9
The proximity to mille et une nuits (One Thousand and One Nights) and later, the presence of the sept péchés capitaux (seven deadly sins) leave little doubt that Prévert is suggesting the trente-deux positions amoureuses also found in André Breton's Immaculée conception (1930).
4
No native speaker of French and English. According to: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_drowning_man_will_clutch_at_a_straw
"a drowning man will clutch at a straw"
has an equivalent shorter version
"grasp at straws".
According to https://www.linguee.fr/anglais-francais/traduction/grasping+at+straws.html one gets some ways to convey ...
4
Le seum is a slang word for a grudge, a feeling of resentment, of being gutted.
Avoir le seum means to have this feeling, and prendre le seum is just the "action" of developing this feeling.
4
From my point of view, your translation is very correct. The expression is commonly used in French, and I would even say that it is a very popular one.
De mon point de vue, votre traduction est tout à fait correcte. L'expression est couramment utilisée en français, et je dirai même que c'est une expression très populaire.
3
Bon sang is quite outdated and expresses some upsetting.
Palsambleu is extremely outdated and only used jocularly nowadays.
Referring to God might be done with Mon Dieu ! but it expresses a fear and is becoming quite rare too.
Surprise can be expressed with:
Ça alors, je m'attendais pas à te voir ici !
Also:
Ah ben ça alors,...
3
Not really. In this case, "poids" just means "influence" (or more explicitly "interference/pressure"). It's the exact same metaphor when you say in English that something "weights on" you (in nglish you might also talk about the burden of something).
3
Locuteur natif :
Travail en cours
Action en cours
Ou juste :
" En cours " qui est beaucoup plus idiomatique :
" Où en est cette livraison ? "
" En cours "
On comprendra alors que livraison est en cours d'acheminement
2
Rather than specifically "to walk", "aller au pas" refers to a speed of walk. It can be understood as the relaxed, slow speed that you take when you are not in a rush.
It mainly refers to the speed of a walking horse:
Au pas, au trot, au galop... Ce cheval obéit au doigt et à l’œil !
Actually, this gave a more modern version... With cars!
Dans un ...
2
To be more precise we should see the expression in context. However in general "aller au pas" is a French expression for obeying orders. Another meaning for example when talking about someone driving could potentially be to be "moving at the speed of someone walking".
2
Entre le marteau et l'enclume
ainsi que la variante que je trouve plus fluide
Entre l'enclume et le marteau
sont utilisables mais restent plutôt soutenus.
On peut aussi dire :
Être pris entre deux feux.
qui peut être utilisé quel que soit le registre, ainsi que le plus familier :
Être le cul entre deux chaises.
mais le sens est ici un peu différent.
2
« Le large » a un sens qui signifie La haute mer, par opposition à la côte.
« Le grand large » est une emphase de la haute mer.
2
Je voudrais en faire un don
ou
Je voudrais le donner [à quelqu’un]
Le “to be able to” appelle vraisemblablement le conditionnel, dans une forme plus recherchée que “pouvoir le donner” qui ne se rencontre pas en français, et sent très fort la traduction mot à mot :)
2
L'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt is certainly the most pertinent French equivalent to the early bird catches the worm.
It conveys a very similar meaning and tone, even though it is far from a literal translation.
1
I'm French I confirm this is perfectly fine.
The idea behind it is that people waking earlier would have more time to work (and reach success). It was at a time agriculture was predominant and working earlier meant being more productive.
Regards.
1
Short answer: yes
It will depend on the context, usually it is used when one is between two forces fighting, way much stronger than him/her, and might get injuries (of any kind) if staying in this position.
1
In all the examples you listed, "en" is the pronoun serving as the COI.
Example:
Sa voiture? Elle s'en fiche. (her car? She doesn't care about it.)
"en" = "sa voiture" (her car) is the COI.
You could have said: Elle se fiche de sa voiture.
So because "en" is the COI, it's incorrect to say "je m'en (verbe) de COI&...
1
@Toto's answer is fine. As a side remark, a little of googling gave:
Décidément attiré par le grand large, le jeune Chirac embarque comme marin sur un cargo, avant que son père ne le ramène dans le droit chemin..
i.e.
Decidedly attracted by the open sea, the young Chirac embarks as a sailor on a freighter, before his father brings him back on the ...
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