Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
volontariste
English translation:
"can do"/ambitious/aggressive/proactive
Added to glossary by
mimi 254
May 14, 2010 12:08
14 yrs ago
8 viewers *
French term
volontariste
French to English
Bus/Financial
Finance (general)
Minutes of oil company's board meeting
Context:
"Le Président rappelle que dans l'opération [pays], les réserves classées [XXX] sont en quantité importantes et que l'objectif est de les faire passer rapidement en [YYY], d'où ce budget assez volontariste qui prévoit la réalisation de deux puits d'exploration".
Could "volontariste" mean "subjective" here, perhaps?
The Kudoz glossary provides some translations for "volontariste", but none of them seems right here.
Thanks in advance for suggestions.
"Le Président rappelle que dans l'opération [pays], les réserves classées [XXX] sont en quantité importantes et que l'objectif est de les faire passer rapidement en [YYY], d'où ce budget assez volontariste qui prévoit la réalisation de deux puits d'exploration".
Could "volontariste" mean "subjective" here, perhaps?
The Kudoz glossary provides some translations for "volontariste", but none of them seems right here.
Thanks in advance for suggestions.
Proposed translations
(English)
3 | "can do" or ambitious | mimi 254 |
3 +3 | you could usefully rephrase.... | polyglot45 |
4 +1 | determined | Bourth (X) |
3 +2 | aggressive | Rob Grayson |
3 | enterprising | Najib Aloui |
Change log
May 17, 2010 09:08: mimi 254 Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
9 mins
Selected
"can do" or ambitious
*
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Note added at 24 mins (2010-05-14 12:32:59 GMT)
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can do = a belief that nothing is impossible!
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Note added at 24 mins (2010-05-14 12:32:59 GMT)
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can do = a belief that nothing is impossible!
Note from asker:
Thank you, Mimi. Yes, I just thought of "ambitious" too. |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks again, Mimi. A difficult decision - wish I could award you all points. I decided to go for "ambitious" in the given context. Bourth, I'll add "volontariste" to my burgeoining list of useful but meaningless vogue words ..."
+3
25 mins
you could usefully rephrase....
whence the deliberate decision to include XXXX in the budget..
OR
They are determined to take the figure to YYYY. It is therefore no accident/not by chance that plans include two new XXXXX
OR
They are determined to take the figure to YYYY. It is therefore no accident/not by chance that plans include two new XXXXX
Note from asker:
Thank you, Polyglot. |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Bourth (X)
: Yes indeedy!
11 mins
|
agree |
Chris Hall
12 mins
|
agree |
Hazel Le Goff
31 mins
|
+1
29 mins
determined
This is my "standard" translation for the word that works pretty much unfailingly in contexts of action plans, human will, etc. Of course in a budget context "determined" might be taken to mean "a budget of a pre-determined amount" (what else IS a budget, though?) rather than "resolute", "firm", "staunch",, "a budget that is determined to achieve certain objectives", but if there is likely to be any doubt about the meaning, in context, there are ways of getting round that, like "a staunchly/firmly/strongly determined budget".
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Note added at 32 mins (2010-05-14 12:41:46 GMT)
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As I thought, this word has come up before, about four times at least, including this:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/business_commerc...
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Note added at 37 mins (2010-05-14 12:45:53 GMT)
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Of course volontariste can also be a euphemism for "hopelessly optimistic, really, and most unlikely to achieve the desired results, much as we wish it would, but we'll put up a good show while we can, chaps, keep on fighting, and go down the gurgler with our boots on".
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Note added at 32 mins (2010-05-14 12:41:46 GMT)
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As I thought, this word has come up before, about four times at least, including this:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/business_commerc...
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Note added at 37 mins (2010-05-14 12:45:53 GMT)
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Of course volontariste can also be a euphemism for "hopelessly optimistic, really, and most unlikely to achieve the desired results, much as we wish it would, but we'll put up a good show while we can, chaps, keep on fighting, and go down the gurgler with our boots on".
Note from asker:
Thank you, Bourth. Helpful and entertaining, comme d'habitude. |
+2
4 mins
aggressive
"Volontariste" often means "proactive", but I have a feeling that the equivalent word in this context could be aggressive. Budgets are often described as being aggressive in EN; in FR, of course, it would be nonsensical to talk of a "budget aggressif", so "volontariste" could be another way of getting at the same thing.
"Ambitious" could be another option, though is not quite getting at the same thing.
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Note added at 42 mins (2010-05-14 12:51:09 GMT)
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As I said above, "ambitious" could be an option – though, since Google has over 22k hits for "budget ambitieux", I tend to think they would have said that if they meant it.
"Ambitious" could be another option, though is not quite getting at the same thing.
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Note added at 42 mins (2010-05-14 12:51:09 GMT)
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As I said above, "ambitious" could be an option – though, since Google has over 22k hits for "budget ambitieux", I tend to think they would have said that if they meant it.
Note from asker:
Thank you, Rob. What do you think of "ambitious" rather than "aggressive"? A thought that just occurred to me. |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
mimi 254
: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/bus_financial/15...
7 mins
|
Thanks
|
|
agree |
Bourth (X)
: Kifquiphe, I think. V. is such a buzz word, people don't really think about what it might mean or what people might think they meant to say. It simply looks good on paper.
1 hr
|
Quite so – thanks
|
18 hrs
enterprising
...
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Note added at 20 hrs (2010-05-15 08:14:39 GMT)
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The word "volontarisme", although coined about 40 years ago (in the late sixties, I believe) is still a neologism because it retains its full meaning only within particular french intellectual debates, among and around marxist thought...Those who believed that sheer will could transcend "objective" "deterministic" factors were (pejoratively in most cases) labeled "volontaristes"... In the anglo-saxon context, particularly the American one, "volontarisme" looses all its "meaningful" power since there is (almost) no debate as to "how to make history". Shared, undiscussed wisdom is that human will is indeed a strong acting factor but only in the making of the economy... "Entrepreneurship" is at the heart of that...
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Note added at 1 day34 mins (2010-05-15 12:43:07 GMT)
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An error to be corrected: "volontarism", say both Quillet and Robert, was "invented" not in the 60s but in 1909. But It's safe to suppose that its use was restricted to philosophical circles. Sorry.
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Note added at 20 hrs (2010-05-15 08:14:39 GMT)
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The word "volontarisme", although coined about 40 years ago (in the late sixties, I believe) is still a neologism because it retains its full meaning only within particular french intellectual debates, among and around marxist thought...Those who believed that sheer will could transcend "objective" "deterministic" factors were (pejoratively in most cases) labeled "volontaristes"... In the anglo-saxon context, particularly the American one, "volontarisme" looses all its "meaningful" power since there is (almost) no debate as to "how to make history". Shared, undiscussed wisdom is that human will is indeed a strong acting factor but only in the making of the economy... "Entrepreneurship" is at the heart of that...
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Note added at 1 day34 mins (2010-05-15 12:43:07 GMT)
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An error to be corrected: "volontarism", say both Quillet and Robert, was "invented" not in the 60s but in 1909. But It's safe to suppose that its use was restricted to philosophical circles. Sorry.
Note from asker:
Thank you, Najib. Good idea. |
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