Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
enrobage
English translation:
beating around the bush
Added to glossary by
Wyley Powell
Nov 16, 2021 00:00
2 yrs ago
43 viewers *
French term
Canada
enrobage
French to English
Marketing
Human Resources
Staff Training - Continuous improvement
This is a Powerpoint training presentation to team leaders of a large company. Under the heading "Éléments à savoir pour avoir une AC [amélioration continue] percutante et efficace", one of the points is as follows:
"Clarté des messages: intentions et éléments essentiels
TRUC: Allez droit au but une fois que vous avez l’attention de tous. Évitez ***l’enrobage!***"
Presumably, the idea is to get straight to the point and don't elaborate (or embroider) but other suggestions welcome. TIA
"Clarté des messages: intentions et éléments essentiels
TRUC: Allez droit au but une fois que vous avez l’attention de tous. Évitez ***l’enrobage!***"
Presumably, the idea is to get straight to the point and don't elaborate (or embroider) but other suggestions welcome. TIA
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+4
13 mins
Selected
beating around the bush
An alternative for "embroider"which I'm not sure is right as it means according to a dictionary
"add fictitious or exaggerated details to (an account) to make it more interesting.
"she embroidered her stories with colourful detail"
"add fictitious or exaggerated details to (an account) to make it more interesting.
"she embroidered her stories with colourful detail"
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
5 mins
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Thanks Philgoddard
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| agree |
Conor McAuley
: Avoid BS, colloquially, but something in line with the language of the rest of the text. / Buffooning around the subject, of course. The Mods censor and don't censor on the toss (or should that be flip, to avoid sexual innuendo?) of a coin.
7 mins
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Thanks but what is BS?
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| neutral |
Andrew Bramhall
: Bull Shit!
23 mins
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Thanks for the explanation. Maybe you would prefer "cut to the chase" but it's not a phrase that I personnally use.
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| agree |
Victoria Britten
11 hrs
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Thanks Victoria Britten
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| agree |
Emmanuella
: Re BS, please refer to O.Toogood's comment
12 hrs
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Thanks Emmanuella
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| agree |
James A. Walsh
: "Don't beat around the bush!"
13 hrs
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Thanks James
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| disagree |
Francois Boye
: enrobage is coating in English. It means the useless phrases added to a message.
14 hrs
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Then maybe something like "don't ramble/witter on" ?
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| agree |
Samuël Buysschaert
1 day 9 hrs
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Thanks Samuel
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| disagree |
Mpoma
: This is not about apprehension, it's about a linguistic "tic". I have suggested "don't waffle".
2 days 9 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Merci"
51 mins
cut to the chase
Another go.This is not a phrase that I normally use but maybe others do
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Victoria Britten
: It's certainly an expression I use, but I think your previous answer is better. The whole sentence could be, "Cut to the chase as soon as you have everyone's attention. Avoid beating about the bush," though!
11 hrs
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Thanks. In my English, that would probably come out as "dive straight in once you have...." We are spoilt for choice here
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6 hrs
Nathalie Beaudelot
Ireland
Ireland
Native in French
Ireland
Tourism, food industry, pharmaceutical
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to French
No sweet talk
No coaxing
7 hrs
Nathalie Beaudelot
Ireland
Ireland
Native in French
Ireland
Tourism, food industry, pharmaceutical
Native in: French
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to French
No extrapolating
Over develop
12 hrs
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: UK, South African, British, Scottish, Irish, Singaporean)
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
whitewash / sweeten the pill
I think this has a more refined meaning than simply "elaborating". I think it holds the idea of fancying something up with a pretty cover or coat of some sort, to aggrandize and sidestep the real issue. I.e. to literally cover-up the truth in someway (because this would clearly be misleading to the team).
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Note added at 12 hrs (2021-11-16 12:11:41 GMT)
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"Whitewash
...an attempt to stop people finding out the true facts about a situation:"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/whitewas...
"Sweeten The Pill
to make something bad seem less unpleasant:"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sweeten-...
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Note added at 12 hrs (2021-11-16 12:13:13 GMT)
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WHITEWASH
Having given two options, my first choice is actually "whitewash", as "sweeten the pill" may be over-translating the idea. While "whitewash" also suggests something visual, as with the idea of "coating" or "Embroider".
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Note added at 12 hrs (2021-11-16 12:11:41 GMT)
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"Whitewash
...an attempt to stop people finding out the true facts about a situation:"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/whitewas...
"Sweeten The Pill
to make something bad seem less unpleasant:"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sweeten-...
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Note added at 12 hrs (2021-11-16 12:13:13 GMT)
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WHITEWASH
Having given two options, my first choice is actually "whitewash", as "sweeten the pill" may be over-translating the idea. While "whitewash" also suggests something visual, as with the idea of "coating" or "Embroider".
