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ladite radiation
PK
Mar 3, 2015 10:39
9 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term

Populaire

Non-PRO French to English Marketing Food & Drink Restaurants
Hi,

I am translating a promotional piece for a well-known French chef and have come across the word "populaire" used in what appears to be verb form:

"La table est un lieu de plaisir, un lieu de rencontre, un lieu où l’on rit, partage, ripaille, un lieu qu’il veut *populaire*, « j’ai toujours voulu créer un petit restaurant généreux avec un vrai respect de l’autre sensible dans l’assiette » affirme-t-il."

I think it might be saying that he wants to "scale down" or perhaps even "revive" the concept of the restaurant. Can anyone confirm this for me?

Thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 for the community
4 +3 popular
4 In-place
3 +1 open to all
3 +1 unpretentious,
Change log

Mar 3, 2015 11:00: mchd changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Mar 3, 2015 11:08: writeaway changed "Field" from "Other" to "Marketing"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Carol Gullidge, Tony M, mchd

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Discussion

polyglot45 Mar 4, 2015:
populaire means "of the people", which is the primitive meaning of the word (Lat. populus).
What he means is that he wants his restaurant to be for ordinary people, not for A (or even Z-listers)
Elizabeth Slaney Mar 3, 2015:
Live and learn While I am aware of the set phrases "une bonne table" and "les bonnes tables" as a general description, I had never seen a specific restaurant described as "la table", although it is entirely logical. Thank you for the insight!
Tony M Mar 3, 2015:
@ Liz In FR, 'la table' is very often used in a srot of metonymy to mean 'the restaurant' (in the sense of 'the action of dining out' — you often find tourist guides etc saying things like "This is one of the finest 'tables' in the region" — and they're clearly not talking about the furniture!
Elizabeth Slaney Mar 3, 2015:
Talking about "la table" Maybe I am misunderstanding this but I do not think they are talking (directly) about making the restaurant popular but rather "la table", i.e. sitting down to a meal around the table.
Charles Davis Mar 3, 2015:
@Alexander I think you were probably thrown by this use of vouloir + adjective. It's quite common in the reflexive form — "il se veut pacifiste", "mon livre se veut objectif" — but can also be used in the simple form like this. It's as though "to be" were understood.
Alexander Hatch (asker) Mar 3, 2015:
OK that's great, thanks! Not sure why I thought it was a verb, maybe I felt something was missing...
Carol Gullidge Mar 3, 2015:
agree with Tony that this is an adjective and not any sort of verb form. We seem to have been posting simultaneously!
Tony M Mar 3, 2015:
Definitely not a "verb form" Why did you imagine it might be? In this sort of construction, 'populaire' takes the perfectly normal role as an adjective — he's seeking to make his restaurant « populaire ».

Proposed translations

+3
17 mins
Selected

for the community

"a place for the (whole) community to enjoy" - many examples on the Web.

I agree popular is not a verb but I don't think "populaire" has the meaning of "popular" here. What he means is that the restaurant should not be a formal, exclusive place but a place enjoyed by the community as a whole and I don't think there is a corresponding adjective in English ("working-class" would not do here), hence a noun.

"a place for the community to enjoy" - many examples on the Web.
Peer comment(s):
agree Carol Gullidge : this could also be true, although I imagined that the Asker's difficulty was in fact with the construction "veut populaire" and not with the meaning of populaire
6 mins
Thanks, yes, but why not offer a translation while we're at it :)
neutral writeaway : Je ne crois pas que ce soit une soupe populaire/on ne dirait pas 'community' en anglais dans un tel context. /How does the Fr word 'populaire' imply that it's a restaurant just for the local community? Imo populaire suggests it's for all
7 mins
Qui parle de soupe populaire?! J'ai traduit par "community" (= tout le monde / convivial)//Il ne s'agit pas de gens pauvres mais de gens ayant quelque chose en commun, par exemple l'amour de la bonne cuisine.
agree Victoria Britten : In BE, anyway
48 mins
Merci.
agree philgoddard : Good idea.
2 hrs
Thanks Phil.
neutral Rachel Fell : "community" has an air of something institutional to my (UK) ear
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks!"
+3
4 mins

popular

or however you'd want to translate "populaire"

This is not a verb form but an adjective. He wishes the restaurant to become one of the in places to dine

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Note added at 8 mins (2015-03-03 10:48:46 GMT)
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and "become" of course is implicit

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Note added at 11 mins (2015-03-03 10:51:39 GMT)
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or simply "be" of course! He wants it to be "populaire"
Peer comment(s):
agree writeaway : no, it's certainly not a verb in the French. Asker doesn't seem to understand the meaning of 'se vouloir'. Agree with you that it's not a "pro" level question. If popular is (also) a problem, it's marketing so the sky's the limit.
4 mins
thanks writeaway!
neutral Tony M : I can't help worrying that 'popular' is a faux ami here — I get the feeling from the rest of the description that he really means it in the sense 'of/for the people'.
9 mins
I agree, Tony! Which is why I qualified it with "or however you'd want to translate "populaire"". Having said this, I feel the Asker's difficulty was with the grammatical construction and not with the vocabulary - although that might also be the case
agree Victoria Britten
1 hr
thanks Victoria!
agree Rachel Fell : for everyone
2 hrs
thanks Rachel!
Something went wrong...
1 hr

In-place

http://www.wien.info/en/lifestyle-scene/in-places

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Note added at 1 heure (2015-03-03 11:46:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or praps "family-friendly"?

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Note added at 1 heure (2015-03-03 11:48:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Not exclusive or snobby:
family-friendly is a good option.
Something went wrong...
+1
1 hr

open to all

I think 'populaire' as it is used here means restaurants should be convivial places, where all are welcome
Peer comment(s):
agree Sheri P
2 hrs
Thanks Sheri
Something went wrong...
+1
6 hrs

unpretentious,

I do understand that Asker's problem might not be with this part of the sentence, but was fascinated by the difficulty of translating "populaire"
I wonder if, in English, to convey the meaning that just anyone can go there, we might not be more tempted to say
"a place that he tries to make absolutely unpretentious/ anything but elitist, snobbish (etc)// a place where everyone is welcome"
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : Yes, that's another possibility.
18 mins
Thanks Phil :-)
Something went wrong...
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