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I am reading a French story that has this sentence:

Anne est très gourmande et l'assume.

Does it imply a meaning of,

Anne loves to eat and is proud of it/admits it"?

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For you information, it's very common to say "j'assume" in French when you did something that could be seen as unusual or even shocking, but that you do not deny and do not complain about. Same thing with "il doit assumer" when you talk about someone else, to explain that he got what he deserved and should not complain:

  • "Je suis fatigué en ce moment car je travaille à mon projet 80 heures par semaine. J'assume." = "I'm tired because I work 80 hours per week on my personal project."

  • "Tu as crié sur ton chef et il t'a renvoyé. Tu dois assumer." = "You shouted at your boss and he fired you."

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  • Oh excellent! I did not know that. So it is a colloquialism of the French language. Grand merci! Cela m'aide beaucoup!
    – user24604
    Commented Jun 5, 2020 at 13:31
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See the entry nr. 3 here: "Accepter pleinement de vivre avec une réalité qui nous touche plus ou moins durement mais dont on n'est pas responsable"

it means indeed she accepts that she likes to eat and does not try to hide it or to fight against it.

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  • Thank you! That is what I thought it meant too, but you said it much better than me. Thank you!!
    – user24604
    Commented May 30, 2020 at 14:48
  • For you information, it's very common to say "J'assume" or "il faut assumer" in French when you did something that could be seen as unusual or even shocking, but that you do not deny and do not complain about: "Je suis fatigué en ce moment car je travaille à mon projet 80 heures par semaine. J'assume." = "I'm tired because I work 80 hours per week on my personnal project." "Tu as crié sur ton chef et il t'a renvoyé. Tu dois assumer." = "You shouted at your boss and he fired you."
    – Sébastien Vincent
    Commented Jun 4, 2020 at 8:35
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In the first one, "Anne est très gourmande et elle l'assume" means "Anne is greedy and she doesn't deny it".

If we ask her whether she is greedy, she will say "yes" and she is not ashamed of it at all.

I wouldn't say "proud" which sounds a little too strong.

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  • Yes, I got the impression that a gourmand(e) is someone who really enjoys their food. In English, we'd say a foodie... In this story, because she is a foodie, she readily admits to loving to eat and enjoying it... "assumes" the role...
    – user24604
    Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 20:54
  • I really appreciate all the comments!! :)
    – user24604
    Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 20:54
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Yes, I think you got the meaning right. As for a translation, how about:

Anne loves to eat, and has no problem with that.

Maybe there are better ways to translate 'gourmand' : she has a bit of a sweet tooth, she is a gourmet, she likes her food — but I think the focus here was on 'assumer'.

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  • gourmand et gourmet= faux amis
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 13:56
  • @lambie tout à fait ; je proposais ça à défaut d'une meilleure traduction pour 'gourmand'. Je remplacerais volontiers par une meilleure traduction.
    – mcadorel
    Commented Jun 2, 2020 at 13:59

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