broyer du noir

[veebs]

"ils broient du noir"- i think this could translate into english as "they are ground down" but i'm not sure. also, is this an informal phrase? thanks in advance

Moderator note: multiple threads merged to create this one

 

[Agnès E.]

Bonjour veebs,
Bienvenue sur le forum !

Mon dictionnaire Robert & Collins propose : to brood, to be despondent.

 

[zam]

No it is not informal, just standard French. Yes, 'brood' and 'despondent' are both fine. You could also use 'dejected', even 'miserable' would be fine here.

 

[river]

broyer du noir - to be down in the dumps

 

[zam]

"down in the dumps'' est bien mais un chouia au-dessous du registre de langue requis pour le cas qui nous intéresse.

 

[river]

Now I'm down in the dumps, Zam. Thanks.

 

[zam]

Oh, no, poor chuck ! what with the attack of S.A.D looming, we want to be careful ! we don't want to see those threads too often, do we ? It is so hard to actually differentiate between all these terms, they can be so subjective and down to personal interpretation as well. Your 'down in the dumps' DOES appear in one or 2 dictionaries for 'broyer du noir' but to me the register is a mite lower than 'broyer du noir', I'd probably translate it as 'avoir le cafard/bourdon'.

 

[Jean-Michel Carrère]

how about : be in the doldrums ?

 

[veebs]

I've just read all of the suggestions which were all very helpful, especially the comments on register.
The tone of the original article was quite informal and chatty so "down in the dumps" was perfect!
Thanks a mil folks,
v

 

[zam]

how about : be in the doldrums ?

Yes, it is an excellent alternative to what's been suggested, note also that 'in the doldrums' is often used to describe an ailing economy ('une économie en crise/dépression économique').

 

[Naturine]

comment puis-je traduire "il a broyé du noir aujourd'hui"?

 

[Budd]

In English, the closest I can think of is to be glum or gloomy; "down in the mouth" is more idiomatic. I think some dictionaries suggest to "be in the dolcrums," but that is a bit out of date--and is a really dead metaphor, "doldrums" having referred at one time to an area of the ocean that got no wind, i.e., to be listless, not moving, lifeless. It might be useful as well to consider using the word "melancholy" since etymologically the word also incorporates "black."

 

[Naturine]

Thank you very much. And is it correct if I say "He saw of the gloom today" pour du "il a vu du noir aujourd'hui"?

 

[Budd]

And is it correct if I say "He saw of the gloom today" pour du "il a vu du noir aujourd'hui"?

No, it is not, Naturine. "He was gloomy today" or "He was down in the dumps today" or even "He had black thoughts today" would be much better.

Keep in mind also that the French construction de + the article (meaning "some") has no parallel in English. For example, you might ask the waiter for "de la moutarde" because just asking for "moutarde" means asking for all the mustard while in English you would simply ask for mustard and get some, but not all.

 

[les beaux nez rouges]

Bonjour,

je recherche la traduction de " Broyer du Noir ... Buvez du Rouge"

La notion de couleur étant importante, le mot rouge signifiant buvez du vin...

je remercie la communauté par avance

Bonne journée

 

[Neuchy]

J'ignore s'il y a une équivalente en anglais mais j'ai des doutes qu'il en existe une qui reprend ce jeu de mots broyer-buvez/noir-rouge. Une traduction littérale reprendrai les suggestions pour "broyer du Noir" dans les forums ici en ajoutant "have/drink a/some red wine" (N.B. : on ne comprend pas automatiquement qu'on parle du vin si on dit "a/some red" comparé à "du rouge" en français).

 

[SteveD]

Perhaps a bit old-fashioned now but maybe: Feeling blue??? Drink some red!

 

[Lucky19]

Personnellement, je ne trouve pas que cette expression fasse vieux ou soit désormais désuète. Sans être omniprésente, elle est quand même commune.

A moins que vous parliez de "feeling blue" ou de "drink some red" ? Dans ce cas, j'ai rien dit !

 

[SteveD]

Je me demande si "feeling blue" sonne démodé. Aux plus jeunes que moi à répondre !

 

[LARSAY]

"Feeling blue" ou "Having the Blues" is still very alive ! To keep the "color" theme :
"Feeling blue...drink some red"

 

[Juju333]

Comment dire "Il broie du noir depuis qu'il a rompu"?

Je voudrais un verbe s'il vous plait, et pas "être" comme par exemple "be down in the dumps", "be depressed" etc)

Merci

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

"He's been depressed" is more formal than "He's been down in the dumps", like "Il est déprimé" is than "broyer du noir". Both convey the same meaning. I'm not sure there's a single verb (like "Il déprime"). And "broyer du noir" is three words!

 

[joelooc]

À part "he feels like shit" qui est un chouia vulgaire et assez vague je ne vois rien qui contourne la description d'un état par un verbe d'action.
He rakes over his despair/his melancholia ???

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

He rakes over his despair/his melancholia ???

Neither is English, sorry.

 

[joelooc]

I was not even half enthusiastic about it myself.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

Maybe "He's been moping ever since he broke up." ??

But with whom? If it had been he who had broken up with someone why would he be "broyei-ng du noir" (unless he was having second thoughts)? "Since the breakup...", "Since the/his breakup with Xxxx*.", maybe, if he had been the one dumped. [Hey, there's a possible wordplay there: "Since she** dumped him, he's been down in the dumps."]
*The other person's name would probably have been used. If it had been mentioned earlier, "Since they broke up..."
**Or "Since he dumped him...", depending, if the other person wasn't named. (Context and... PC oblige!)