Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

tête de turc

English translation:

whipping boy

Added to glossary by dholmes (X)
Oct 14, 2008 12:23
15 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

tête de turc

Non-PRO French to English Bus/Financial Idioms / Maxims / Sayings social audit
term used to describe a plant manager .... because of his agressiveness he is the "tete de turc" of the Trade Unions.
Change log

Oct 14, 2008 13:13: Sandra Petch changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Oct 14, 2008 19:48: Stéphanie Soudais changed "Field (specific)" from "Human Resources" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Julie Barber, Emma Paulay, Sandra Petch

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Proposed translations

+8
6 mins
Selected

whipping boy

scapegoat, favourite enemy
Example sentence:

China has now replaced Japan as the whipping boy of American unions.

Peer comment(s):

agree Emma Paulay
1 min
Thanks, Emma!
agree Julie Barber : to be found in the online dictionaries! http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/tête de Turc
8 mins
Thanks, Julie! Also to be found in a normal dictionary (e.g. Collins Robert)!
agree helena barham
23 mins
Thanks, Helena!
agree Jean-Louis S.
34 mins
Thanks, jlsjr!
agree Sandra Petch
43 mins
Thanks, Sandra!
agree Jean-Claude Gouin : // I appreciate your sense of humour, Colin ... Send me your e-mail at [email protected] ...
3 hrs
Thanks, Quarter-to-eleven!
agree Jennie Knapp
4 hrs
Thanks!
agree Hebat-Allah El Ashmawy
5 hrs
Thanks!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks to all"
7 mins

the whipping boy

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7 mins

whipping boy

CR definition.

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Note added at 7 mins (2008-10-14 12:31:41 GMT)
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Too late! I'll leave this answer for the refs...
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9 mins

most bullied /whipping boy

see ref

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Note added at 10 mins (2008-10-14 12:34:23 GMT)
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note that "whipping boy" is quite strong for official text

I like scapegoat also
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+1
18 mins

bête noire of the unions

Would fit the bill
Peer comment(s):

agree Colin Rowe : Nice! Cheeky, too, translating one French phrase with another one!! ;-)
2 days 54 mins
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41 mins

scapegoat

This might fit too
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48 mins

Aunt Sally

for those old enough to remember
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+1
6 hrs

thorn in the side

I know that tête de turc means whipping boy but given the context (the aggressiveness, whereas a whipping boy puts up with generally bad treatment) this is what came more to mind
Peer comment(s):

agree Colin Rowe : I like this too!
1 day 18 hrs
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