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permet à l\'ornement de se dérouler

English translation: is allowing the decoration to unwind / come unwound / unravelled

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:permet à l'ornement de se dérouler
English translation:is allowing the decoration to unwind / come unwound / unravelled
Entered by: Yolanda Broad

19:48 Jun 29, 2017
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Archaeology / ancient art
French term or phrase: permet à l\'ornement de se dérouler
Hi again!
DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient Egyptian mirrors. Catalog entry.
CONTEXT: 44098. Ornement de base de manche de miroir. - Or. - Haut. 0 m. 033 mill., poids 1 gr. 50. - Dahshoûr, fouilles de M. de Morgan, 1894 (pl. XXII). Il est découpé dans une feuille d'or épaisse d'une infime fraction de millimètre et par conséquent n'a aucune fixité. Le fond est tombé et une complète déchirure sur le côté ***permet à l'ornement de se dérouler***. Le fond est tombé et une complète déchirure sur le côté permet à l'ornement de se dérouler. This is the end of the entry.
ATTEMPT: The base has fallen off and a complete/whole tear on the side allows? the ornamental element to unfold/uncoil/unroll/unravel.
ISSUE: Clearly I don't understand what my author is driving at.
Thank you in advance for any clarification!
angela3thomas
United States
is allowing the decoration to unwind / come unwound / unravelled
Explanation:
I think you may find the present continuous tense helps to make sense of things here. It sounds as if this is some kind of fine applied decoration that has come away from the broken substrate and is 'coming adrift'.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 04:19
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2is allowing the decoration to unwind / come unwound / unravelled
Tony M
4 -1Let True Literature be
mycareer


  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
permet à l'ornement de se dérouler
is allowing the decoration to unwind / come unwound / unravelled


Explanation:
I think you may find the present continuous tense helps to make sense of things here. It sounds as if this is some kind of fine applied decoration that has come away from the broken substrate and is 'coming adrift'.

Tony M
France
Local time: 04:19
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 96
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: or "means that the decorative element can be unrolled"
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Nikki! I don't think one would actually seek to unroll it, but the 'se' may suggest that 'it is coming undone' of its own accord.
agree  mrrafe: but situation could equally well be static, since the thing has been loose for 100s of centuries /// On recalculating, 3 millennia aren't 100s of centuries anyway
6 hrs
  -> Thanks, mrrafe! Yes, of course, I wasn't suggesting this was a dynamic, current situation — amazing though it is that this should have survived so long in such a fragile condition!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Let True Literature be


Explanation:
Today we see just talking in books, True Literature has disappeared. This phrase is an invitation to come back to meaningful Literature.

Example sentence(s):
  • Let's come back to source Literature
mycareer
Cote D'ivoire
Local time: 02:19
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: This has no bearing whatsoever on Asker's clearly-stated context.
7 hrs
neutral  writeaway: after 111 questions on an archaeology-related text, a bit of philosophy is a pleasant change but sadly totally irrelevant as already indicated.
8 hrs
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