set his jaw

French translation: il a crispé les mâchoires / ses mâchoires se crispèrent

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:set his jaw
French translation:il a crispé les mâchoires / ses mâchoires se crispèrent
Entered by: MARLENE LE DUC (X)

08:12 Jul 12, 2017
English to French translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / linguistique style littéraire
English term or phrase: set his jaw
"he set his jaw firmly"

The owner of a spaceship is having a conversation with the his captain, who disagrees with him; so he set his jaw firmly before to answer that she has to do what is he is asking.
I do understand the concept, but i get confused when it comes to translate it.
MARLENE LE DUC (X)
France
Local time: 09:08
il a crispé les mâchoires / ses mâchoires se crispèrent
Explanation:
une idée, toutes sortes de combinaisons sont possibles.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2017-07-12 08:30:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

... et inclure éventuellement le mot contraction :
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/277039/whats-the-...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 42 mins (2017-07-12 08:55:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

...ou plutôt le mot déterminé.
Selected response from:

Jocelyne Cuenin
Germany
Local time: 09:08
Grading comment
Effectivement c'est la traduction qui se rapproche le plus de la visualisation du geste
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4il a crispé les mâchoires / ses mâchoires se crispèrent
Jocelyne Cuenin
4 +1serrer les dents
Geraldine Njonkou
4grincer des dents
Goumiri Abdennour
3leva le menton d'un air déterminé
Marion Feildel (X)


  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
serrer les dents


Explanation:
my take


    Reference: http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/262/s...
Geraldine Njonkou
Cameroon
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: French
Notes to answerer
Asker: difficile de parler en serrant les dents, mais merci quand même


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Philippe Lascourrèges
1 day 17 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

16 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
il a crispé les mâchoires / ses mâchoires se crispèrent


Explanation:
une idée, toutes sortes de combinaisons sont possibles.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2017-07-12 08:30:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

... et inclure éventuellement le mot contraction :
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/277039/whats-the-...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 42 mins (2017-07-12 08:55:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

...ou plutôt le mot déterminé.


    Reference: http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/crisper
Jocelyne Cuenin
Germany
Local time: 09:08
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 36
Grading comment
Effectivement c'est la traduction qui se rapproche le plus de la visualisation du geste

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  GILLES MEUNIER
31 mins
  -> Merci Gilou, ce genre d'expression ne trouve pas facilement son équivalent en français.

agree  Alain Boulé
49 mins
  -> Merci, Alain.

agree  isabelle1977: I agree with the translation "il a crispe les machoires", however, to set one's jaw is an English expression and it doesn't sound very natural in French. I think we would just say "il se crispa avant de repondre..."
1 hr
  -> Je comprends, mais il paraît que les anglophones ont une image bien précise avec, p. ex. la machoire inférieure qui avance un peu pour montrer sa détermination.

agree  gayd (X)
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
grincer des dents


Explanation:
http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/grincer

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 46 mins (2017-07-12 08:58:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Moi j'ai compris le contraire, c'est le propriétaire qui "grince des dents", non le capitaine ... Le passage comporte quelques maladresses ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 59 mins (2017-07-12 09:11:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Tout dépend de la façon d'utiliser l'expression ... la langue est quelque chose de flexible ... bref. Bonne continuation !

Goumiri Abdennour
France
Local time: 09:08
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in FrenchFrench
Notes to answerer
Asker: rien à voir. cet homme est impulsif et tente d'asseoir son autorité, le capitaine (son subordonné) grincerait des dents.

Asker: C'est exactement ça, on grince des dents quand on doit se soumettre , pas lorsque l'on est en position dominante

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
leva le menton d'un air déterminé


Explanation:
,

Example sentence(s):
  • to set your jaw: to move your lower jaw forward in a way that shows your determination

    Reference: http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/set-your-jaw
Marion Feildel (X)
Türkiye
Local time: 10:08
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 27
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search