Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

à quelle sauce on le mange

English translation:

what's being cooked up for us

Added to glossary by Dr Andrew Read
May 20, 2004 10:08
19 yrs ago
French term

à quelle sauce on le mange

French to English Other Journalism
La charge de Michael Moore est brutale. On comprend les hésitations de Disney à laisser sa filiale Miramax le diffuser au pays du président Bush. L’Amérique pourra néanmoins le voir dès août prochain. Le monde entier a tout intérêt à savoir à quelle sauce on le mange. Michael précise la recette.
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Martha Melter

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Proposed translations

+5
42 mins
Selected

Some ideas...

Martha's suggestion above is going in the right direction. It would be good to carry over the same metaphor between the two different sentences, (not necessarily involiving food), but it's hard.

So far all I can think of is:

The whole world needs to know what stuff is being forced down our throats. In this movie, Michael tells us.

OR
The whole world needs to hear what's going on. Michael tells it straight.

OR
The whole world needs to understand what b**lsh*t they're feeding us. Michael Moore's film is a good place to start.

So, can't get it as neat as the French, but hope these ideas help!

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Note added at 2004-05-20 10:52:47 (GMT)
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The phrase \"tells it like it is\" could be useful, too.

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Note added at 2004-05-20 10:54:57 (GMT)
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Another idea:

The whole world could use some lessons on the truth. Michael Moore is a good teacher.

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Note added at 2004-05-20 13:34:27 (GMT)
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Variant inspired by Jane\'s suggestion:

The whole world needs to know what\'s going on. Michael Moore lifts the lid on the whole stinking mess.

OR

The whole world needs to know what\'s cooking. Moore lifts the lid on the neo-cons\' putrid pot of lies.

!!! ;-)
Peer comment(s):

agree Jane Lamb-Ruiz (X) : What's cooking, Andrew..what's cooking...:) Right under our noses, huh?
2 hrs
agree NancyLynn
2 hrs
agree sarahl (X) : 1A + 2B would work fine IMO.
5 hrs
agree Sophie Raimondo : Moore lifts the lid... that's a good one
8 hrs
agree sktrans
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks, Andrew !"
-2
13 mins
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

what lies in store for the film (or) how it is going to be received

Help taken from Larousse dictionnaire général
Peer comment(s):

disagree Richard Nice : surely what lies in store for the world ?
9 mins
disagree Dr Andrew Read : No - this is misunderstanding the original.
20 mins
agree Bourth (X) : Definitely a possibility, despite Disagrees. "le (film) diffuser", "le (film) voir", "le (film) mange", makes sense. French badly written or insufficient context if definitely something else.
2 hrs
Thanks Bourth. One agree from you has more than compensated the two disagrees, as far as I am concerned.
disagree Sophie Raimondo : "Le monde entier a tout intérêt"... Michal précise la recette... literally, the whole world needs to know how it'll be eaten... Michael gives the recipe, it is what lies in store for the world, not the film. Granted, the French text is poorly writte
9 hrs
Something went wrong...
29 mins
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

The whole world has an interest in knowing what to expect.. MM. spells it out for us.

can be improved but this seems the sense?
Something went wrong...
+1
34 mins
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

see comment

Perhaps you have to change the image. For example, "the whole world should be aware of what's being planned for it. Michael Moore has the blueprints." Something to that effect.
Peer comment(s):

agree NancyLynn
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
40 mins
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

What goes on behind closed doors is everyone's concern.

What goes on behind closed doors is everyone's concern. Michael Moore gives us a glimpse.
Peer comment(s):

agree Dr Andrew Read : Nice carry-over of the metaphor.
7 mins
agree sktrans
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
+4
2 hrs
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

It's in the interest of the whole world to know what's cooking. Michael tells us. [or is telling us

WHAT'S COOKIN', YOU ALL....

Let's not miss the obvious....:)

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Note added at 3 hrs 26 mins (2004-05-20 13:34:36 GMT)
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manger quelchose à une sauce= to know what\'s cooking, to know what\'s going on. to know what\'s happening....
Peer comment(s):

agree Dr Andrew Read : Yes, a good metaphor. It's tempting to add, "Michael's opened the kitchen door" or similar, but this is probably going too far in English :-)
34 mins
Funny, how these things come to one....:)
agree roneill : Yes, this works well for the US
44 mins
disagree Martha Melter : When I hear What's cooking? it doesn't express the idea that we have something unpleasant which is going to happen to a passive (person) in an active/passive relationship. This is the meaning that the colloquial French carries. ; )
1 hr
what's cooking in this context can be negative or positive....what the honchos have cooked up..how about that??
agree Sophie Raimondo : Yes, what's cooking is best... ça fait moins antropophage que l'expression française !
6 hrs
agree sktrans
13 hrs
agree avsie (X) : ok for what's cooking :-)
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
4 hrs

The whole world has an interest in

knowing how much salt to swallow with what they're cooking up, and Michael Moore gives them the recipe.
(From "taking it with a grain of salt")

Or: The Whole world has a right to know what they're cooking up and MM gives them the recipe.

