Les bonzes du bronze

English translation: Bronzeworks Wise

12:32 Jul 2, 2003

French to English translations [PRO]

French term or phrase: Les bonzes du bronze

This is a slogan for a company making bronze statuettes to be resold on the retail market.

Lise Boismenu, B.Sc. KudoZ activity Questions: 491 (5 open) (4 without valid answers) (3 closed without grading) Answers: 1693 Canada
Local time: 17:03

English translation:Bronzeworks Wise

Explanation:
an attempt

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Note added at 2003-07-02 13:01:15 (GMT)
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OR just

BONZEWORKS

yes, bonze is monk but it is any wise old guy so it depends how you want to go...if the bronze statuettes are just of BONZES or not

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Note added at 2003-07-02 13:02:07 (GMT)
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BONZEWORKS is a MARTING ANSWER

Where have you been Lise? I went to MOntreal for the weekend, what a great city!

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Note added at 2003-07-02 14:11:30 (GMT)
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BRONZEWORKS is the most elegant and simple and marketing-oriented solution so far.

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Note added at 2003-07-02 14:12:27 (GMT)
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But I kinda like: BRONZWORKS-WISE

as in the expresson: to be wise to something or just to be wise...the pun is maintained

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Note added at 2003-07-02 14:16:10 (GMT)
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SORRY:

FINAL: BRONZEWORKS-WISE

They are wise about bronze and working with it..

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I just don\'t understand why people can\'t see that
Bronzeworks-Wise keeps the register, makes a joke and refers to making things out of bronze. It\'s NOT AS FUNNY as the other answers but it does have a marketing tone.

I daresay no one here has written taglines and marketing slogans besides me. Sorry, but it does seem to be the case.

That does NOT mean someone can\'t come up with something better but so far...

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Note added at 2003-07-02 16:11:42 (GMT)
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Note to Christopher:

Any French speaker knows that bonze means someone knowledgeable about something. No need for dictionaries....

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Note added at 2003-07-02 16:13:04 (GMT)
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Example from Canada:
... vers l\'hécatombe électorale. Ce scénario était loin de satisfaire
les bonzes de la politique fédérale. Mais avouons que les ...
iquebec.ifrance.com/cortan/ottawascope/1998/avril.htm - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

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Note added at 2003-07-02 16:17:13 (GMT)
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Example from France:

... Le savoir c\'est rasoir!... Tout juste bon à alimenter les ritournelles que les
bonzes de la «Science» iront répétant sans cesse, sans se lasser... ...
perso.club-internet.fr/pmgagey/Epistemologie.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages

Home.htm - [ Translate this page ]
... Le Savoir c\'est rasoir... Tout juste bon à alimenter les ritournelles que
les bonzes de la Science iront répétant sans cesse, sans se lasser... ...
perso.club-internet.fr/pmgagey/Home.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar pages

Selected response from:

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)

Grading comment

Certainly seems to fit the context although there are several other good suggestions. Sometimes, the high quality of responses on Kudoz can make a choice so difficult...
So many thanks to all for your comments and input.
Lise

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

the top brass !!

CMJ_Trans (X)

5 +1

The Fonz of bronze

Bourth (X)

4 +1

The Bronze Brothers

Bernard Myers

> bronz a bonze < or > bonz'n'bronze

Jerzy Zubkiewicz (X)

5 -1

Bronzeworks Wise

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)

2 +2

Brainy Bronze

William Stein

Bronza!

Rowan Morrell

the beauty of bronze /beauty in bronze

Sheila Hardie

1 +1

The whole point of a slogan

Christopher Crockett

(buy a ) bonze in bronze

RHELLER

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

Bronzeworks Wise

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X)
Native speaker of:

English,

Portuguese
PRO pts in pair: 8576

Grading comment

15 mins confidence:

(buy a ) bonze in bronze

Explanation:
not sure what tone this slogan should have...these are religious monks

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

bonze

PRONUNCIATION: bnz
NOUN: A Buddhist monk, especially of China, Japan, or nearby countries.
ETYMOLOGY: French, from Portuguese bonzo, from Japanese bons : bon, ordinary (from Middle Chinese buan, fhan) + s, monk (from Middle Chinese sng, from Sanskrit sagha, collection, brotherhood of monks, from sahanti, sagha-, to put together ( sam, together; see sem-1 in Appendix I + hanti, he strikes; see gwhen- in Appendix I).

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 15:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 1582

36 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

the top brass !!

Explanation:
in the hope that they also make brass statuettes !

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statuesque bronze
(as in statuesque blondes)

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the tops for bronze
top bronzes

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Note added at 2003-07-02 14:48:20 (GMT)
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or even... the best in bronze

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Note added at 2003-07-02 14:56:21 (GMT)
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or even how about \"THE model company\" ,
I must stop - this is getting addictive

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 23:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 5264

52 mins confidence:

Bronza!

