Florence Bremond Jan 14, 2007:

MOD NOTE - Il s'agit d'une question **linguistique** - merci à chacun d'éviter de faire des commentaires personnels sur le physique du ministre concerné, et surtout d'éviter de faire des remarques à caractère politique, de quelque bord qu'elles soient.

David West (asker) Jan 14, 2007:

Hi Elisabeth. Sentence, and a bit more for context. In few other European countries are those of immigrant descent so heavily ghettoised as they are in impoverished housing estates like No 112 at Aubervilliers. In few other countries could an interior minister denounce the rioters as "rabble" who deserve to be sand-blasted, and yet remain one of the most popular politicians in the land. That the French prime minister at such a moment is an unelected aristocrat, with a pen frequently dipped in purple ink, makes it hard to resist talk of an ancien regime. Indeed, few European countries have a more exclusive metropolitan elite.

Elisabeth Toda-v.Galen Jan 14, 2007:

It's "fauteurs de trouble" and "décapés", but "décapés à la sableuse" is not really a French expression... Could you give the English sentence ?