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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Une belle-mère reine de la nuit

English translation:

A mother-in-law who\'s a bit of a party animal

Added to glossary by Carol Gullidge
Dec 5, 2010 20:03
13 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

Une belle-mère reine de la nuit

French to English Art/Literary General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters description of a type of person/character
Index par profil du destinataire [heading]

Un copain écolo ?
******Une belle-mère reine de la nuit****** ?
Une voisine geekette ?

Soyez sûr de faire plaisir en choisissant le présent qui correspondra exactement à celui qui le recevra.
________

The first line is the heading encompassing the following 3 lines.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what type of mother-in-law (or indeed, stepmother!) this is, my only stab so far being "A glamorous mother-in-law". OK, I did think of "Mother-in-law from hell" but ruled that out, as the aim of this book is to inpire the reader to give pleasure through gifts... viz the bottom line -- although, that doesn't specify who is in fact being pleased, and a few of the suggested gifts are fairly quirky to say the least!

Unfortunately, this line isn't a specific heading, so I can't check against the text to see what type of pressies are being suggested for this character...

I'm afraid "Queen of the night" doesn't work for me.

So I'd be very grateful for any suggestions - many thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 A mother-in-law who's a bit of a party animal
3 +3 an Ab-Fab mother-in-law
3 +2 A party girl mother in law / step mother
4 +1 a let's get down-totally happening-all night partying mother-in-law
4 a mother-in-law who likes to paint the town red
3 +1 A mother-in-law who's a creature of the night
3 A mother-in-law who likes to party
3 A "Dancing Queen" mother-in-law
3 party-going mother-in-law
2 hot mother-in-law
Change log

Dec 5, 2010 22:59: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Social Sciences"

Dec 5, 2010 23:18: Carol Gullidge changed "Field" from "Social Sciences" to "Art/Literary"

Dec 7, 2010 11:09: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Marketing"

Dec 7, 2010 11:16: Carol Gullidge changed "Field" from "Marketing" to "Art/Literary"

Discussion

Carol Gullidge (asker) Dec 7, 2010:
thanks also to those who posted suggestions and links - all of which helped in various ways. Especially Ségolène, for her clarification of the meaning, which is what I was really looking for. Also to writeaway, for the Reference link, which helped tremendously towards supplying the register, but which was removed as I was (perhaps mistakenly?) a little embarrassed about publicly revealing indirect source/client details
Andreas THEODOROU Dec 7, 2010:
Good point, David "mother-in-law" doesn't roll off the tongue as well as belle-mère - I think "glamorous granny" is good.
David Goward Dec 6, 2010:
Mother-in-law really necessary? I wonder if the reference to "mother-in-law" is really necessary. If you want to stick with "glamorous", the obvious "relative" in English would be "granny".
Having said that, maybe "reine de la nuit" does not quite portray the same image as "glamorous granny".
rkillings Dec 6, 2010:
If she doesn't have spectacular coloratura, then maybe she's a bimbo like this one: http://le-bouzin.com/secret-story-4-amlie-reine-de-la-nuit/
chaplin Dec 6, 2010:
Pour moi cela peut aussi vouloir dire qu'elle est tout simplement noctambule
emiledgar Dec 5, 2010:
Not Mozart Considering the context I really doubt this has anything to do with Die Zauberflöte.
Carol Gullidge (asker) Dec 5, 2010:
super input! many thanks everyone for the tremendous suggestions so far, as well as those links, Wordeffect! Watching those performances made me wonder if "mother-in-law from hell" wasn't perhaps closer to the mark than I'd imagined...

I was hoping that this was a stand-alone expression, quite unconnected to the opera, but maybe this isn't going to be the case...
Yvonne Gallagher Dec 5, 2010:
I'd be inclined to keep "Queen of the Night" as it is unclear to you whether it is good/bad thing and this term is suitably ambiguous
Marco Solinas Dec 5, 2010:
Oppressive, domineering If the reference is to "The magic flute", the the "Queen of the night" would be rather an unpleasant character, oppressive, domineering and representing obscurantism.
Alison Sabedoria (X) Dec 5, 2010:
Queen of the night Probably not much help, but just for fun while you're cogitating, here's Diana Damrau in the best version I know of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvuKxL4LOqc
and of couse, dear Florence Foster Jenkins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM6qntPpyZ0

Both quite scary in their own way.

During her teenage Goth period, my younger daughter and her friends used to refer to me as "Mother, Queen of Darkness" - rather sweet really! =)
David Salas Dec 5, 2010:
how about... ... "life of the party" or "who rules the night" or "queen of the night life" (I know that uses "queen of the night" but the variation might work)?

