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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

collaboratrices de choc

English translation:

oustanding colleagues

Added to glossary by Yvonne Gallagher
Jun 22, 2011 20:37
13 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

collaboratrices de choc

French to English Other Sports / Fitness / Recreation car racing
XXX is a race director and xx the places the race will be held


Après avoir veillé sur les ---- Series par --- et les 1000 Km, voilà que xxx débarque à nouveau avec ses deux collaboratrices de choc dans les paddocks de xx pour les xx Race de ce week-end.

Belgian French. Can't seem to find an equivalent for full expression "assistants/colleagues/collaborators is OK but de choc? are there special collision support people at racetracks? Help appreciated. TIA
Proposed translations (English)
3 +3 oustanding partners
3 +1 ace/top-notch
3 +1 wonderwomen
4 "angels"
4 paddock girls
3 smashing colleagues

Discussion

Jocelyne Cuenin Jun 24, 2011:
D'accord, Dieezah, j'aime peut-être trop l'ironie :-)
Catharine Cellier-Smart Jun 23, 2011:
@Dieezah ????? when did I say it was weird for women to be involved in racing?Would have answered the same if it was "collaborateurs de choc".
Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Jun 23, 2011:
thanks so much to everyone for all the answers and discussion entries, which were both enlightening and entertaining! And also very imaginative as I could have used many of them. I finally went with "outstanding colleagues" as translation had to be sent and I've been at conference all day. So points will go to Thomas as he put me on right track from beginning:-). I'll try to find out who they are and what they look like because now I'm curious!
Dieezah Jun 23, 2011:
@ Catherine, @ Petitavoine I did not write this particular piece but I've written enough texts, read enough books and other fiction and non-fiction work of all varieties to know irony and puns when they are present... Here you can't decide there is a pun just because you think it's weird for women to be involved in racing... There's nothing in the text to support the theory of a pun...
@Petitavoine,oui pour hit squad et pour troupe de choc, des as aussi mais honnêtement je trouve que c'est aller loin d'y voir de l'ironie...
Jocelyne Cuenin Jun 23, 2011:
hit squad in the nicest possible way selon Bourth. C'est ce que j'aurais dit aussi. Il y a quand même un peu d'ironie dans "collaboratrices de choc", (peut-être qu'elles sont très jolies et vous laissent sous le choc), mais il y a aussi la vague idée, à mon avis, de "troupe de choc" (militaire pour commando raids ...), donc ce sont aussi des as.
Catharine Cellier-Smart Jun 23, 2011:
@Dieezah I think we all know what it means, but unless you wrote the text yourself (did you ;-) ) how can you affirm that no pun is intended given the racing context ?
Dieezah Jun 23, 2011:
no hidden pun guys de choc just means brillant as in efficient and classy in what you do...
Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Jun 22, 2011:
you're right of course! Motorsport full of dolly birds. LOL. "pare choc" had not even come to mind!:-)) Thanks for the laugh, now I have a hit team of boobs and bottoms in the pits!
Bourth (X) Jun 22, 2011:
Call me a male chauvinist pig (only joking; do, and I'll report you to moderators), but I think there is every chance women working in motor sport, in whatever capacity - only outside engineering, maybe - WILL be gorgeous. And that might well be the, er, bottom ... line. Competence might not come into it. Look at the grid lineup of a F1 race and the young ladies holding the signs or the umbrellas, watch the lead-up to a F1 race on TV and you'll see all the dollybirds in the pits, try selling a car at a motor show without a scantily clad broad adorning the bonnet (and I ain't talking Silver Ladies). There may even be an allusion here to the pare- choc of the collaboratrices in question.
Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Jun 22, 2011:
when I looked up background info on the race I saw there are 2 women responsible for dealing with competitors etc so I assume (though they might indeed be gorgeous!!) they help sort out all the organisational details. So yes, a hit squad of sorts! I was getting waylaid by other possible meanings of "collision/clash/crash" for "choc" and just wondered if that was the type of hit team in place though couldn't figure out why they'd be female?
Bourth (X) Jun 22, 2011:
Ideally you'd need to know more about these people. The expression might just be a euphemism for "stunningly beautiful" or they might constitute a "hit squad" (in the nicest possible way), the people he puts onto difficult tasks requiring a prompt (but non-violent) solution.

Proposed translations

+3
21 mins
Selected

oustanding partners

the de choc refers to how brilliant the duo he is referring to are. They make the perfect team.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 45 mins (2011-06-22 21:23:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry
outstanding partners in the paddocks of xx for this weekend's xx Race
Example sentence:

and here is xxx once again with his two brilliant sidekicks / outstanding partnes in the paddocks of xx for thid weekends xx Race

Note from asker:
thanks Thomas, that would make a lot of sense.
Peer comment(s):
agree Bourth (X) : If my suggestion in Discussion about pare-chocs is right, "outstanding" may well be appropriate. As for "partners", I wouldn't dare comment.
2 hrs
agree Dieezah : No need to put pare-chocs into it, de choc is just brillant, nothing more...
5 hrs
agree piazza d
10 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks, used your "outstanding" and CCS' "colleagues". "
3 hrs

smashing colleagues

for me this keeps the wordplay of "de choc", plus implies they might be "smashing beauties".
Important to use the term colleagues however, not partners, as IMO "collaborateurs" always implies a hierarchy that the English "partners" doesn't translate.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-06-22 23:56:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Just read Bourth's comment, I agree; my first reaction on reading asker's question was to think of ladies holding up signs. Without more information/context however difficult to know what sort of "collaborateurs" these are, which is why IMHO I think my answer covers most possibilities.
Note from asker:
thanks Catherine, smashing answer!
Something went wrong...
+1
4 hrs

ace/top-notch

Hello,

I would say "ace" for "de choc"

de choc = top-notch/ace


I hope this helps.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-06-23 01:28:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

de choc = très efficace (normalement), which usually translates into great, strong, tough, etc

In some contexts - even when it relates to a person - "tough" may just be the best translation.

Here, I suppose, the person is just saying that these those working with him are great.
Note from asker:
thanks Matthew for top notch answer
Peer comment(s):
agree amanda solymosi
7 hrs
Thank you, amanda! I appreciate it.
Something went wrong...
+1
10 hrs

wonderwomen

wonder duo

should cover all angles
Note from asker:
thanks, polygot45 for trying to cover all angles!
Peer comment(s):
agree Yolanda Broad : Without offending!!!
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

"angels"

(in quotes), preceded by the chap's name, à la "Charlie's Angels" (Drôles de Dames) who were both a hit squad and - by the standards of the time - gorgeous (except for Mrs SixMillionDollarMan Fawcett-Majors (but I guess I've always preferred brunettes)).
Note from asker:
Thank you, Charlie's Angels I think pretty gorgeous in any time, including Ms Fawcett with the big hair!These could still be two old hags though!
Something went wrong...
11 hrs

paddock girls

http://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCQQFjAB&...



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 heures (2011-06-23 08:24:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Maybe its female reporters/personalities/"people": depends who/what XXX and XX signify.
Note from asker:
thanks, now we have giddy fillies to join the ever-increasing cast :-)
Something went wrong...
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