shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted

[Ele0905]

Hi there,

what would the equivalent be of this phrase in French ? Meaning is trying to stop something bad happening when it has already happened and the situation cannot be changed Eg ' Improving security after a major theft would seem to be a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.'

thanks

 

[Phenyx13]

Bonjour / Hello,

I would translate it this way :
" ...revient à fermer la porte de l'écurie après que le cheval se soit sauvé."

 

[archijacq]

... revient à intervenir quand le mal est déjà fait

 

[Ele0905]

thank you!

is there not another idiom you use in French to have the same meaning?? thanks

 

[petit1]

On dit bien "arriver comme les carabiniers" mais c'est un peu diffférent.

 

[archijacq]

"après coup"

 

[petit1]

Aussi "arriver après la bataille".

 

[Beachxhair]

Entre le train est raté et arriver après la bataille, lequel est plus proche au sens de l'anglais shutting the stable door...?

 

[petit1]

arriver après la bataille. / après coup
"le train est raté" n'est pas une expression usuelle.

 

[Michelvar]

L'expression avec le train est "rater le train de ...." (exemple d'un titre récent : l'Europe exhorte ses industriels a ne pas rater le train de la 5G).
Sinon, en effet, "arriver après la bataille", ou "louper le coche".

 

[Beachxhair]

Je tiens à préciser une chose: louper le coche veut dire, selon le dictionnaire to miss the boat....qui ne signifie pas closing the stable door...To miss the boat = manquer l'occasion de faire qqch, ou se tromper de cible/faire fausse route. Sauf si louper le coche n'a pas tout à fait le sens pareil à l'anglais to miss the boat?

 

[ph_l]

what would the equivalent be of this phrase in French ? Meaning is trying to stop something bad happening when it has already happened and the situation cannot be changed Eg ' Improving security after a major theft would seem to be a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.'

je ne crois pas qu'il existe une expression idiomatique analogue en français; pour rester dans l'analogie animale, je proposerais "...comme fermer la cage après que l'oiseau se soit envolé".

 

[LMorland]

je ne crois pas qu'il existe une expression idiomatique analogue en français; pour rester dans l'analogie animale, je proposerais "...comme fermer la cage après que l'oiseau se soit envolé".

I like your expression! I would just point out that most sources agree that the subjunctive should not be used after apres que. (Apparently many people do, out of analogy with avant que.)

 

[jekoh]

Most prescriptivists may agree, but if anything the majority of the speakers consider the indicative to be incorrect. See Subjonctif ou indicatif ?

 

[LMorland]

That's what we in English call a "hypercorrection" -- trying to be correct when one is actually violating the rules of that particular language. Some AE speakers incorrectly say, "He came over to see my husband and I" ... which is the same kind of thing. They know it's wrong to say "me," but they don't know why, or when to use the subject pronoun and when the object pronoun.

 

[jekoh]

No, I don't think that's what we call une hypercorrection.

According to Wikipedia :

Hypercorrection can be found among speakers of less prestigious language varieties who attempt to produce forms associated with high-prestige varieties

There is no attempt to produce a form associated with high-prestige varieties here. We're not "trying to be correct" when we use the subjonctive (nor are we "violating the rules").