essuyer les plâtres - stick one's neck out ( translation glossary) Idiome/Maximen/Sprichwörter,Sonstige

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Französisch Begriff oder Satz:	essuyer les plâtres
Englisch Übersetzung:	stick one's neck out
Eingetragen von:	Alanna Wilson-Duff

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7:18am Oct 15, 2007

Übersetzungen Französisch > Englisch [PRO]
Idiome/Maximen/Sprichwörter

Französisch Begriff oder Satz: essuyer les plâtres

From a journalistic article about an enquiry into a prisoner's death in custody. It has been declared a suicide but doubts hang over the issue. I'm not familiar with this expression myself, but my dictionary is telling me it means 'to remedy initial or teething problems'. However, this really doesn't seem to fit the context. This quote is from the victim's mother and I don't think she is concerned with reforming the prison system, I think she just wants someone to look into the nature of her son's death. To my mind, what would fit better would be 'get your hands dirty' or 'do the dirty work'. There is no mention elsewhere in the text of teething problems. Can this expression be translated this way?

Autant de questions auxquelles la famille aimerait avoir des réponses. «Nous sommes au Luxembourg : tout ce qui dérange est enterré; personne ne veut essuyer les plâtres ». Pascale s'est heurtée à une administration opaque qui ne veut pas lui donner de réponse.

Alanna Wilson-Duff

KudoZ-Aktivität
Fragen: 70 (alle geschlossen)
Antworten: 37

Australien

Notiz(en) an den/des Fragesteller(s)

siragui: 7:54am Oct 15, 2007: Idea of paying the price, taking a fall: "Etre le premier à subir les conséquences fâcheuses d'une situation expérimentale ou d'une période de nouveautés"
http://www.blogg.org/blog-48584-billet-463911.html
Harrap's: "to be the first to suffer"
siragui: 7:56am Oct 15, 2007: Several attempts at a definition on:
http://www.humanite.fr/1993-07-22_Articles_-C-EST-UNE-EXPRES...
The implication is "be the fall guy", but I can't quite see the victim's mother saying this.
Emma Paulay: 7:57am Oct 15, 2007: Yes, it sometimes has the sense of "to be the guinea pig" - although that's not the case here.
xxxCMJ_Trans: 8:18am Oct 15, 2007: or even "the sacrifical lamb"

stick one's neck out

Erklärung:
nobody wants to be the first to stick his neck out/raise his nose above the parapet

Ausgewählte Antwort von:

xxxCMJ_Trans
Frankreich

Hinweis von Fragesteller an den Antwortenden

Thanks CMJ, this fits the bill. And the damn thing's due!
4 KudoZ-Punkte wurden für diese Antwort vergeben

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ALLER ÜBERSETZUNGEN (ENGLISCH)

3 +4

stick one's neck out

xxxCMJ_Trans

3 +1

take responsability (in this case)

Melzie

set things moving, get the ball rolling; whistle blowing

Bourth

open up old wounds

Carol Gullidge

Antworten

9 Min. Antwortsicherheit:

Zustimmung (Netto): +1

take responsability (in this case)

Erklärung:
r+c says "we had all the initial problems to put up with", and I think, from the context you're right in thinking 'do the dirty work' but that it goes further still.

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Note added at 16 mins (2007-10-15 07:34:48 GMT)
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RESPONSIBILITY

Melzie
Frankreich
Muttersprache: Englisch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 8

18 Min. Antwortsicherheit:

Zustimmung (Netto): +4

stick one's neck out

Erklärung:
nobody wants to be the first to stick his neck out/raise his nose above the parapet

xxxCMJ_Trans
Frankreich
Spezialgebiet
Muttersprache: Englisch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 67

Hinweis von Fragesteller an den Antwortenden

Thanks CMJ, this fits the bill. And the damn thing's due!

43 Min. Antwortsicherheit:

open up old wounds

Erklärung:
I interpret this as not wanting to initiate something that may lead to a whole load of new problems (the "initial problems" of Collins Robert!)

More ideas along the same line of reasoning, that would involve a certain amount of transposition:

They all want to let sleeping dogs lie

It's a case of "let the dead bury the dead"

It's more than their job's worth to go down that line

Carol Gullidge
Vereinigtes Königreich
Spezialgebiet
Muttersprache: Englisch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 20

1 Stunde Antwortsicherheit:

set things moving, get the ball rolling; whistle blowing

Erklärung:
Of "essuyer les plâtres", Lexis says:

"pénétrer le premier dans un bâtiment neuf; et (fam.), subir les inconvénients d'une nouveauté insuffisamment au point, dont on est un des premiers utilisateurs".

A bit like going over the top in trench warfare, so CMJ's suggestions seem fine.

Maybe something about "whistle-blowing" might work too, if you have context to support it.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2007-10-15 09:44:27 GMT)
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Or "no one's prepared to change/tackle the status quo".

Bourth
Frankreich
Muttersprache: Englisch
PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 40

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Französisch: essuyer les plâtres

Englisch translation: stick one's neck out