Dec 9, 2014 22:57
9 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
France
amounts to a rubber stamp
English to French
Art/Literary
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Bonjour,
"Surprisingly, it seems the General Staff did not expect such contingency planning to come into play so quickly after approval; like any large organisation, they merely wanted to have plans in place should the worst happen. For the Kwantung Army officers who presented these contingency plans, approval amounts to a rubber stamp for certain planned actions that they had somehow failed to mention in their briefings."
Merci d'avance.
"Surprisingly, it seems the General Staff did not expect such contingency planning to come into play so quickly after approval; like any large organisation, they merely wanted to have plans in place should the worst happen. For the Kwantung Army officers who presented these contingency plans, approval amounts to a rubber stamp for certain planned actions that they had somehow failed to mention in their briefings."
Merci d'avance.
Proposed translations
(French)
Proposed translations
+7
22 mins
Selected
équivaut à un blanc-seing
suggestion
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
: This certainly reflects my interpretation of the source text.
3 mins
|
| agree |
FX Fraipont (X)
6 hrs
|
| agree |
Marion Feildel (X)
: Très bien. Entre parenthèses, ce verbe au présent dans le texte original me paraît bizarre. Moi, je traduirais par "équivalait".
7 hrs
|
| agree |
Annie Rigler
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Sandra Mouton
9 hrs
|
| agree |
B D Finch
10 hrs
|
| agree |
Didier Fourcot
1 day 10 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
17 mins
Luna Jungblut
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in French
United Kingdom
French Museum Translator - MA
Native in: French (Variant: Standard-France)
Works in: English to French, French to English, French, and 1 more.
English term (edited):
to rubber stamp
faire passer sans discussion
"To rubber stamp" signifie faire passer (par ex: une loi) sans discussion. Imposer ou adopter quelque chose sans y prêter attention.
J'espère que ça t'aide =)
J'espère que ça t'aide =)
-1
3 hrs
Simon Charass
Canada
Canada
Native in English
&
French
Works in field
Canada
Over 20 Years Freelance Translation
Native in: English 
, French
Works in: Italian to English, French to English, English to French, and 9 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
7
l’approbation n’est qu’une formalité.
This is how I understand it.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Tony M
: I think this misses the point of the source text, which is surely that they have been given blanket approval, which they are then using to justify actions that go far beyond what the approval was actual given for... It's vital to read the text AS A WHOLE
2 hrs
|
|
I’m sorry to disagree with you but the text says “approval amounts to a rubber stamp” which means “a formality” and not a “carte blanche”.
|
3 hrs
Francois Boye
United States
United States
Native in French
Specializes in field
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
:
84
English term (edited):
amounts to a rubber stamp for
équivaut à une approbation formelle
"amounts" needs to be translated.
rubber stamp=perfunctory decision making
rubber stamp=perfunctory decision making
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
chantal Baranski
24 mins
|
| disagree |
Daryo
: since when "approbation formelle" means "perfunctory decision making"? on the contrary, it is as likely, if not more likely to be a protracted and/or thorough decision making process
16 hrs
|
Discussion
No, I believe the present tense here is fine: the approval was given in the past (we assume), and now today it amounts to [a problem!].
The gist of it, which must not be lost in the translation, is that the chiefs of staff approved this contingency planning in a rather cursory way, without looking too deeply into all the details — apparently, because they never expected it to have to be used in the near future.
By giving this rather "automatic approval without bothering to examine it properly or even at all" (thanks BDF!), the chiefs of staff have (possibly inadvertently) given 'blanket authority' to the Kwantung Army officers for certain planned actions that they had somehow failed to mention in their briefings.
The heavy irony in "somehow failed to mention" very strongly implies the writer's view that they had deliberately concealed certain actions they had been planning on carrying out, and for which they probably wouldn't have obtained approval.