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  3. Poetry & Literature

A un poil d'éléphant près

English translation: an elephant's whisker away

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:A un poil d'éléphant près
English translation:an elephant's whisker away
Entered by: Allan Jeffs

08:48 Sep 2, 2004
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
French term or phrase: A un poil d'éléphant près
Hello again ,

Any idea of translation for this expression ?


Thanks
kalas
Local time: 20:26
within a whisker
Explanation:
Malaysian comes within a whisker of quarter-finals - [ Traduire cette page ]
CYCLIST Josiah Ng came within a whisker of qualifying for the quarter-finals of
the men's 200m sprint at the Olympic Velodrome Sunday. thestar.com.my. ...
thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/ 2004/8/23/sports/8732341&sec=sports

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Note added at 1 hr 17 mins (2004-09-02 10:06:37 GMT)
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He May Only Be A Whisker Away - [ Traduire cette page ]
In The Press Home. He May Only Be A Whisker Away Julia Horton AS urban myths
go, you can\'t get much bigger than the big cat. Reports ...
www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/ourpress306.htm

I think this is even better: A WHISKER AWAY

And as my colleague suggests if necessary you can add \"elephant\"
-> An elephant\'s whisker away
Selected response from:

Allan Jeffs
France
Local time: 21:26
Grading comment
Thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3within a whisker
Allan Jeffs
4 +1within a hair's breadth
suezen
3See comment below...
Tony M


  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
A un poil d'éléphant près
within a whisker


Explanation:
Malaysian comes within a whisker of quarter-finals - [ Traduire cette page ]
CYCLIST Josiah Ng came within a whisker of qualifying for the quarter-finals of
the men's 200m sprint at the Olympic Velodrome Sunday. thestar.com.my. ...
thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/ 2004/8/23/sports/8732341&sec=sports

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 17 mins (2004-09-02 10:06:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

He May Only Be A Whisker Away - [ Traduire cette page ]
In The Press Home. He May Only Be A Whisker Away Julia Horton AS urban myths
go, you can\'t get much bigger than the big cat. Reports ...
www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/ourpress306.htm

I think this is even better: A WHISKER AWAY

And as my colleague suggests if necessary you can add \"elephant\"
-> An elephant\'s whisker away

Allan Jeffs
France
Local time: 21:26
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michele Fauble
2 mins
  -> Merci Michele
agree  Anthony Chalkley (X)
21 mins
  -> Thanks Anthony
neutral  nothing: elephant's whiskers?
1 hr
  -> bovineinversus.com/dreamtongue.html "... like the whiskers of an elephant..." Yes, those 'poils' in the mouth region, you know"
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
2 days 1 hr
  -> Thanks Marju
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
A un poil d'éléphant près
See comment below...


Explanation:
Both Allan and Suezen have come up with good suggestions, I just wanted to add that whether they are usable or not will depend on the rest of your sentence; the French construction could have a slightly skewed meaning, depending on exactly how it is being used.

Also, I don't believe that 'elephant' is entirely optional; we have a rather vulgar expression in English that goes something like "a gnat's cock-hair" or variants on that; this sort of thing might be more appropriate (sanitized!), depending on your whole context.

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:26
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 128
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
A un poil d'éléphant près
within a hair's breadth


Explanation:
this is the normal expression, but here the word elephant has been inserted. You could do the same in English if you want, i.e. within an elephant's hair's breadth

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Note added at 1 hr 11 mins (2004-09-02 10:00:47 GMT)
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or a close shave

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 44 mins (2004-09-02 11:33:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I\'m going to shoot myself in the foot again, and say that as it\'s an animal then Allan\'s idea of a whisker is closer, which gives us \'within an elephant\'s whisker\'!!

suezen
Local time: 21:26
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 82

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  nothing: within an elephant's hair's breath, because elephant hairs are wider than people's, so it must have tried to say it was not so close as a a hair's bredth
1 hr
  -> thanks
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