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-03-17 16:20:27 GMT)
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eavesdropped even !
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jocelyne S
: Or just nonchalantly.
16 mins
|
| agree |
tatyana000
43 mins
|
| agree |
Angela Dickson (X)
: I like this!
1 hr
|
| agree |
Patrice
4 hrs
|
| agree |
suezen
5 hrs
|
| agree |
sktrans
5 hrs
|
| agree |
David Hollywood
: get's my vote :)
6 hrs
|
| agree |
Shaila Kamath
9 hrs
|
+1
11 mins
seemingly unconcerned
x
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-03-17 16:20:32 GMT)
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\"As if he wasn\'t the least bit interested\" would give you a more balanced sentence but might be putting too much meaning into air de rien.
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-03-17 16:20:32 GMT)
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\"As if he wasn\'t the least bit interested\" would give you a more balanced sentence but might be putting too much meaning into air de rien.
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