French to English: Store Flyers, Part 3

"Advertising helps raise the standard of living by raising the standard of longing."

I saw that quote from a jokes web site and wondered how I would translate that into French.  How about this:  La publicité aide à améliorer la qualité de vie en faisant monter le niveau de désir.  I'm not sure if that works well, so if anyone reading this can think of a better translation, please...I look forward to your comments!

For this last series on store ads, I picked up eight more expressions - this time from Bureau en Gros (parent company is Staples) and Centre Hi-Fi.  Bureau en Gros is the name used in French Canada while in the other provinces it is called Staples.  Selling office and school supplies, they have a wide inventory of computers, printers and office and home furniture.  They also have a copy centre which I like, especially when it's tax time and I need multiple copies of receipts and tax documents.

Centre Hi-Fi, as you might have guessed, sells electronic appliances - TVs, home sound systems and stereos.  I have never bought anything from them but they seem to do brisk business.  Now that prices have come down for luxury items like large-screen and high definition TVs, the store regularly releases flyers announcing sales and specials.

Here are the eight catch phrases which I "harvested" from Staples and Centre Hi-Fi:

Catch phrase # 3:  rapide, parfait...  I think there was no need to include the word "made".  Quick, perfect and on time - all the time would suffice, because it was clear in the flyer that this refers to the store's print and photocopy centre.

Catch phrase 6:  visez, enregistrez et téléversez...I learned something new.  The French "téléverser" means to upload, according to the Grande dictionnaire of the Office de la langue française - OLF.  I was familiar with "télécharger" which means to download, but had never heard of "téléverser." 

The OLF explains it further.  To upload, you can also use télécharger but you'll need to add, vers l'amont.  Hence, you have two possible translations for upload:  téléverser or télécharger vers l'amont. 

To download in French is simply télécharger or télécharger vers le serveur (your server or computer).

Catch phrase # 7:  l'audio cinéma maison à son meilleur should have been translated as home audio cinema at its best.  The flyer's translation puzzles me.

Let's look at what Staples and Centre Hi Fi are selling these days:

déchiqueteuse à coupe en fragments 6 feuilles	6-sheet cross-cut shredder
fauteil de direction en cuir	leather manager's chair
papier photo glacé évolué	advanced gloss photo paper
tablette autocollante pour chevalet	self-stick tabletop easel pad
logiciel d'impôt	tax software
souris sans fil	wireless mouse
haut-parleurs	speakers
haut-parleur portatif pour iPod	portable speaker for iPod
caméscope ultra-compact	ultra-compact camcorder
caméra numérique	digital camera
support mural	fixed wall mount
écouteurs sans fil	wireless headphone

And now a bonus for you.  I found this on YouTube.  It was published by http://www.imagiers.net/, and it's on advertising!  It gives those words frequently used by "Mad Men."  Have a listen!

French to English: Store Flyers, Part 2

This time I'll pick up some advertising lines from Canadian Tire, a huge retail outlet that doesn't sell only tires.  To Canadians, this store is a sacred tradition and very much a part of their lives.  It's been around for decades and its product line has been expanded to include home, garden, and kitchen merchandise as well as electronics and banking.  It started out selling car accessories and offering car repair services.  They're also famous for their "Canadian Tire money"; every time you buy from them, you get these colorful bills in varying denominations which you can use for your next purchase.  Don't throw them away - they're NOT Mickey Mouse currency!

If you're looking for a "solid" company, Canadian Tire ranks up there.  Its stock - both on the shelves and in the stock market - is healthy.

I kept this Canadian Tire flyer because it has common advertising "come-ons" that you may have come across.  Add them to your terminology base.  You'll never know when they'll come in handy.  Let's take a look:

The first box where it says "premiers arrivés" - you're familiar with the saying "first come first served."  The French equivalent is "premier arrivé premier servi."  But notice how it was translated to "door crashers."  The intention was probably to convey the idea that shoppers ought to be standing by the door when the store opens in the morning - to give the impression that the slashed prices will attract throngs of eager shoppers.

I'm not too happy with the second advert.  The French uses the noun form; i.e. achat gros and grosses économies (bulk purchases and huge savings).  The English translation should have been consistent with the French by keeping the noun form as well, but it used the verb form (buy in bulk and save big).  A better translation would have been:  bulk purchases and huge savings.

