fil rouge
English translation: unifying theme
| GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 21:45 Jul 21, 2002 |
| German to English translations [PRO] Science - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. / sociology | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||
|  Selected response from: Chris Rowson (X) Local time: 20:37 | ||||||
Grading comment
| |||||||
| Summary of answers provided | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 +4 | unifying thread |
| ||
| 5 | had no solid theme or thread ( or: clearly definable thread) |
| ||
| 4 | essential |
| ||
| 3 | unfocussed |
| ||
| 3 | essence / core |
| ||
| 3 | coherence |
|
Answers
7 mins confidence: 
essential Explanation: I guess the french really means "underlined in red ink" or something to that effect. |
| |
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | ||
38 mins confidence:
unfocussed Explanation: There's exactly the same figure of speech in German - ein roter Faden. If Hänsel and Gretel had used a this string of red wool instead of bread crumbs, as Ariadne did, they wouldn't have been lost. It's an element connecting ideas into a logical flow. He was disgressing too much without being able to focus on the logic development of this ideas. I'm not aware of an appropriate English idiom, so this is how I would put it: Overall, his presentation felt somewhat unfocussed ... -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2002-07-21 22:52:22 (GMT) -------------------------------------------------- \'a lacking story line\' might be better way to describe it, or lacking clarity and structure. |
| |
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | ||
58 mins confidence:
essence / core Explanation: Merely a guess :) |
| |
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | ||
1 hr confidence:
had no solid theme or thread ( or: clearly definable thread) Explanation: In speech making, a theme allows one to follow the thread. |
| |
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | ||
4 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
peer agreement (net): +4unifying thread Explanation: or unifying theme. I first heard the term "red thread" from a Swede who translated literally because she didn´t know how to say this in English. Since then I have come across it a few times in continental Europe with this sense. Why the unifying thread should be red has never been explained to me, but I imagine it is so that you can follow it through complex interweavings. You could almost translate it as "leitmotif" - without a red thread there is nothing giving the presentations a coherent sense. |
| |
Grading comment
| ||