travaillant comme dix

English translation: tireless/indefatigable | diligent/industrious [worker]

18:37 May 15, 2020
French to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
French term or phrase: travaillant comme dix
Sa conjointe, travaillante comme dix, perfectionniste, connait son affaire, gestion de la main-d'œuvre.

I understand that she is a very hard worker. Works as hard as ten people?

Looking for a better equivalent expression in English but I'm coming up short.
Laura Molinari
Canada
Local time: 11:24
English translation:tireless/indefatigable | diligent/industrious [worker]
Explanation:
I don't think hyperbole or overexaggeration is appropriate for a loan application assessment, so maybe best to keep it plain.

I'm not at all sure, but I think this is a Canadian French/Quebecois expression that, whatever its origins, has come to mean someone who works hard to make an honest living, but not necessairily beyond measure. A salt of the earth type, diligent, tireless, exemplary.

As usual we need more context and background, and in this case we need to better understand the meaning and usage of what appears to be a set expression in its cultural and linguistic context.

If you want or need to exaggerate a little, you could say works nonstop, day and night, round the clock or 24/7, but again I'd be wary of that in a document that probably requires a more formal tone.
Selected response from:

Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 17:24
Grading comment
This was a really hard one to choose where to award points. Many great suggestions, just most not the right fit for the context. Thank you all!
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +8work like a Trojan
SafeTex
5 +4Work your fingers to the bone
Sakshi Garg
3 +2tireless/indefatigable | diligent/industrious [worker]
Wolf Draeger
4working like crazy/a horse
Francois Boye
4doing the work of ten
philgoddard
3works as is she has the stamina of 10 people,..
Barbara Cochran, MFA
4 -2Working like ten
Bruno Dutra
Summary of reference entries provided
Travaillant(e) comme dix
Wolf Draeger

Discussion entries: 9





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -2
Working like ten


Explanation:
suggetion

Bruno Dutra
Brazil
Local time: 12:24
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  AllegroTrans: Not an English expression
1 hr

disagree  Tony M: Not idiomatic in EN; in certain contexts, "does the work of ten men" — but that would not be appropriate here.
2 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +8
work like a Trojan


Explanation:
Hello
If you want to drop the comparison with ten people and replace it with an expression, other than "works his arse off", here is one.
I'm sure other people will come up with other expressions.


    https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/work-like-a-trojan
SafeTex
France
Local time: 16:24
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jennifer White
33 mins
  -> thanks

agree  AllegroTrans: Yes, best not to try to incorporate ten and to use an everyday English expression
1 hr
  -> thanks

agree  Reuben Wright
2 hrs
  -> thanks

agree  Tony M: There was a time when we'd have said "working like a n***er", but clearly that is no longer acceptable (if indeed it ever was!)
2 hrs
  -> If you said that in the Swahili to English group, you would already be banned :)

agree  ormiston
2 hrs
  -> thanks

agree  katsy
15 hrs
  -> Thanks Katsy

agree  Daryo
17 hrs
  -> Thanks Daryo.

agree  Victoria Britten: "WorkS like..."
17 hrs
  -> Thanks Victoria
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +4
Work your fingers to the bone


Explanation:
This is one of the renowned idiom in English to say she/he works very hard

Sakshi Garg
India
Local time: 20:54
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  EirTranslations
10 mins

agree  Yolanda Broad
1 hr

agree  Reuben Wright
2 hrs

neutral  Tony M: I don't sense this fits the context here; it usually relates to a person working incredibly hard, possibly without achieving the hoped-for results; a downbeat connotation that I don't think fits here.
2 hrs

neutral  ormiston: Nice, but perhaps accentuates the suffering involved!
2 hrs

agree  Paulina Sobelman
4 hrs

neutral  Victoria Britten: I agree with Tony: also, this is used more to describe the way someone works in a given situation than their capacity for work.
17 hrs

neutral  AllegroTrans: This really implies that she wears herself out whereas I think the intention is to simply say that she works hard
1 day 22 hrs

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: too negative
2 days 18 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
works as is she has the stamina of 10 people,..


