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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

biberon

English translation:

pacifier [AE] dummy [BE]

Added to glossary by Tony M
Sep 1, 2020 06:21
3 yrs ago
79 viewers *
French term

biberon

French to English Social Sciences Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
Here is the context :

"Pornographie, psychotropes, alcool et chair animal sont les biberons modernes d’une humanité troublée, aveugle, à qui il faudrait dire la vérité : rien ne commence vraiment, sur le plan de l’âme, tant que l’on dort avec son biberon."

The usual word for "biberon" is 'bottle', but I'm afraid that in this context it might not be clear... Should I use "nursing bottle", "feeding bottle"?
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 pacifier [AE] dummy [BE]
5 +9 (rephrase)
3 +4 Pacifier
4 +2 comforter
3 +2 soother
3 feeding bottle
References
Who sez "pacifier" is not normal in GB?...
Change log

Sep 1, 2020 08:56: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Social Sciences"

Sep 18, 2020 06:53: Tony M Created KOG entry

Discussion

SafeTex Sep 2, 2020:
rephrase (Joanna Tabet's suggestion) Hello

I don't think that "comforter" and Joanna Tabet's interesting interpretation are so different.
But if you go with rephrase, one possible idea would be "bottle-fed".
You could even use both as we have two occurrences of the idea:
"Biberon modernes" = comforter
"Dort avec son biberon" = bottle-fed.

And that is why I don't think the two interpretations are in opposition as we are bottle-fed, "we come to like it" as she says and so we are "comforted" by this.
Yvonne Gallagher Sep 2, 2020:
"blankie" or "security blanket" + "crutch" I agree that "blankie" or "security blanket" is in widespread usage and would work well for the context of going to bed clutching a blankie for comfort but I think we also need something like (a modern) "emotional/psychological crutch for the addictive part of the sentence? So perhaps a combination of the 2 concepts?
Tony M Sep 1, 2020:
@ mrrafe Ah yes, that's exactly where I first heard it, and how it came to be coined in my own family; however, I don't think Peanuts had a very great penetration in the UK, so not sure how widespread that would have been; however, it was a certain '60s generation who perhaps first employed it on a large scale.
mrrafe Sep 1, 2020:
security blanket (Tony et al.) Yes, our families are US not UK and yet we always had this. I assumed Schulz invented the term for Linus's accoutrement in the Peanuts comic, perhaps accounting for its trans-Atlantic acceptance
ormiston Sep 1, 2020:
I see an emphasis on escapism Perhaps not conveyed by 'pacifier', esp. in the case of pornography
Julie Barber Sep 1, 2020:
I don't think that feeding bottle works so well here. It's about being overly) attached to an object and soothing yourself. That would normally be associated with a dummy/pacifier or a blanket
mrrafe Sep 1, 2020:
feeding bottles Babies do sleep with bottles (cf Tony). In US in my experience these are most often "baby bottles" but "feeing bottle" may be less ambiguous (per Asker). These also would carry the connotation of an unwholesome surfeit (per David), in US at least, because they rot a sleeping baby's incoming teeth (yes, also in my experience) and are nutritionally inferior and disrecommended as compared with breast milk.
David Hayes Sep 1, 2020:
If this is in the context of a discussion about religion/spirituality, it seems to me that 'biberon' is being used figuratively to speak of things that give immediate pleasure/comfort but are actually harmful to spiritual sensibilities. I think the notions of addiction and of pandering to animal instincts are key here (pornography, alcohol, psychotropic drugs, etc.). Maybe 'addictive gratification' or 'harmful gratification' would cover it. Seen from a religious perspective, these are all things that stimulate immediate pleasure but dull deeper sensitivity and even dehumanize people who indulge in them.
Michael Roberts Sep 1, 2020:
NB I suggested " pacifier " before I read the discussion entry. If pacifier is chosen, Kudos should go to Tony M who suggested it before me
Nicky Over Sep 1, 2020:
'Dummies' is still current for the baby's soother, but the word is a bit ambiguous since it also has the sense of a stupid person - I think 'soother' as Frank suggests is a better option. 'Comforter' would be another option that would work - although 'comforter' is really 'doudou' rather than 'biberon' it gets the sense of the French.
Hugues Roumier (asker) Sep 1, 2020:
@Tony M Thanks a lot Tony. "Biberon" does make sense in French in this context, I'm pretty sure, but maybe not in English. If "dummies" is still current, I think it would fit perfectly here (both in terms of the level of usage and meaning).
Tony M Sep 1, 2020:
@ Asker I think 'biberon' is almost ill-chosen here; it seems to me they are talking more about a 'sucette' (note it mentions sleeping with one, which you wouldn't do with a baby's bottle!)
I'd be inclined, therefore, to translate it as 'pacifier' [EN-US?] or maybe 'comforter' (though I think that may also have another meaning, probably along the lines of 'doudou') — in EN-GB we used to call them 'dummies', but I'm not sure if that is still really current?

