Après tout, on y était aussi bien qu’en face.

English translation: In the end, we were in as good a place as any.

21:59 Apr 4, 2021
French to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: Après tout, on y était aussi bien qu’en face.
Il y a longtemps qu’on aurait du prendre l’habitude de se deplacer, de se deplacer librement, sans que cela nous coute. Mais on ne l’a pas fait : on est reste la ou l’on etait; les choses sont restees comme elles etaient. On ne s’est pas demande pourquoi c’etait la et pas ailleurs, pourquoi c’etait comme cela et pas autrement. Ensuite, evidemment, il a ete trop tard, les plis etaient pris. On s’est mis a se croire bien la ou l’on etait. Apres tout, on y etait aussi bien qu’en face.
peyman eshqi
Iran
Local time: 00:37
English translation:In the end, we were in as good a place as any.
Explanation:
The narrator notes worrying about where they should be and what they should be doing, but realistically in the end it didn't matter.
Selected response from:

Danielle Dupuis
Canada
Local time: 15:07
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6after all, the grass was no greener on the other side of the fence
philgoddard
4 +6In the end, we were in as good a place as any.
Danielle Dupuis
3 +2After all, we were as well off there as over the road.
Marco Solinas
4might as well be face to face
Justin Reeve
2after all, we would have still found ourselves face to face
Barbara Cochran, MFA
2 -1After all, we were as good as face to face/opposite
AllegroTrans
Summary of reference entries provided
https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4671130/mod_resource/content/0/152498669-Especes-d-espace
Marco Solinas

Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
après tout, on y était aussi bien qu’en face
might as well be face to face


Explanation:
I think this captures the idiom reasonably well.

Justin Reeve
Canada
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: not sure your verb tense is very accurate
40 mins

neutral  Tony M: I share W/A's misgivings about your verb tense, and also, 'face-to-face' may be twisting the source expression a little bit?
8 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
after all, the grass was no greener on the other side of the fence


Explanation:
I'm not clear who this is about, but "en face" means opposite, so I take this to imply that the neighbors or people across the street were no better or worse off.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 175

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  SafeTex: I don't think it's the neighbours but rather "you" or "we" would be no better off on the other side. That said, your suggestion is good with eiether interpretation
4 hrs
  -> Thanks. I'm saying we're no better off than the neighbors, which is the same as the neighbors are no better off than us.

agree  Fatine Echenique: C'est la marque :)
6 hrs

agree  Victoria Britten
10 hrs

agree  Jennifer White
11 hrs

agree  Verginia Ophof
13 hrs

agree  Sarah Bessioud
16 hrs

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: how does "en face" become next door?
1 day 15 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): -1
After all, we were as good as face to face/opposite


Explanation:
Low CL as question lacks context

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Note added at 2 hrs (2021-04-05 00:34:00 GMT)
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aussi bien que - as good as

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:07
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 115

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: Ah, but your version in EN introduces a sudden ambiguity that is not there in the S/T: "as good as" = 'effectviely, pretty nearly, equivalent to...
7 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
after all, we would have still found ourselves face to face


Explanation:
My interpretation.

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Note added at 1 hr (2021-04-04 23:58:21 GMT)
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or "that we were still face to face"

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Note added at 2 hrs (2021-04-05 00:26:48 GMT)
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Or "after everything,.."

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Note added at 3 hrs (2021-04-05 01:30:41 GMT)
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Or what about this? "After all is said and done, we still would have come full circle."

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Note added at 3 hrs (2021-04-05 01:42:09 GMT)
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Or "we would have still gone back to where we started from".

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 17:07
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
After all, we were as well off there as over the road.


Explanation:
See page 37 of https://monoskop.org/images/b/b0/Perec_Georges_Species_of_Sp... . It is a published English translation of "Espèces d'espaces" by Georges Perec.
I happen to like the translation.

Marco Solinas
Local time: 14:07
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 41

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M
4 hrs

agree  Adrian MM.: ..'across the road' is arguably borne out in the next para. of your quote 'On a du mal à changer, ne serait-ce que ses meubles de place. Déménager, c'est toute une affaire. On reste dans Je même quartier, on le regrette si l'on en change.'
8 hrs
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
In the end, we were in as good a place as any.


Explanation:
The narrator notes worrying about where they should be and what they should be doing, but realistically in the end it didn't matter.

Danielle Dupuis
Canada
Local time: 15:07
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  ormiston: This seems plausible, and in the right tone
41 mins

agree  writeaway
5 hrs

agree  Yolanda Broad
5 hrs

agree  Michele Fauble
10 hrs

agree  Clive Phillips
14 hrs

agree  Yvonne Gallagher: nice (and accurate)
1 day 9 hrs
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Reference comments


4 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4671130/mod_resource/content/0/152498669-Especes-d-espace

Reference information:
See https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4671130/mod_resou...
Save it in PDF format and go to page 50 of the PDF. You will find the quote in the middle of the page. I believe the book has been translated into English under the title "Species of spaces". However, I have been unable to find the English version.

Marco Solinas
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 41

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Adrian MM.
8 hrs
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