Proposed translations

+1
12 hrs
Selected

A mother-in-law who's a bit of a party animal

or step-mother of course, but I think that's a less likely candidate here.

Just another option that might match the register.

Good luck
Peer comment(s):
agree ST Translations : Sorry Gilla - didn't see your answer!
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks so much everybody! In the end the consensus seems to be that she is is an all-night party animal, and most of the answers are variations on this theme. Which makes it exptemely hard to grade this, and I wish I could dish out more points! btw, I had hoped that this was a set idiom, but it seems this isn't the case"
+2
4 mins

A party girl mother in law / step mother

Suggestion
Note from asker:
many thanks Drmanu!
Peer comment(s):
agree Louis Cyril P
11 hrs
Thank you Louis.
agree MoiraB : or your own 'glamorous' would cover a range of gifts - clothes, lingerie, bling
11 hrs
Thank you Moira.
Something went wrong...
10 mins

a mother-in-law who likes to paint the town red

Reine de la nuit - someone who paints the town red at night.

(Somehow the very thought of this sends a shiver down my spine!)
Note from asker:
hi, thanks for the help! A question: does this imply that "Reine de la nuit" is a set expression? You (or anyone else!) can reply in the Discussion box to save your posting being moved down the "ladder"
Something went wrong...
13 mins

hot mother-in-law

may fit the rather ordinary tone here...
Note from asker:
many thanks Jonathan!
Something went wrong...
+1
34 mins

a let's get down-totally happening-all night partying mother-in-law

If you don't want to use queen of the night; then let's describe it!
Note from asker:
many thanks Emil!
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : I think this thoroughly over-the-top rendition is totally justified in the circumstances.
4 hrs
Thank you
Something went wrong...
+1
11 hrs

A mother-in-law who's a creature of the night

An alternative with dark undertones that's as ambiguous as the original , though I'd favour keeping "queen of the night" which leaves readers to conjure up their own images.
Note from asker:
many thanks Wordeffect! I like your reasoning! As I said, I wish I could share out the points!
Peer comment(s):
agree SMcG (X) : or night queen
4 hrs
Thanks SMcG
Something went wrong...
+3
12 hrs

an Ab-Fab mother-in-law

All the discussion made me think of Patsy and Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous - the partying mother and her best friend who are the bane of the up-tight daughter's life!

Probably only a ref which works in UK English (although I don't know it could well have gone Stateside), but which has includes the party element but can also be taken either as a complement (cool) or as a dig (embarassing).

For more info see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolutely_Fabulous

Another idea to add to the mix!

Note from asker:
many thanks Irene! I really love this, and it was an extremely close contender!
Peer comment(s):
agree B D Finch
4 hrs
Cheers BD!
agree Sandra Mouton : Lots of good suggestions but yours is my favourite. Imagine choosing a Christmas present for Patsy!
9 hrs
Thanks Sandra - now that'd be fun!
agree Andreas THEODOROU : concise, right register and great reference (for brits at least)
1 day 26 mins
Thanks Andreas!
Something went wrong...
13 hrs

A mother-in-law who likes to party

A hip and cool mother-in-law, a young at heart mother-in-law, a mother-in-law who is a bit of a party animal. Just some more ideas! I also like your suggestion: a glamorous mother-in-law.
Note from asker:
many thanks ST Translations! Again, there is very almost too much choice of good answers here!
Something went wrong...
15 hrs

A "Dancing Queen" mother-in-law

...if you want to keep the reference to "Reine".
Or "Glamorous Granny" if the actual relationship is unimportant.

Would be useful to know what gifts are being suggested.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2010-12-06 11:49:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Check out "Régine" to discover who is generally known as the "Reine de la nuit" in Paris, St Trop', etc.
Note from asker:
many thanks David! the family relationship is probably not that important - there being no grandmothers mentioned elsewhere - but I'd probably only change it if, for instance, "Reine de la Nuit" turned out to be a set phrase - a well-known epithet describing a certain type of person that would rule out mothers-in-law, etc. Thanks for the Régine hint! Plenty to ponder about! Unfortunately, there's no way of matching up the pressies with the Reine..., as she is only mentioned here in passing, and not as one of the subheadings grouping together various types of gift
Something went wrong...
1 day 12 hrs

party-going mother-in-law

or fun-loving
Note from asker:
many thanks Andreas - nice and simple!
Something went wrong...
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