Explanation:
A play on the Australian "Bonza!", meaning "great" or "fantastic". However, I'm not sure whether a US or UK audience would get it. But I thought I'd pop it in for a bit of fun. And if the target audience does happen to be Australian, this could a bonza solution! :-)

Rowan Morrell
New Zealand
Local time: 09:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 202

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Christopher Crockett: "Bonza Bronze" is *GREAT*, Rowan, but only for an Aussie Audience, Alas. Can't be used for a larger target audience, any more than "Bonza Bronzes" can be --just not enough people who understand the word.

45 mins

-> Thanks Christopher. I agree that using it for a target audience outside Australia (or NZ) most likely wouldn't work. Unless of course the bronze things were actually made in Australia, but I don't think that's the case here.

neutral

Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X): I disagree with CC: YOu can use other English sometimes I think being so overly categorical is wroing

49 mins

-> It does rather depend exactly who your target audience is, though.

disagree

CMJ_Trans (X): but only in the sense that too many people wouldn't get the message which is the whole point of the exercise

1 hr

-> I understand your reservations, and I had them myself, but I thought I'd put it in anyway on the off-chance that Aussies were among the asker's target audience.

53 mins confidence:

the beauty of bronze /beauty in bronze

Explanation:
Or Bronze beauties? Although that sounds like women lying sunbathing on a beach or something similar:-)

Beauty in bronze
Hastings home to many statues

Amy Palser and Linda Garcia
Hastings Tribune

For artist Turner McGehee, there's something special about the bronze statues that dot the city of Hastings and seem to be multiplying as of late.

The three-dimensional statues -- most of which are life-sized -- are so realistic, it seems you could touch one's hand and it would touch back.

HTH

Sheila

Reference: http://www.cnweb.com/tribune/old/apr01/apr21/news1.html

Sheila Hardie
Spain
Local time: 23:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 683

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

Brainy Bronze

Explanation:
Like "brains and brawn" (please no hate mail...)

William Stein
Costa Rica
Local time: 15:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 1737

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

The Bronze Brothers

Explanation:
...or perhaps "brethren"?

Logo image: Two little bronze monks wearing (black) dark sunglasses?

Bernard Myers
France
Local time: 23:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 26

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

The whole point of a slogan

Explanation:
is to capture the imagination of a target audience with some catchy phrase, play on words, double entendre, jingle, whatever.

In order to do that you can't send your audience off to the dictionary first thing, expecting them to educate themselves re an uncommon word upon which your whole slogan turns.

"Bonze" is such a word.

*I've* never heard/seen it, a more than nodding acquaintance with Things Boodist notwithstanding, and I therefore submit that the percentage of the anglophone population at large which will have a *clue* as to what it means will be miniscule.

"Bonze" is, therefore, out --as well as most plays on its meaning.

CMJ_Trans' "the top brass !!" has a nice ring to it and largely overcomes Jane's good point about "noble bronze" and "base brass".

Rowan's "Bronza!" (or "Bronza Brass"?)is, as I said, really a striking solution, but severely limited in terms of a target audience who would immediately understand it --it would work bonza in Aussieland, on a visceral level (the best, for a slogan), but would be either simply incomprehensible or too cerebral most everywhere else on the anglophone planet.

Jane is wroing, I believe : a slogan, in order to work, to really take off, to really stick in the mind's ear of the target audience *MUST* be *immediately* comprehensible --it can be subtle (depending upon the market), and certainly witty, but it MUST consist of words which are known to the audience....a slogan is not an occasion for Higher Education. Unless the target audience is Highly Educated.

William's "Brainy Bronze" conveys something of the sense of the original, but it *works* because of the sound play.

Bernard's "The Bronze Brothers" does the same, and I like his Logo suggestion ("Two little bronze monks wearing (black) dark sunglasses") and the clients might like it too, if they really want to keep the original imagery of their slogan.

Question to all and to the moderators : At what point do we all cease to be simply helping a collegue out with a translation and begin to be unpaid Brainstormers for a commercial business?

Just curious.

I enjoy these little exercises, btw.

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Note added at 2003-07-02 17:06:40 (GMT) Post-grading
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Amazing.

Christopher Crockett
Local time: 17:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 444

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

The Fonz of bronze

Explanation:
Only for addicts of séries américaines.

Happy Days, everybody.
Yours,
Big Al.

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Note added at 2003-07-02 14:55:01 (GMT)
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Might have to get copyright approval to use it, though.

Bourth (X)
Local time: 23:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 18679

7 hrs confidence:

> bronz a bonze < or > bonz'n'bronze

Explanation:
if too far out disregard

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Note added at 2003-07-02 20:15:11 (GMT) Post-grading
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christopher?

Jerzy Zubkiewicz (X)
Local time: 23:03
Native speaker of:

English,

Polish
PRO pts in pair: 3

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English translation: Bronzeworks Wise

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