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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

it takes a thief to know a thief

French translation:

les voleurs se reconnaissent entre eux

Added to glossary by Jane F
May 4, 2015 15:00
9 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

it takes a thief to know a thief

English to French Social Sciences General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Moreover, if jays are watched by another while caching food, they later re-cache it, presumably to thwart the watching bird from stealing the food. But they will only re-cache if they themselves have stolen food; even in scrub jays, it takes a thief to know a thief. Re-caching might be taken as evidence that the birds can imagine a future event of theft.


Ce portion de phrase me pose énormément de problème car je n'arrive pas à rendre le sens de façon satisfaisante...

Merci infiniment pour votre aide :)!
Proposed translations (French)
3 +4 les voleurs se reconnaissent entre eux
4 +2 Les gens malhonnêtes se reconnaissent entre eux
4 seul un voleur est capable reconnaître un voleur
3 Entre voleurs, on se comprend.
3 -1 à voleur, voleur et demi
2 -2 y a pas d'honneur parmi les voleurs
Change log

May 4, 2015 15:37: writeaway changed "Field" from "Science" to "Social Sciences" , "Field (specific)" from "Other" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"

May 18, 2015 04:45: Jane F Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

+4
5 mins
Selected

les voleurs se reconnaissent entre eux

une suggestion
Note from asker:
Thank you so much for every single one who tried to help me! This option is one of the most helpful I think
Peer comment(s):
agree Jonathan MacKerron : beat me to it... You might leave out the "entre eux" bit(?)
0 min
Thanks Jonathan!
agree writeaway : it takes one to know one. standard English expression. don't understand the problem
33 mins
Thanks writeaway
agree Ghyslaine LE NAGARD
1 hr
Thanks Ghyslaine
agree Jean-Claude Gouin
2 hrs
Thanks 1045
neutral Daryo : this gives it a slightly different twist
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
6 mins

Les gens malhonnêtes se reconnaissent entre eux

Note from asker:
Thank you very much for your help and you time!
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jonathan MacKerron : Doesn't fit well with birds though (blue jays)
1 min
I know, but the translator can adapt it perfectly - I know that birds are no people
agree writeaway
31 mins
agree Ghyslaine LE NAGARD
1 hr
neutral Germaine : C'est l'explication. Le dicton est: "le loup connaît le loup, le voleur le voleur".
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
-2
13 mins

y a pas d'honneur parmi les voleurs

another approach
Note from asker:
Thank you so much for the suggestion!
Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : how does this reflect 'it takes one to know one' which is the meaning of the English in the question?
25 mins
disagree Ghyslaine LE NAGARD : Agree with both Writeaway
53 mins
disagree Daryo : just because this saying is also about thieves doesn't make it the right translation
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
-1
2 hrs

à voleur, voleur et demi

Cicéron - bon, c'est une traduction un peu libre mais parfois citer les Anciens cela peut faire plaisir
Note from asker:
Very interesting suggestion! I will think about it :). Thank you so much!
Peer comment(s):
disagree Daryo : "citer les Anciens cela peut faire plaisir" sure, what about accuracy?
13 hrs
for Heaven's sake I said it was a loose translation. No need to get hyper
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

Entre voleurs, on se comprend.

Une idée...

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Note added at 3 days2 hrs (2015-05-07 17:50:32 GMT)
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En fait, je crois que je préfèrerais : entre voleurs, pas besoin de dessin.
Note from asker:
J'aime beaucoup votre idée que je vais d'ailleurs garder avec une autre. Je vous remercie infiniment pour votre temps!
Something went wrong...
15 hrs

seul un voleur est capable reconnaître un voleur

seul un voleur est capable d'en reconnaître un autre

il fait être voleur soi-même pour [être capable de] reconnaître un voleur

il fait être voleur soi-même pour les reconnaître

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Note added at 15 hrs (2015-05-05 06:43:36 GMT)
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seul un voleur est capable de reconnaître un voleur

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Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2015-05-05 23:14:08 GMT)
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another variant of this same saying:

"it takes one to recognize one"

which is often used jokingly for all sort of [usually negative] characters, not only thieves

depending on the context it could mean:

it takes a liar to recognize a liar

it takes a loony to recognize a loony (and so on...)

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Note added at 6 days (2015-05-11 01:51:41 GMT)
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think of

Eugène François Vidocq
Note from asker:
Thank you very much everybody for your comments and suggestions :). I will think about it
Peer comment(s):
neutral Jane F : I don't think that you have to be a thief yourself to recognise a thief
6 hrs
that's EXACTLY the meaning of this saying - the point of translating is to reproduce the meaning of the ST, not to comment, explain, agree or disagree with the ST....
neutral AllegroTrans : not sure about "only"
1 day 11 hrs
are you talking of your personal opinion or about what is said in the ST? I have only translated what is said in the ST // if I decided to interpret only what I personally agree with, I wouldn't be doing much talking ...
Something went wrong...
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