biberon

17:32 Sep 2, 2020 

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.

12:30 Sep 2, 2020 

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?

16:44 Sep 1, 2020 

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.

15:44 Sep 1, 2020 

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

15:21 Sep 1, 2020 

Perhaps not conveyed by 'pacifier', esp. in the case of pornography

09:00 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

08:03 Sep 1, 2020 

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.

07:45 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.

07:40 Sep 1, 2020 

I suggested " pacifier " before I read the discussion entry. If pacifier is chosen, Kudos should go to Tony M who suggested it before me

07:17 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.

06:57 Sep 1, 2020 

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).

06:50 Sep 1, 2020 

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?