The rest are fine. 

Next, why don't we go inside the store and see what we can put into our shopping carts?

friteuse numérique	digital deep fryer
scie à seau pour carreaux	wet tile saw
pulvérisateur électrique	electric pressure washer
nettoyant d'injecteurs	fuel injector cleaner
lave-glace avec dégrivant	washer fluid with de-icer
scelleuse	food sealer
bouilloire sans fil	cordless kettle
meuble audio-vidéo	multimedia storage
robinet - 1 manette	single-handle faucet
foyer électrique	electric fireplace
armoire/placard, fini érable	maple-finish storage cabinet/pantry
extincteur	fire extinguisher
pièces de rechange universelles durables pour toilette	long-life universal replacement parts for toilets

Final note:

économies - savings

rabais - discount (as in je l'ai acheté au rabais - I bought it at a discount) but on lui a fait une remise -she got a discount.  Also:  le magasin fait une réduction de 5 % sur les jouets is translated as:  the store is currently offering a 5% discount - or a 5% reduction - on toys.

escompte - the English word is also discount.  An escompte de banque is a bank discount.  We also say 50 % d'escompte sur toute la marchandise - 50% discount on all goods.

The percentage sign (%) in French is written after a space, like this:  50 %; 2 %, 10 %.  There's always a space between the number and the percentage.  In English, the % is written without a space as in 50%, 2% and 10%.

French to English: Store Flyers, Part 1

When I moved to Montreal, I was astonished at the number of store flyers that landed in our mailboxes.  Not only are they placed in individual mailboxes, they are also displayed on wooden or metallic stands at the entrance of every apartment building.  These store flyers are kept neatly in one plastic bag called a Publi-Sac.  I've been living here for over 20 years and guess what?  These publi-sacs are still around.

Store flyers are the "literature" you browse while you're having your morning cup of coffee or taking a lunch break.  I devoured them when I was a student at McGill and learning translation.  They're the ideal vocabulary builder, but they also serve another purpose:  some of the ads are translated in imaginative ways.  Depending on how ads are worded, they can be translated literally (without losing anything in the translation) or translated with a wee-bit stretch of the imagination. 

That's why I love translation.  When you're translating a document on civil engineering, there isn't much room to be creative; you have to use the appropriate terminology that civil engineers use.  Advertising is different.  It's one field where translators are allowed to let their creative juices flow - as long as the translation is not off-tangent.

Let me give you your baker's dozen of terms first.  After that, we'll look at some of these catchy lines. 

This first set comes from supermarket flyers:



So, what kinds of adverts hook your attention?  The ones with 50% off, free delivery, 2-for-1, or those that offer discount coupons?  I hardly use coupons (they're cumbersome to insert into your wallet), but I wouldn't mind reduced prices.  Some people buy only  recognized brands; I tend to go for no-name brands especially when there's no discernible difference in quality.

How about those store flyer adverts?  I took these from two of my favorite supermarkets:  Mourelatos and Loblaws.  Most of the adverts below are from the recent flyer of Loblaws where they featured their "Blue Menu" products.



If you read some of the lines, you'll notice that the translator exercised her "editorial" privileges. 

Take "le vrai bon goût du gruau":  an inexperienced translator who does not have copywriting skills would have translated that as "the true and good taste of oatmeal." In this case, "the way oatmeal should taste" is much better.  It captures the spirit of the original.

Next, read how the translator rendered "une salade débordante de couleurs et de saveurs" into "valuable heirlooms by the tub."  That's a good one!  Another translator would probably say "a salad rich in color and flavor" which is also correct and probably more faithful to the original, but "valuable heirlooms by the tub" shows the translator's creativity and imagination.  Not all clients will probably approve this translation because they prefer to preserve the "flavor and color" concepts.

My friendly reminder:  translation - while it needs to reflect the meaning of the original - is very subjective, particularly in fields like advertising, music and the arts.  Translation's been called a science and an art.  There are documents that have to be translated the way the original reads, but sometimes, you'll get a document that calls on another part of your brain - the creative side.

My advice?  Go with what your clients want!