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screamed cop caller
• Satellite and ground segment procurement
May 10, 2009 15:40
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

to get away with something

English to French Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting glass scupture
An artist speaking of the practical difficulties of his art: "I am always astonished at what I can get away with".
Proposed translations (French)
3 +3 je suis toujours émerveillé par ce que j'en sors/il en sort
3 +8 jusqu'où j'arrive à pousser le bouchon
2 Je suis toujours en admiration devant la façon dont les choses peuvent tourner...
Change log

May 10, 2009 16:33: Stéphanie Soudais changed "Language pair" from "French to English" to "English to French"

Discussion

Sheila Wilson May 10, 2009:
with Emiledgar and Mediamatrix I don't read this as pulling the wool over the customers' eyes in any way, but rather as pushing back the limits of glass-blowing techniques - doing things that accepted wisdom says are not possible
Myriam Dupouy May 10, 2009:
Je l'avais compris comme ça au début aussi. Y a peut-être un peu des deux ?
mediamatrix (X) May 10, 2009:
Different understanding My reading of the phrase, given that asker says the artist is referring to the 'practical difficulties of glassblowing', is that this person is surprised at the extent to which (s)he can go beyond the accepted rules of the craft (maybe in terms of glass temperature, use of unorthodox methods, 'abusing' the raw materials, etc. in search of new artistic impressions) and still get satisfactory results. It's nothing to do with spectator approval or fooling anyone.
emiledgar May 10, 2009:
different meaning See my comment on Equinimod's answer.
kashew (asker) May 10, 2009:
Context "The glassblowing process is very humbling and I have always been very appreciative of how much I can get away with."
Definitely the idea being that things can go wrong quite often.
Anne-Marie Grant (X) May 10, 2009:
Can you clarify what you mean by practical difficulties? It doesn't seem to fit with the expression you've asked about which, to my mind suggests 'pulling the wool over someone's eyes' - or am I misinterpreting?

Proposed translations

+3
1 hr
Selected

je suis toujours émerveillé par ce que j'en sors/il en sort

émerveillé=étonnement et admiration
Peer comment(s):
agree emiledgar : Yes, in this case (I think), the artist is using the expression to mean how much I can do within the medium; not get away with in the more common sense of managing to fool someone etc.
10 mins
agree Jean-Louis S.
6 hrs
agree Helen B (X) : Ou "par ce que j'obtiens"
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank a lot"
1 hr

Je suis toujours en admiration devant la façon dont les choses peuvent tourner...

Il n'en revient pas des résultats qu'il obtient/de la façon dont tournent les choses, parfois...En gros, il maîtrise peut-être par toujours ce qu'il fait mais c'est pas pour lui déplaire, non ?

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-05-10 16:49:21 GMT)
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*Il est pas en admiration d'ailleurs, juste un peu sur le...
Médusé, ébahi, estomaqué, ce que tu veux...

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-05-10 16:56:48 GMT)
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...Ni pour déplaire à ses "spectateurs".

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-05-10 17:07:49 GMT)
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(car le tout tourne manifestement toujours à son avantage, non ?)
Something went wrong...
+8
17 mins

jusqu'où j'arrive à pousser le bouchon

to get away with - s'en tirer à bon compte

ce que les gens acceptent de laisser passer

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Note added at 19 mins (2009-05-10 15:59:25 GMT)
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j'arrive à pousser l'excès

ce que j'arrive à faire sans que personne ne tique

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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-05-10 17:52:22 GMT)
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CE QUE J'ARRIVE A EN FAIRE - dans le nouveau contexte - mais il fallait le savoir !
Peer comment(s):
agree L.J.Wessel van Leeuwen : dozens of options possible indeed. The translation for the term = s'en tirer à bon compte
21 mins
agree Lingua 5B : Yes, polyglot offered many correct options, but the right selection will depend on the broader context, which we don't have here. This phrase is quite polysemous.
30 mins
agree Ethele Salem Sperling
30 mins
agree Aitor Aizpuru
39 mins
agree sueaberwoman
1 hr
agree Jennifer Levey : This would (just) fit in with my interpretation of the source text (see discussion).
1 hr
agree Sheila Wilson : the note at 2h sounds right to me
2 hrs
agree Geraldine Oudin : pour moi la meilleure solution
10 hrs
Something went wrong...
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