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  3. Poetry & Literature

Etre bien entre soi, c’est un luxe dont nous payons ...

English translation: Feeling good among one\'s own is a luxury we are more than willing to pay for.

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Etre bien entre soi, c’est un luxe dont nous payons ...
English translation:Feeling good among one\'s own is a luxury we are more than willing to pay for.
Entered by: Catharine Cellier-Smart

09:44 May 9, 2016
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Andrée Maillet quotation
French term or phrase: Etre bien entre soi, c’est un luxe dont nous payons ...
I'm trying to find out if there's an 'official' translation of the following quotation by Canadian author Andrée Maillet:

"Etre bien entre soi, c’est un luxe dont nous payons volontiers le prix".

This apparently comes from page 18 of her book "Le bois pourri", published in 1971. My research so far has been unable to confirm whether or not the latter was translated into English.
Catharine Cellier-Smart
Reunion
Local time: 06:31
Feeling good among one's own is a luxury we are more than willing to pay for.
Explanation:
I know "entre soi" is usually in the noun form and hyphenated, but it could be the intended meaning here, based on the previous sentence's references to "notre culture".

Alternative would be "... is a luxury we can always afford."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2016-05-09 19:55:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"...we gladly pay for." would be shorter and a more direct translation, but I found "more than willing" a bit more natural.
Selected response from:

John Marston
United States
Local time: 22:31
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
2 +4Feeling good among one's own is a luxury we are more than willing to pay for.
John Marston
3Feeling good in the company of friends is a luxury we'll happily pay for.
rebeccacomley
3 -1self-satisfaction is a luxury we we all can afford
lundeghe Terence Keming
3 -2Between you and me, it's a luxury we're happy to endure
Jonathan Cohen


Discussion entries: 9





  

Answers


3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
Between you and me, it's a luxury we're happy to endure


Explanation:
wanna propose a different one which may be useful..



Jonathan Cohen
Canada
Local time: 22:31
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: 'se payer' here doesn't mean 'endure', and even if intended in an ironic sense, it still changes the meaning too much; and then, where are you getting this notion of the confidential 'between you and me'? That's nothing like the meaning of 'entre soi'
43 mins
disagree  rebeccacomley: I agree with Tony that 'payer' does not mean 'endure' here and that 'between you and me' is the wrong interpretation
1 day 58 mins
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Feeling good among one's own is a luxury we are more than willing to pay for.


Explanation:
I know "entre soi" is usually in the noun form and hyphenated, but it could be the intended meaning here, based on the previous sentence's references to "notre culture".

Alternative would be "... is a luxury we can always afford."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2016-05-09 19:55:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"...we gladly pay for." would be shorter and a more direct translation, but I found "more than willing" a bit more natural.


    Reference: http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/entre-soi/1863...
John Marston
United States
Local time: 22:31
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field What is ProZ.com Project History(SM)?
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  katsy: I think it can be without the hyphen if it is not a noun (ils aiment bien être entre soi). Anyway, yes, I agree, this goes with what I said in the discussion box. I prefer your answer to your alternative
6 mins
  -> Thanks, katsy!
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: Yes, or "Feeling good among fellow beings is..."
2 hrs
agree  Didier Fourcot: "être entre soi" in two words is being among peers, in a close circle, a bit different from the noun "entre-soi" (être dans l'entre-soi), the compound word derives from the two separate words, that continue living their own life
12 hrs
agree  Philippa Smith
17 hrs
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1 day 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Feeling good in the company of friends is a luxury we'll happily pay for.


Explanation:
Just another possible variation. I know that friends are not specifically mentioned but could this be the implication?

rebeccacomley
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:31
Native speaker of: English
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15 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
self-satisfaction is a luxury we we all can afford


Explanation:
My opinion is, 'among' does not collocate with 'oneself'.
In addition, if the author had meant among ones friends or family, she would possibly have said 'entre les siens' or 'parmi les siens'

So, 'self-satisfaction' or 'self-fulfillment' could just be the right answer

lundeghe Terence Keming
Cameroon
Local time: 03:31
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: 'nous payons volontiers le prix' can hardly be twisted into 'can afford'
10 mins
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