Explanation:
...all rolled into one.

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 11:24
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  ormiston: You mean 'if '?
45 mins
  -> Yes, of course.

neutral  Tony M: Apart from the typo, this is dreadfully wordy, clumsy, and frankly clunky, and while over-translating on the one hand, errs on the side of being way too literal on the other. / Big LOL :-)
59 mins
  -> Not nearly as "wordy, clumsy, and frankly clunky", as your comment, with your typo "had).

neutral  Daryo: Sounds more like a long-winded explanation
13 hrs
  -> Nothing wrong with that. According to translation theory, explanation is just one of the ways a translator can choose to translate.
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
working like crazy/a horse


Explanation:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/like-...

work-like-a-horse
Verb
(simile) To work very hard; toil

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 11:24
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: 'working like crazy' tends to suggest frenetic activity, while 'working like a horse' suggests almost superhuman strength — neither of which seems to me to quite fit the context here.
22 mins
  -> travaillant comme DIX = one person producing the result of ten people. If this is not working like a horse, what is?

neutral  AllegroTrans: Now that we know it's simply an assessment, this is the wrong register
1 day 20 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
doing the work of ten


Explanation:
I don't see a need to find other ways of expressing it when a literal translation works.

To Ebenezer Elliott, the Corn Law Rhymer, Cobden was “the man of men, doing the work of ten."
http://www.historytoday.com/archive/cobden-and-bright

But at other times, I'm full steam pumping, idea generating and feel I'm doing the work of ten.
http://medium.com/betterism/12-life-hacks-to-be-more-product...

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Victoria Britten: For me, this would be more appropriate to describe the amount of work a person is doing in a particular situation, whereas here it's about the amount she's capable of doing.
14 hrs
  -> No it's not. It says "travaillant", not "capable de travailler".
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
tireless/indefatigable | diligent/industrious [worker]


Explanation:
I don't think hyperbole or overexaggeration is appropriate for a loan application assessment, so maybe best to keep it plain.

I'm not at all sure, but I think this is a Canadian French/Quebecois expression that, whatever its origins, has come to mean someone who works hard to make an honest living, but not necessairily beyond measure. A salt of the earth type, diligent, tireless, exemplary.

As usual we need more context and background, and in this case we need to better understand the meaning and usage of what appears to be a set expression in its cultural and linguistic context.

If you want or need to exaggerate a little, you could say works nonstop, day and night, round the clock or 24/7, but again I'd be wary of that in a document that probably requires a more formal tone.

Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 17:24
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 7
Grading comment
This was a really hard one to choose where to award points. Many great suggestions, just most not the right fit for the context. Thank you all!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AllegroTrans: This is definitely the right way to go now that we know this term is in a loan application assessment
33 mins
  -> Ta!

agree  Yvonne Gallagher
1 hr
  -> Ta!
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Reference comments


4 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Travaillant(e) comme dix

Reference information:
Not sure but I suspect this is a Quebecois expression that just means "hard worker". Some examples of its use from Canadian websites:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/genevievegingras/en
“Le dicton qui dit que « Nul n’est irremplaçable», ne s’applique tout simplement pas à Geneviève. [...] Travaillante comme dix, perfectionniste et mue d’une énergique débordante, Geneviève est brillante, efficace, fiable [...]”

https://servicesfunerairesfournier.ca/tribute/details/56/Ren...
“[...] Camionneur et travaillant comme dix, il a été derrière le volant de son camion jusqu'à l'âge vénérable de 75 ans. [...]”

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/08/10/gretzky--tout-d...
“Parce qu’un journaliste fouineur et travaillant comme dix avait obtenu l’impensable scoop avant le reste de l’Amérique.”

Wiktionary traces travaillant as a noun to Louisiana French, so it's plausible this usage exists in Canadian French, too.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2020-05-15 23:32:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Some more examples of travaillant as a noun in Canadian French:
http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/fichier/citations.asp?session=4854...


    Reference: http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/travaillant
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 7

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Daryo: .. Good starting point!
10 hrs
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