système de comptes d’apothicaire
English translation: the system was bound up in red tape
| 07:59 May 7, 2009 |
| French to English translations [PRO] Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino / gambling | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: polyglot45 | ||||||
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| 5 | to work things out to the last penny (or) cent |
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| 3 | the system was bound up in red tape |
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| A few French refs to explore |
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Answers
29 mins confidence: 
the system was bound up in red tape Explanation: the French phrase means hair splitting or doing something parsimoniously but it also implies going into everything in the most finite detail. Faire des comptes d'apothicaire means to examine every comma, every word, every nuance. It used literally to mean counting everything out with a dropper, measuring to the nearest, most finite amount It can mean "penny pinching" or even (in some cases) "horse trading" in English but here these won't work The problem is that the expression conveys the notion of complexity but also that of meanness - maybe very few licences are granted. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 47 mins (2009-05-07 08:47:10 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- THE SYSTEM WAS A MAZE OF PETTIFOGGING DETAIL |
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1 hr confidence:
to work things out to the last penny (or) cent Explanation: Vu sur ce site :"http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/apothi... |
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Reference comments
5 mins |
| Reference: A few French refs to explore Reference information: http://www.mon-expression.info/un-compte-d-apothicaire http://www.dicoperso.com/term/adb0aea5acabac5b,,xhtml http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/definition/compte... -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 mins (2009-05-07 08:11:06 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- From these and other definitions given if you Google "compte d'apothicaire" it appears to mean a highly complicated accounting system which could do with simplification and rationalisation. I can't think of an equivalent term in English, perhaps you could just say that the current system appears to be very complex and a further round of modification of the texts is required to clarify the situation. |
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