Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
l’atmosphère devînt plus respirable
English translation:
for the atmosphere of repression to lift
Added to glossary by
Karen Vincent-Jones (X)
Nov 14, 2011 09:39
12 yrs ago
French term
l’atmosphère devînt plus respirable
French to English
Social Sciences
History
From an academic article about memorials to leftist victims of the Finnish Civil War. He's saying that after 1937, the repressive atmosphere relaxed, calmed down a bit, and people could go back to making memorials for leftists again. I could write it like that, but would prefer to find some expression/ image/ sens figure to match his, but can't think of anything. Wondering if you guys could help?
"L’interdiction des formations d’extrême gauche en 1930 et la fermeture autoritaire ou violente de nombreuses maisons du Peuple entraînèrent une nouvelle vague de terreur défavorable aux manifestations du souvenir. Il fallut attendre les élections de 1937 pour que l’atmosphère devînt plus respirable."
"L’interdiction des formations d’extrême gauche en 1930 et la fermeture autoritaire ou violente de nombreuses maisons du Peuple entraînèrent une nouvelle vague de terreur défavorable aux manifestations du souvenir. Il fallut attendre les élections de 1937 pour que l’atmosphère devînt plus respirable."
Proposed translations
(English)
Change log
Nov 16, 2011 08:41: Karen Vincent-Jones (X) Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
1 hr
Selected
for the atmosphere of repression to lift
I don't see why you can't keep 'atmosphere', as it is commonly used in conjunction with 'repression'..
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I've chosen this one since the author is not just talking about tension in the air, but actual violence, arrests, gestapo like behavior, so repression needs to be there"
10 mins
Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Germany
45 years experience
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
for the climate to subdue
or for a wave of relief
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Jim Tucker (X)
: subside, perhaps?
1 hr
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How right you be! What was I thinking of.
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| neutral |
Karen Vincent-Jones (X)
: subdue is a transitive verb, you have to subdue something.
1 hr
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See Jim.
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11 mins
for more breathing space
http://www.google.ca/search?q=Finland elections of 1937 crea...
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Note added at 11 mins (2011-11-14 09:51:21 GMT)
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www.havetravelfun.com/finland/finland-information.htm
can be outdated since we made this page after visiting the country for the last time! ... Finland has more than 60000 lakes and there are more than 20000 small islands ... in Sweden who had some influence on the election of the Swedish kings. ... But the revolution of 1905 gave Finland some breathing space and in 1906 a ...
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Note added at 11 mins (2011-11-14 09:51:21 GMT)
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www.havetravelfun.com/finland/finland-information.htm
can be outdated since we made this page after visiting the country for the last time! ... Finland has more than 60000 lakes and there are more than 20000 small islands ... in Sweden who had some influence on the election of the Swedish kings. ... But the revolution of 1905 gave Finland some breathing space and in 1906 a ...
+1
28 mins
for the climate to lighten
another kind of metaphor but I feel this might work
10 mins
the stifling repressive veil was lifted
*
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Note added at 11 minutes (2011-11-14 09:50:36 GMT)
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could link up with "veiled memorials"
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Note added at 32 minutes (2011-11-14 10:11:50 GMT)
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Lifted somewhat - not completely, I think?
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Note added at 11 minutes (2011-11-14 09:50:36 GMT)
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could link up with "veiled memorials"
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Note added at 32 minutes (2011-11-14 10:11:50 GMT)
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Lifted somewhat - not completely, I think?
Note from asker:
| agree with you that its not completely lifted, but the tone is a bit too strong/poetic here, this author is generally straightforward.... |
+4
40 mins
polyglot45
Native in French
&
English
Native in: English 
, French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
12
for the tension in the air to abate (show any sign of abating)
to keep the "atmosphere" notion
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Sheila Wilson
30 mins
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| agree |
Theodora OB
1 hr
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| agree |
ormiston
: this conveys the French idea of 'relief'
8 hrs
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| agree |
ATP522
17 hrs
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+2
2 hrs
to allow time for the dust to settle
I would tranlsate it like this, which is nice as the imagery is not lost.
Note from asker:
| sorry even though the image is nice, it is not the same meaning. I agree with emiledgar-it doesnt mean the same thing |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: Perfect - it's almost the exact equivalent of the French. But I don't agree with "to allow time for". "Il fallut attendre" doesn't mean "they had to wait" - it just means "it was not until the 1937 elections that the dust settled".
2 hrs
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Thank you Phil!
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| agree |
Laura Nagle (X)
: Agree with Phil -- this is the best expression, but the "allow time" part is unnecessary.
3 hrs
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| neutral |
Karen Vincent-Jones (X)
: It does change the metaphor, however
3 hrs
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| neutral |
emiledgar
: "dust to settle" has a specific meaning; it means that a calm after action occurred, not that things got less repressive which is specifically what the "devînt plus respirable" is referring to.
4 hrs
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| neutral |
ormiston
: I also feel it eclipses the notion of life becoming less unbearable
6 hrs
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7 hrs
Sandra Mouton
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in French
Works in field
United Kingdom
Efficiency and finesse
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, Russian to French, Latin to French, and 3 more.
for everyone to breathe more easily
Another suggestion
Note from asker:
| sorry but the register or tone of this one isnt academic or scientific enough :) |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Evans (X)
: sounds unfortunately like an ad for a well-known throat sweet.
32 mins
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Oh god! ;-) At least, the phrasing isn't too clumsy, then.
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1 hr
for the repression to die down/ease off
Just another option which would sound natural here.
If you wanted to keep "atmosphere" in the phrase, you could say "for the repressive atmosphere to ease off/die down"
I would probably change the whole sentence to:
"It was not until the 1937 elections that the repressive atmosphere eased off"
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Note added at 23 hrs (2011-11-15 09:29:30 GMT)
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I think my suggestion above "for the repressive atmosphere to die down" would work.
If you wanted to keep "atmosphere" in the phrase, you could say "for the repressive atmosphere to ease off/die down"
I would probably change the whole sentence to:
"It was not until the 1937 elections that the repressive atmosphere eased off"
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Note added at 23 hrs (2011-11-15 09:29:30 GMT)
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I think my suggestion above "for the repressive atmosphere to die down" would work.
Note from asker:
| I like your suggestion, but to keep the meaning the same it is not the actual repression that died down, but the atmosphere/climate/ feeling etc, so I'd need to modify... |
1 day 6 hrs
the air becomes more breathable
A literal translation.. and why not?
Note from asker:
| because it doesnt convey the same meaning |
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