Proposed translations

+5
1 hr
Selected

pacifier [AE] dummy [BE]

Following on from the comments in 'Discussion', I think these could be appropriate here, reflecting to some extent the notion of a 'panacæa for the masses' referred to by David.
I don't know about US usage, but certainly 'dummy' in GB tends also to convey the idea of 'stuffing something in baby's mouth to shut them up'! I have been known to upset parents when their child was bawling by flippantly suggesting they should "put the stopper back in!"
Note from asker:
After talking to the author, and confirming that he wanted to keep the idea of a regressive childish reflex: thanks for your answer! (since you were the first one to answer in the discussion).
Peer comment(s):
agree Julie Barber : I think this works well, it's about soothing yourself and the need to let go according to the author
44 mins
Thanks, Julie! Yes, and I think the parallel works well...
agree SafeTex : pacifier yes, dummy no (ambiguous word and does not cover all forms of "comforters"
3 hrs
Thanks, S/T!
agree Johannah Morrison
3 hrs
Thanks, Johannah!
agree Reuben Wright : I think "pacifier" works well too. The blanket idea is missing the connotation of Freudian regression/oral fixation and "feeding". I was going to propose "security blanket" but you mentioned it in one of your comments. Now all kids get are "comfort rags".
6 hrs
Thanks, Reuben!
agree Yolanda Broad
8 hrs
Thanks, Yolanda!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot Tony!"
+2
30 mins

soother

'bottle' n'est en effet pas très clair dans ce contexte. soother = tétine, pourrait peut-être faire l'affaire?
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : Ah yes, that was the other word that escaped me.
23 mins
neutral mrrafe : Never heard it in US
1 hr
agree Nicky Over : Good suggestion
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
55 mins

comforter

Since the image describes something helping a baby to sleep, "comforter" would be an adequate choice. This is the piece of clothes, often with an animal head, that toddlers bring along everywhere and need to fell asleep.
"Soother" would work too, although it is used more to describe the pacifier than the quilt I think.
Peer comment(s):
disagree mrrafe : In US I've never heard this term for babies' accessories, only for thick (such as goose down) adult blankets. In US, what you're describing would be blanket (which also isn't primarily a child's item) or blankie.
51 mins
agree Julie Barber : I think that comfort rag could work quite well in the context! the asker could use comfort blanket in the first instance and blankie in the next one. It would be universally understood
1 hr
agree Tony M : We used to call them 'security blankets' when my nieces and nephews were babies.
1 hr
disagree Yvonne Gallagher : agree with mrrafe. Only ever heard of these in connection with adult quilts + archaic for scarf as BDF points out//think you mean "blankie"
8 hrs
agree Nicky Over : This is a current term in UK - google it on Amazon and there are loads for sale! A good suggestion.
8 hrs
neutral B D Finch : In Britain, a "comforter" is a rather old-fashioned (19th and early 20th century ) word for a woollen scarf.
14 hrs
agree Caroline Durant : I am going to assume that this is for a UK English text, in which case I would definitely use 'comforter'. (The use in the French text is clearly metaphorical, so a literal translation is not appropriate): https://bit.ly/3bmEHCU
1 day 5 hrs
Something went wrong...
+4
1 hr

Pacifier

US synonym of UK dummy. Fits the contexts
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : But wouldn't work outside the USA
48 mins
agree Barbara Cochran, MFA : Yes, only translation that would be appropriate for the US.
4 hrs
agree SafeTex : yes as it covers all forms of comforters
4 hrs
agree Michele Fauble
13 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr

feeding bottle

Please see discussion area, "Feeding bottles"
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : Too technical for the required context / register, and in any case, not even the most idiomatic term used in EN.
4 mins
Amy Winehouse "Rehab": " I'm gonna lose my baby / So I always keep a bottle near..." Context is deliberately ambiguous to be ironic, but the chosen term nevertheless is bottle.
neutral Julie Barber : a bottle of whisky or something! and her baby was her boyfriend! :-)
23 hrs
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : not idiomatic, and certainly Amy Winehouse was not referring to a bottle of milk!
1 day 3 hrs
Something went wrong...
+9
6 hrs

(rephrase)

I personally disagree with all of the above suggestions -- I'm pretty sure that the author is using "biberon" in the sense of "biberonner à", which is to feed with, to bring up with, in a way that the subject comes to like to things ("une société biberonnée aux écrans" for instance). I don't think it has anything to do with "being comforted" by something, but rather with "being used to something so much that it becomes a standard and thus needed thing". So I would personally let go of the metaphor and this one word to rephrase the sentence (e.g. "humanity is brought up with" etc), as well as the second occurrence (e.g. "until we liberate ourselves from so and so" -- or something nicer along those lines :). Hope this helps.
Note from asker:
Hi Joanna, Thanks for your input. If nothing fits, I'll go for rephrasing, but I do think we can find an English word that refers to an archetypal regressive/childish reflex. "Biberonner" also carries this idea of regression and infantilization, as well as addiction.
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M
31 mins
agree Daniel Gray
1 hr
agree ormiston
2 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher
2 hrs
agree James A. Walsh : The word "craving(s)" keeps coming to mind for this, but I'm not sure that's quite right...
3 hrs
agree Yolanda Broad
3 hrs
agree David Hayes : I agree with the suggestion, although not quite with the comment. I think the idea of harmful addiction is required (especially in the religious context).
3 hrs
agree Clive Phillips
1 day 20 hrs
agree Cyril Tollari
3 days 7 hrs
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

7 hrs
Reference:

Who sez "pacifier" is not normal in GB? Even the NHS seems to prefer it!

http://www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/0...
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree Tony M : Well, it must be a fairly recent arrival from the US, because up till a couple of decades ago, I'd only ever encountered it in US films etc.
3 hrs
agree Michele Fauble
6 hrs
agree Barbara Cochran, MFA
11 hrs
neutral Julie Barber : I don't think that it's commonly used. But thanks to the internet, people occasionally choose words from different language variants - pacifier, mommy, mummy, mamma, mammy....you hear it all!
1 day 17 hrs
Something went wrong...
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