14 hrs
Francois Boye
United States
United States
Native in French
United States
An economic geek with social skills
Native in: French
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
39
the useless phrases
Au fig., domaine de l'expression. Entourer ce qui est exprimé de quelque chose qui l'atténue. Il enroba sa réponse dans une généralité (Druon, Gdes fam.,t. 2, 1948, p. 235):
2. Les feuilles de droite menaient tapage autour des manifestations faites par la ligue des patriotes devant la statue de Strasbourg. Dans la plupart des feuilles d'information, les dépêches officielles étaient enrobées de commentaires verbeux et contradictoires. Martin du Gard, Les Thibault,L'Été 1914, 1936, p. 377.
− P. ext. Déguiser, masquer (une pensée, des intentions...). Ce prêtre sait enrober les plus virulents des poisons dans les plus effroyables des sacrilèges (Huysmans, Là-bas,t. 2, 1891, p. 178):
3. J'ai plaidé ma cause, sans rien dire d'essentiel, naturellement, et même en enrobant toutes mes vraies raisons, car, ce qu'il y a de paradoxal, dans mon cas, c'est qu'il me faut mentir, et chaque jour davantage. Duhamel, Journal de Salavin,1927, p. 101.
Source: Le Dictionnaire TLFI
2. Les feuilles de droite menaient tapage autour des manifestations faites par la ligue des patriotes devant la statue de Strasbourg. Dans la plupart des feuilles d'information, les dépêches officielles étaient enrobées de commentaires verbeux et contradictoires. Martin du Gard, Les Thibault,L'Été 1914, 1936, p. 377.
− P. ext. Déguiser, masquer (une pensée, des intentions...). Ce prêtre sait enrober les plus virulents des poisons dans les plus effroyables des sacrilèges (Huysmans, Là-bas,t. 2, 1891, p. 178):
3. J'ai plaidé ma cause, sans rien dire d'essentiel, naturellement, et même en enrobant toutes mes vraies raisons, car, ce qu'il y a de paradoxal, dans mon cas, c'est qu'il me faut mentir, et chaque jour davantage. Duhamel, Journal de Salavin,1927, p. 101.
Source: Le Dictionnaire TLFI
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
SafeTex
: If you are right, we'd say "don't ramble/witter on.
13 mins
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It isn't rambling. Instead, it's the lack of focus. The useless phrases are the ones that add no extra meaning to the core message.
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| neutral |
Lara Barnett
: I do agree with SafeTex. Although the sense is similar, this phrasing is just a little unspecific IMO.
19 hrs
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2 days 9 hrs
Don't waffle
I think this is the right meaning and the right register. Not too polite, not too rude.
2 days 12 hrs
Steven Ritchie
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Reliable, meticulous and creative.
Native in: English (Variant: Scottish)
Works in: Japanese to English, French to English, English to Scottish Gaelic
French term (edited):
Évitez l'enrobage
Keep things simple.
Because you have "Allez droit au but une fois que vous avez l’attention de tous." before the phrase "Évitez l'enrobage" then the phrase "Keep things simple" follows on nicely.
1) Once you have everyone's attention, get straight to the point. Keep things simple.
As others have demonstrated, "Évitez l'enrobage" can be translated in numerous idiomatic ways.
However, this is a presentation. Who is the audience? Are they native speakers of English or not, or will there be a mix of non-native and native speakers? You will want to avoid a translation that is too idiomatic if the audience contains many non-native speakers who might not understand some of the idiomatic translations offered below.
Therefore, that is why I propose "Keep things simple".
1) Once you have everyone's attention, get straight to the point. Keep things simple.
As others have demonstrated, "Évitez l'enrobage" can be translated in numerous idiomatic ways.
However, this is a presentation. Who is the audience? Are they native speakers of English or not, or will there be a mix of non-native and native speakers? You will want to avoid a translation that is too idiomatic if the audience contains many non-native speakers who might not understand some of the idiomatic translations offered below.
Therefore, that is why I propose "Keep things simple".
Discussion
What I am saying is the text says ' Évitez l’enrobage', not 'keep it simple.
I did not use coating, the literal translation of 'enrobage', because I wanted to adapt coating to a text. If you remove the useless phrases, then the written message is as precise as possible.
"(avoid) useless phrases is the message, but useless phrases is not the English for enrobage
Coating is the English for enrobage,"
Sometimes, we are better off translating the idea rather than the words in the source language.
KIS, IMHO, scores higher in terms of idea, register, style and usage than "avoid useless phrases" would
Coating is the English for enrobage, sugercoating is off the mark