Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
as it was
French translation:
en l\'occurence
English term
as it was
My salvation—***as it was***—came when a distant uncle I’d met only a handful of times learned of my situation.
Jan 16, 2015 09:39: Solen Fillatre changed "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Linguistics"
Jan 16, 2015 12:17: Tony M changed "Field (specific)" from "Linguistics" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"
Proposed translations
en l'occurence
agree |
Annie Rigler
10 mins
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Merci Annie
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agree |
GILLES MEUNIER
: c'est ce que l'on dirait en bon français
1 hr
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Merci Gilou
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neutral |
Tony M
: Doesn't that rather change the meaning? I'd have thought the idea was "as it happens"?
2 hrs
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agree |
Helen Portefaix
2 hrs
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Merci Helen
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agree |
Florian AUDRAIN
11 hrs
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Merci Florian
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agree |
Anne-Marie Laliberté (X)
13 hrs
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Merci
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agree |
Anne R
21 hrs
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Merci Anne
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agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
1 day 6 hrs
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Merci
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agree |
Simo Blom
3 days 5 hrs
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Merci Simo
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si on peut parler de (salvation)
disagree |
Tony M
: Misreading of the source text: it's not 'as if it was' (or 'as it were') — here, means 'which indeed is what it was' / I did, but this EN expression simply can't have that meaning. / No, in THIS expression, EN native speakers would NOT mix them up!
2 mins
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Dans le contexte précisé dans une autre question portant sur le même texte ma suggestion est parfaitement valide je crois, allez voir l'autre question un peu plus haut.
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disagree |
Francis Marche
: Vous confondez "as it was" et "as it were".
1 day 14 hrs
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Comme beaucoup d'anglais figurez vous! ;) En fait dans la pratique c'est au ton de la voix qu'on comprend.
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pour ainsi dire
neutral |
Tony M
: There's nothing wrong with 'salvation' used in this way, it doesn't need 'softening' — and in any case, 'as it was' here doesn't have the meaning of 'so to speak'.
5 mins
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disagree |
Francis Marche
: Vous confondez "as it was" et "as it were".
1 day 10 hrs
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disagree |
DLyons
: As Francis says.
2 days 8 hrs
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Mon salut, car ça le fut, ...
ne pas confondre "as it was" et "as it were" equiv. à "so to speak".
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Note added at 1 day14 hrs (2015-01-18 00:00:11 GMT)
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Dans le registre de la langue parlée : "c'est le cas de le dire" http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=257271
"Mon salut, c'est le cas de le dire, s'est produit quand un oncle éloigné..."
et je n'exagère pas
car il s'agissait bien de ça
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Note added at 33 minutes (2015-01-16 10:09:37 GMT)
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I think we ought to be reading the source expression as 'for that is indeed what it amounted to'.
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Note added at 4 heures (2015-01-16 13:58:09 GMT)
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"I was trudging home through the bitter wet November night when salvation came in the form of a number 10 bus."
Typical hyperbole, but a common enough expression.
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Note added at 2 jours12 heures (2015-01-18 22:30:20 GMT)
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I'd like to refute a claim made in a response to a peer comment under another answer, in which one of our FR colleagues claims that many EN people would confuse the two expression "as it was" and "as it were" in a context like this; I'm sorry, but that's simply not true!
Many EN people these days DO blur the differences between the indicative and more traditionally correct subjunctive in ordinary usage, a very typical example being the common expression "If I were you..." (subjunctive mood), which these days is very commonly rendered as "If I was you..." (indicative mood); not all that long ago, that would have been seen as a sign of an ignorant, poorly-educated speaker (and was used as such by some authors in literature to aid characterization...) — but this is no longer the case, and it has to be regarded now as correct current usage.
BUT no such confusion between 'was' and 'were' is possible for an average EN native speaker in the specific expression here, where the subjunctive 'were' is still necessary when it is required to have that meaning (casting some doubt on the literal nature of the statement made, cf. 'so to speak', etc.), and anyone reading 'as it was' would naturally, instinctively interpret it in a quite different way: 'as (indeed) it was', 'as it (really) was', etc.
agree |
Robin Dufaye
: oui, ou "c'était bien de ça qu'il s'agissait", etc.
2 mins
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Merci, Robin!
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agree |
Susana E. Cano Méndez
2 hrs
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Thanks, Susana!
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agree |
AnneMarieG
5 hrs
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Merci, AnneMarie !
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agree |
DLyons
: I agree with the idea.
2 days 12 hrs
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Thanks, Donal!
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agree |
Simo Blom
3 days 4 hrs
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Thanks, Simo!
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Discussion
To me, this unusual word order changes the meaning, since by placing it immediately after 'salvation', it appears to qualify that immediately preceding idea: "My salvation — for such it was — ..." Note too the punctuation.
Had it been intended to convey the other meaning, I can't help feeling the author might have written: "My salvation, as it happens, came ..."
Je pensais comme vous au départ mais regardez la deuxième question un peu plus haut qui vient du même texte:
A boy is taken in by his uncle, who immediately gives him a lecture on where he stands within the family.“You are family but you are ***the least*** in this family!” he cautioned, reminding me of the several children of his own.“In this house, you get ***the least*** of everything! You may not even rely on me for anything.”
Dans ce contexte, il me semble qu'on peut lire "si on peut parler de" vu que le salut en question n'est pas trop généreux.
Je peux me tromper du tout au tout.