Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
jusque là étanches
English translation:
previously sealed
French term
United States
Legal, Finance and Life Sciences
Native in: Bulgarian 
, English 
Works in: English to Bulgarian, Bulgarian to English, French to Bulgarian, and 3 more.
jusque là étanches
Nov 19, 2019 07:58: Catharine Cellier-Smart changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): mchd, Yvonne Gallagher, Catharine Cellier-Smart
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Proposed translations
United Kingdom
Going the extra mile for premium results
Native in: French (Variants: Swiss, Belgian, Standard-France, Luxembourgish, Canadian)
Works in: English to French, French to English
previously sealed
"make previously sealed worlds communicate"
That would apply to very different contexts.
| I think this is it! thank you! |
| disagree |
Carol Gullidge
: you have not explained how "sealed worlds" could work in this context - or any other, for that matter!
1 day 19 hrs
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France
Reliable & Experienced Engineer, EN>FR
Native in: French
Works in: English to French, French to English
impervious...for the first time [rewording]
to enable communication between mutually impervious worlds for the first time.
OR
to enable mutually impervious worlds to communicate for the first time. (preferred)
| neutral |
Eliza Hall
: "Impervious" suggests the worlds could not RECEIVE outside influences. But in context ("communiquer des mondes..."), the idea here seems to involve communicating something FROM those worlds TO the outside world/other worlds.
6 hrs
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That’s not how I understand this phrase. Etanche to me means they cannot communicate between each other.
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: with Eliza. Impervious means blocking all input
12 hrs
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| neutral |
Tony M
: I agree with the others: 'impervious' is unlikely to be the right lexical choice here.
20 hrs
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until then shut off
| disagree |
Tony M
: Regardless of the 'shut off' aspect, it has to be remembered that 'là' in FR means both 'here' and also 'there' — hence it is equally likely to be 'now' as 'then', so better to avoid committing, in the absence of that much-needed context!
1 day 15 hrs
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France
Literature, mystery/sci fi, culture
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: French to English
no longer isolated
| disagree |
Tony M
: Yes, but this turns the sense round from 'up till now' to 'from now on'
6 hrs
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hitherto impenetrable
It seems to me that 'hitherto' is often very useful for expressions like 'jusque là', as it does not place the expression in time in relation to the present or past.
And 'impenetrable' might work, if we are talking about communications getting in somewhere — but of course, a different term would be needed if we were talking about communications getting out!
| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: I would have used "hitherto"! As for the rest, it's impossible to hazard a guess without context
20 hrs
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Thanks, Carol! Ah, « les grands esprits... » :-)
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| agree |
philgoddard
: Or hermetic.
3 days 17 hrs
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Thanks, Phil!
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Discussion
BUT apart from that, the idea is clear: these "mondes" (of whichever variety they are) were initially "hermetically sealed" - nothing was "leaking" / moving to or from the "outside" of these "mondes".
Could apply to groups of people with no previous mutual contacts as well as to "the New World and the Old World" (once the "New World" was "discovered" ...)