I understand the general meaning of this but am having trouble coming up with a good expression in English. This is about a non-profit organization started by a former tennis star. The organization has sites throughout the country where children can play tennis for free and receive free lessons.
Les sports ne sont la propriété de personne. Certains sont juste inaccessibles pour les plus démunis. Le tennis en est un. Et ce constat l'a toujours révolté. Qui, depuis dix ans, nourrit un vieux rêve : donner les moyens à un jeune espoir issu des banlieues de gagner Roland-Garros. Allez, disons, en 2015 !
Il n’a jamais oublié sa rencontre avec Arthur Ashe, première icône noir américaine du tennis. Il est surtout en colère devant l’inertie de nos sociétés pour **faire bouger les lignes.**
Erklärung: well we can all guess who this is, can't we?
I presume the idea was to use "lignes" in reference to tennis.
What you really need is a tennis image.
This is a sports image - the best I can think of for the moment...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 5 mins (2006-10-24 11:19:22 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
smash down the barriers ???
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2006-10-24 15:07:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
You gave me such good suggestions, I had a hard time choosing. "Push the boundaries" sounded the most colloquial to me, but "bring down/smash down the barriers" sounded a little more apropos. I ended up using "smash down the barriers" to keep the tennis theme (though it was new to me; I don't know much about tennis). Thanks very much to everyone. 4 KudoZ-Punkte wurden für diese Antwort vergeben
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Carlos Segura Vereinigtes Königreich Arbeitsgebiet Muttersprache: Spanisch, Englisch
20 Min. Antwortsicherheit: Zustimmung (Netto): +2
bring down the barriers
Erklärung: my first instinct was "move the goalposts", but this has the wrong implications (in spite of its obvious sporting connotations), as I feel the 'lignes' here are the social barriers: poverty and lack of opportunity, etc
Carol Gullidge Vereinigtes Königreich Muttersprache: Englisch PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 4
51 Min. Antwortsicherheit:
cross the lines
Erklärung: Not a direct translation but [partly] keeps the tennis metaphor
Terry Richards Frankreich Muttersprache: Englisch PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 8
Erklärung: well we can all guess who this is, can't we?
I presume the idea was to use "lignes" in reference to tennis.
What you really need is a tennis image.
This is a sports image - the best I can think of for the moment...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 5 mins (2006-10-24 11:19:22 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
smash down the barriers ???
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2006-10-24 15:07:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
REDRAW THE LINES
xxxCMJ_Trans Frankreich Muttersprache: Englisch PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 71
Hinweis von Fragesteller an den Antwortenden
You gave me such good suggestions, I had a hard time choosing. "Push the boundaries" sounded the most colloquial to me, but "bring down/smash down the barriers" sounded a little more apropos. I ended up using "smash down the barriers" to keep the tennis theme (though it was new to me; I don't know much about tennis). Thanks very much to everyone.
The translation workplace 
Zustimmung (Netto): +2