servie

English translation: see explanation

18:30 Mar 27, 2021
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Journalism / Biography
French term or phrase: servie
I am translating an account of the meeting of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley.

She was impressed by his lack of pretentiousness, and then it states:

"Elle qui appréciait les hommes avec un ascendant était servie".

I need particular insight into SERVIE, but, while you're at it, would "ancestry" be appropriate for "ascendant"?

Thank you!

RE Anderson
Chicago, IL, USA
Robert Anderson
United States
Local time: 08:40
English translation:see explanation
Explanation:
In this case, 'servie' refers back to 'elle' (hence the feminine ending) and is the past participle of 'servir'. You would have to rephrase in some way to translate this phrase. The sense of it is as follows:

She, who valued men with ascendancy, certainly got what she wanted

You can no doubt tweak this to make fit it more naturally with the rest of your text.
Selected response from:

David Hayes
France
Local time: 14:40
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5see explanation
David Hayes
4to get what one was looking for
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
4she got her wish
Yvonne Gallagher
4Was not to be disappointed
Danielle Letch


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
see explanation


Explanation:
In this case, 'servie' refers back to 'elle' (hence the feminine ending) and is the past participle of 'servir'. You would have to rephrase in some way to translate this phrase. The sense of it is as follows:

She, who valued men with ascendancy, certainly got what she wanted

You can no doubt tweak this to make fit it more naturally with the rest of your text.

David Hayes
France
Local time: 14:40
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Emmanuella
1 min

agree  Daryo
1 hr

disagree  SafeTex: Nothing personal but I've asked a moderator to look at this. "See explanation" is not an answer and this sort of usage will quickly make the forum unusable.
10 hrs
  -> I presume you have also asked the moderator to look at the 1,864 other KudoZ answers framed in the same way.

agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: "ascendency" works
16 hrs

agree  Carol Gullidge: I agree with your interpretation, but also with SafeTex’s point, from the POV of helpful Glossary entries. Also applies to those other 1864 Answers, naturally!
1 day 1 hr

agree  Julie Barber: great explanation (that you can't really squeeze in the answer box, and the alternative would be a perhaps half-baked suggestion whereas this gives the asker the understanding to create their own suggestion)
1 day 14 hrs
  -> Thanks, Julie! In this highly context-bound case, I do not think a standard answer would be all that helpful. We are talking about a particular use of a past participle rather than the translation of a French term per se.

agree  Conor McAuley
1 day 18 hrs
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
être servi
to get what one was looking for


Explanation:
Important not to confuse this with "to get what one was asking for", which is about getting what one deserves.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 14:40
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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1 day 18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
she got her wish


Explanation:
a rewrite of previous answers

she liked/preferred DOMINANT men and got her wish (Or what what she was seeking)

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 13:40
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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4 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Was not to be disappointed


Explanation:
In this context the journalist is explaining that she preferred domineering men and that with Michael she definitely got her wish as per previous answer. But to remian coherent and according to the style of the journalistic text I would use "she was not to be disappointed"

Danielle Letch
France
Local time: 14:40
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
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