bouches indiscrètes

English translation: loose tongues

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:bouches indiscrètes
English translation:loose tongues
Entered by: Helene Tammik

15:23 May 14, 2017
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
French term or phrase: bouches indiscrètes
Document about research into oral tradition with regards to slavery

De nombreuses révoltes et attaques des populations eurent lieu contre les Faber et les Lightburn, selon des « bouches indiscrètes ». C’est pourquoi, il reste beaucoup à découvrir en faisant « l’archéologie des bouches ».
rachelgreen45
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:47
loose tongues
Explanation:
This is what comes to mind as a translation of the term, but not sure how that could be tied in to 'l'archaeologie des bouches' - something about archaeology of what was said/what was reported/wagging tongues?
Selected response from:

Helene Tammik
Local time: 16:47
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5rumour
Charles Davis
4 +4wagging tongues
Andrew Bramhall
3 +3loose tongues
Helene Tammik
4grapevine
Jennifer Levey


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
les bouches indiscretes
loose tongues


Explanation:
This is what comes to mind as a translation of the term, but not sure how that could be tied in to 'l'archaeologie des bouches' - something about archaeology of what was said/what was reported/wagging tongues?

Helene Tammik
Local time: 16:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
16 mins

agree  Verginia Ophof
9 hrs

agree  Yolanda Broad
10 hrs
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
les bouches indiscretes
wagging tongues


Explanation:
'wagging' conveys the notion of indiscretion, or talking out of turn;

Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
4 mins
  -> Thanks Tony;

agree  Verginia Ophof
9 hrs
  -> Thanks!

agree  Yolanda Broad
10 hrs
  -> Thanks!

agree  B D Finch
1 day 18 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
les bouches indiscretes
rumour


Explanation:
I would like to suggest a different approach here. "Wagging tongues" or "loose tongues" seem to me accurate translations of "bouches indiscrètes" in isolation, but in your context I think they sound a bit strange, and although "rumour" is freer I think it might work better. It is essentially the same idea. You could say "according to rumour", or work it in in others ways: "Rumour had it that...", "were rumoured to have taken place...". An advantage of this, I think, is that it provides a workable solution for "l'archéologie des bouches", retaining the same term, which is desirable; this expression is difficult to render convincingly with "tongues", but "archaeology of rumour" could work quite well, I think.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:47
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Tony!

agree  Sheila Wilson
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Sheila :)

agree  Philippa Smith: Yes, I think you need rumour to be able to tackle both uses of the "bouches"; maybe something like "investigating/digging into" for "archéologie"? And actually maybe combining rumour and loose tongues could work...over to the discussion.
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, Philippa. Your suggestions for "archéologie" are probably wise. Lately I've been translating the kind of authors who would be quite capable of referring to "an archaeology of rumour"; one loses touch with how normal people express themselves :)

neutral  Daryo: agree with your approach, but you ended up equating "oral tradition" with "rumours" ...
10 hrs
  -> Not all oral tradition, just indiscreet talk. I take "bouches" to be referring to the same kind of oral tradition in the second sentence as in the first.

agree  philgoddard: Good idea.
12 hrs
  -> Thanks very much, Phil

agree  Mair A-W (PhD): or gossip
13 hrs
  -> That could be an alternative. Thanks!

neutral  B D Finch: Rumours are often untrue, while the utterances of "bouches indiscrètes" probably are true.
1 day 9 hrs
  -> The implications are potentially slightly different, but I think that in practice the difference is insignificant here
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22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
grapevine


Explanation:
"rumour" as suggested by Charles is good, but I venture to suggest that "grapevine" is a trifle closer to the ST author's intent, which I see as being the "deliberate spreading of supposedly factual information" as distinct from the "random spreading of unverified information", and is perhaps slightly more amenable to archeological study.

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 12:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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