Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Crise de spleen

English translation:

Woe is us

Added to glossary by Kevin Oheix
Jul 27, 2018 19:45
5 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

Crise de spleen

French to English Marketing Business/Commerce (general) Customer service?
I'm translating text for a French app that is pretty kooky all the way through, so I'm having to get a little creative to translate some of their ideas. But I'm pretty stuck on this one, especially since it doesn't have much context - it's a short text sent to a customer.

"Objet : C’est le spleen de xxxx (company name)
Preview : Dites-nous tout, nous sommes tout ouïe !

CRISE DE SPLEEN"

That's all there is, though it's on a page full of other short texts in which the general context is that they are trying to lure the customer back with various discounts, asking for customer feedback, etc... And this excerpt is the first on the list in fairly random order.

So I've learned that spleen in French refers to melancholy, ennui, yearning, sadness, etc. So I'm guessing it's expressing something along the lines of "we're sad to see you go, tell us what's wrong, we miss you, etc." But I'm really stuck on what to put for "crise de spleen" since it seems to be a heading or subject line of sorts. Other examples include MOT DE PASSE OUBLIÉ, QUE S’EST-IL PASSÉ, JE VOUS DIS TOUT, JE VOUS EXPLIQUE, JE RAVIVE LA FLAMME. So it needs to be short and sweet, the cheekier the better.

Any creative types have any ideas?

UK English.

Thanks!
Change log

Jul 27, 2018 20:16: writeaway changed "Field" from "Other" to "Marketing"

Aug 2, 2018 13:30: Kevin Oheix Created KOG entry

Discussion

Diana Huet de Guerville (asker) Aug 1, 2018:
@AllegroTrans This was just one tricky bit in a much longer document that was relatively straightforward, so from my perspective didn't warrant refusal!
Diana Huet de Guerville (asker) Aug 1, 2018:
@Kevin I made several suggestions to the client, and "Woe is us" was one of them. I'd be happy to give you some points if you'd like to offer it as an answer!
AllegroTrans Jul 30, 2018:
Absence of whole text/real context = absence of any reliable translation. In the asker's situation, I personally would refuse assignments such as this.
Diana Huet de Guerville (asker) Jul 30, 2018:
more info from client I've head back from the agency, and this is what the client said in response to my question:

"Il s'agit d'un mail de churn, on envoie ce message en disant à l'utilisateur que nous sommes déprimés car il nous manque et ne vient plus nous voir. Son absence provoque le spleen, la nostalgie dont on parle."

With your ideas and this extra info, I'll figure something out!
Diana Huet de Guerville (asker) Jul 30, 2018:
@writeway As I said, I'm not copywriting, but doing a translation, and trying to figure out the best way to translate spleen in this context. There are often many ways to translate a particular concept, and some do require a bit more creativity than others, which is why I asked for suggestions from "creative types". And the rest of the document doesn't give any more clues, it is just a list of very short emails they are sending out to their customers, so I don't have any more context than I gave. And as for taking credit, since it's through an agency the end client will never even know who I am! But in any case, no one is ever under any obligation to provide any help, so I completely understand that you may want to do so. I just don't agree with your insistence that I shouldn't even be asking the question!
writeaway Jul 30, 2018:
@Kevin Kudoz is for translation terms. Not for working out copywriting issues. Any suggestion from 'clever types' may apply here but not necessarily elsewhere. Copywriting is another realm. And one needs to see the whole text in order to get a feel for how to approach it.
Kevin Oheix Jul 30, 2018:
@ Asker You're welcome and I disagree with the comments below, you should always be able to ask for help, especially here.
Diana Huet de Guerville (asker) Jul 30, 2018:
@Kevin Thanks, those are some great suggestions!
Diana Huet de Guerville (asker) Jul 30, 2018:
Thanks for the suggestions, though I'm not sure why I shouldn't be asking others for the their ideas. I'm doing this project through an agency, so have no contact with the end client and have no idea who is checking what. Copywriting would perhaps be more appropriate here, but I've been asked to translate so that's what I'm trying to do. There are a number of ways of trying to render spleen, I've thought of a few but welcome other ideas since it's a bit of an odd one - and I don't have any more context to give than what I already have, since I'm just working with bits of text - hence the difficulty. But I'm planning to contact the agency to see if I can get a little more guidance on what they're looking to express, since the lack of context does make it hard to translate.
Jennifer White Jul 28, 2018:
Agree with the comments below. The fact that the suggestions given so far are so very different would seem to suggest that the interpretation will be a personal choice. No obvious right or wrong here.
writeaway Jul 28, 2018:
Agree with AllegroTrans 100% This is definitely copywriting and not a translation question (you have the translation of spleen) and I don't agree with asking "clever types" for their ideas, which will then be presented to the (end)client as your own.
AllegroTrans Jul 28, 2018:
So this isn't really translating at all but more like copywriting. Very difficult to gauge what is needed without seeing the whole text. Anyway, what has the client actually asked for? Who is going to review the translation to check whether or not it is too much like wording used by a competitor? These are important considerations when doing this kind of work and the translator needs to be fully aware of them.
Kevin Oheix Jul 27, 2018:
ideas Woe is us
Heavy heart, sick at heart
Doom and gloom
The doldrums (UK)
That's a real downer, on a downer
Our heart is in our boots (UK)
Oh the miseries (get us)
Sick as a parrot (UK), long face
Rue the day, lost without you

Proposed translations

5 days
Selected

Woe is us

As requested by Asker
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks for your suggestions! "
4 hrs

EXISTENTIAL CRISIS

Just to get the ball rolling.
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13 hrs

Are we belöw par?

Suggestion.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Francois Boye : below or belöw?
4 hrs
Below of course - hit wrong key
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16 hrs

Vent your spleen

See this explanation in Wikipedia:
"The connection between spleen (the organ) and melancholy (the temperament) comes from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks. One of the humours (body fluid) was the black bile, secreted by the spleen organ and associated with melancholy. In contrast, the Talmud (tractate Berachoth 61b) refers to the spleen as the organ of laughter while possibly suggesting a link with the humoral view of the organ. In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England, women in bad humor were said to be afflicted by the spleen, or the vapours of the spleen. In modern English, "to vent one's spleen" means to vent one's anger, e.g. by shouting, and can be applied to both males and females. Similarly, the English term "splenetic" is used to describe a person in a foul mood."

Vent your spleen seems to fit with the context, as the company is asking its clients to tell it what they think
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1 day 18 hrs

crisis of confidence

A company is realizing that its ability to perform is down and cannot be reversed.
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