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Cette matière dont la nature s’est dotée pour ses émulsions ou pour composer....
un banc de garantie
Oct 9, 2017 12:01
6 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

malicieux

French to English Art/Literary Music presentation
Any nice ideas for the use of this word in the following context ?:

Alors que chaque année nous invitons le public à parcourir à nos côtés de nouveaux chemins au cœur des répertoires des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, cette saison 2017-2018 offrira de multiples occasions de découvrir des musiques rares, inédites, fruits du travail patrimonial remarquable et stimulant mis en œuvre par XXXXX.
Tout d’abord, comme en "écho malicieux" [my punctuation] (mais non prémédité) à l’actualité européenne, nous donnerons, cette année, une large place aux musiques et artistes d’Outre-Manche, dans leurs spécificités comme dans leurs liens avec la musique française.
Les échos du grand motet louis-quatorzien dans les symphony anthems de la Chapelle de Charles II, le subtil contrepoint des motets d’Orlando Gibbons, l’opportunité rare offerte à XXXX de travailler sous la direction de John Eliot Gardiner, de Paul McCreesh et d’Edward Higginbottom, constitueront autant de « moments anglais » qui ponctueront la saison maîtrisienne.
Proposed translations (English)
3 tongue-in-cheek reference to
4 +4 mischievous
4 +1 cheeky
3 naughty

Discussion

B D Finch Oct 9, 2017:
Getting around the contradiction I think that you can say that it appears mischievous in the light of current events, but that was unpremeditated.
Philippa Smith Oct 9, 2017:
Agree with Charles... ...about the contradiction. But maybe you could use his "fortuitous", e.g. "in a fortuitous and cheeky/sly/playful nod/reference to..." ("playful" = another alternative).
David Vaughn Oct 9, 2017:
OTT OTT may depend a bit on your intended audience. My impression is that "naughty", for example, is more naughty for a UK audience than a US one, where naughty most commonly refers to mildly negative behavior of children.

Otherwise, Charles' comment about intentional holds water.
Charles Davis Oct 9, 2017:
@Ormiston I see that in your note to Nikki you say that you have doubts about "tongue-in-cheek reference" because it goes on to say that it was not an intentional dig.

That objection applies equally to the other suggestions too, as well as to "sly", which you've just suggested, or "arch", which occurred to me (though I don't think I'd propose it), or really any accurate translation of "malicieux". If you read this as saying that the "écho" is "malicieux" but "non prémédité", you have an insoluble contradiction, because "malicieux" cannot denote something involuntary: it is always intentional. But it doesn't say that the choice of programme is "malicieux"; it says that in the current climate it looks "malicieux"; one would think it was deliberate, but actually it isn't, the coincidence is fortuitous. That's the sense of "comme": "as if".

Personally I prefer mischievous or sly to cheeky here, but it's a very subjective matter.
ormiston (asker) Oct 9, 2017:
nobody has yet proposed 'sly' would this sound too ironic?

Proposed translations

2 hrs
French term (edited): éccho malicieux à
Selected

tongue-in-cheek reference to

I think this meaning might work well here.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-10-09 14:23:02 GMT)
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"écho" with one "c", of course.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-10-09 14:24:06 GMT)
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This solution would probably fit if you consider that "écho malicieux" could be replaced here by "clin d'oeil" for example.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2017-10-09 17:26:12 GMT)
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It would be nice to keep "echo" too, as it is to doo with sound.


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Note added at 5 hrs (2017-10-09 17:26:28 GMT)
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"do" aah!

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Note added at 5 hrs (2017-10-09 17:30:09 GMT)
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Howabout : amusing, joky, fun, entertaining...
Note from asker:
I thought of this but it does go on to say that it was not an intentional dig. I posted to check how far one should go, naughty/mischevious being perhaps a little OTT.
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I (hopefully) got round the quandry so well described by Charles by adding 'Somewhat ironic in the light of current events'"
+4
14 mins

mischievous

http://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-anglais/malicieux

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Note added at 15 mins (2017-10-09 12:17:10 GMT)
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OR

playful
Peer comment(s):
disagree Dieezah : This time the word "malicieux" doesn't have this meaning. It's not meant in the way you would use malicious in English.
11 mins
neutral Nikki Scott-Despaigne : This is one of the numerous correct meanings for "malicieux". It is not a false friend as suggested above. I do not think it works particularly well here, but it might, depending on the tone of the rest of the translation.
2 hrs
agree Jennifer White : This looks perfectly fine to me in this context.
2 hrs
agree Charles Davis
3 hrs
agree Lara Barnett : I like the sound of it, but it;s suitability depends on the rest.
4 hrs
agree B D Finch : Dieezah should have checked the meanings of "malicious" and "mischievous" before disagreeing. She would have found that they have very different meanings in modern English.
5 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher : yep, or sly (and can always ignore disagrees from non-natives)
22 hrs
Something went wrong...
37 mins

naughty

Personally, I would ask the author how strong a comment they wanted, but I think "naughty" gets you enough ambiguity and colorfulness to work in this context.
Peer comment(s):
neutral B D Finch : Perhaps the ambiguity of "naughty" would be problematic?
5 hrs
I think you're probably right.
Something went wrong...
+1
1 hr

cheeky

As in: "in a cheeky nod to..."
Peer comment(s):
agree Sheri P
1 hr
Thanks Sheri!
neutral B D Finch : Not quite the right register.
4 hrs
I agree - I changed my mind and now prefer "playful"...
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : agree with BDF about register
21 hrs
As do I! (See my answer to BDF)
Something went wrong...
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