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Note added at 2004-05-20 16:26:42 (GMT)
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That\'s the whole point: Bush is feeding the world a line of crap and Moore is telling us how much salt to put on it to make it palatible. You could also say taking it with a bushel of salt if the lies are really outrageous (and I haven\'t heard anything from the Bush/Cheney cabal that wasn\'t.;>)

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Note added at 2004-05-20 17:30:20 (GMT)
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By implication, having to take whatever Buch/Cheney or any other trained macaque says with a grain of salt means he is being exposed for the sub- human liar he is. That\'s why the salt is needed. The quantityu of salt is the determinant of how big the lie is ergo how much exposure as a liar he gets. See?
Peer comment(s):

neutral RHELLER : This is a film to expose Bush-not to make him palatable. Taking it with a grain of salt means accepting things with a little skepticism http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/grainofsalt.html
1 hr
See my comment
agree Martha Melter : Your second suggestion "What they are cooking up or what is being cooked up for us" sounds better than What's cooking
1 hr
Thanks
neutral Dr Andrew Read : I agree with Rita that "grain of salt" has quite the wrong implication, but I also agree with Martha that your suggestion "what they are cooking up *for us* carries an important implication of the original that's missed by most of the suggestions
8 hrs
Thanks, I see the confusion,. but in common parlance, by virtue of having to take something with a grain of salt is a left handed complement, or being damned with feint praise
Something went wrong...
-1
2 hrs
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

how he (his image) will be destroyed

literally: HOW he will be eaten/
how he will be destroyed/ brought to his knees/broken/
high image will be torn down/ will have his head on a plate


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Note added at 3 hrs 34 mins (2004-05-20 13:42:09 GMT)
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to be had - it is more important to get the meaning right than to keep the image IMHO

dans une entreprise apte à passer la crise. A quelle sauce sont mangés les managers ? - Leur bonus devrait moins souffrir de la ...
www.lentreprise.com/article/1.4897.1.441.html

... A quelle sauce allons-nous être mangés?» se sont demandé les ouvriers d\'entretien ... En contrepartie, ce sont eux les plus exposés aux aléas politiques. ...
www.lexpress.fr/reussir/dossier/ fonctionpubliq/dossier.asp

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Note added at 4 hrs 24 mins (2004-05-20 14:32:06 GMT)
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A quelle sauce sera-t-il mangé ?

C’est à dire « de quelle manière sera-t-il attaqué, ou vaincu » : il n’est jamais question de choses agréables mais ce n’est guère agréable d’être mangé quelle que soit la sauce !
http://crdp.ac-bordeaux.fr/ac/cassiopee/5/cult2.htm

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Note added at 4 hrs 36 mins (2004-05-20 14:44:35 GMT)
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A quelle sauce sera-t-il mangé ?

C’est à dire « de quelle manière sera-t-il attaqué, ou vaincu » : il n’est jamais question de choses agréables mais ce n’est guère agréable d’être mangé quelle que soit la sauce !
http://crdp.ac-bordeaux.fr/ac/cassiopee/5/cult2.htm
Peer comment(s):

neutral Dr Andrew Read : I see what you're getting at - but I think "le" refers to the whole world; or else it's intended that we just read the whole phrase as we might with "what's cooking" or similar.
55 mins
disagree Martha Melter : I agree with Andrew
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
10 mins
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

see comment

The whole world better know how to lump it as Michael is sharping it.

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Note added at 9 hrs 17 mins (2004-05-20 19:25:20 GMT)
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should read:
..as Michael is sharp with the truth
Peer comment(s):

agree Vicky Papaprodromou
12 mins
cheers Vicky
neutral Dr Andrew Read : Very strange phrasing to a UK English-speaker and doesn't really get over the sense intended.
25 mins
lump it or leave it!! I hope my answer is not too sharp.
neutral zaphod : what?????
4 hrs
neutral Sophie Raimondo : sharping? do you mean "shaping"?
9 hrs
Something went wrong...
16 hrs
French term (edited): � quelle sauce on le mange

what's going on

normally the French would be in the future tense. And it always has a slightly negative tinge, eg. managers in meetings, workers not informed; the workers wonder what's going on. In this case, despite the culinary connotations, it's French after all, Moore is simply going to expose what thus far has been hidden...
Something went wrong...
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