Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
1ère attribution de prix a été garantie
English translation:
1st round of prize awards has been guaranteed
French term
Retired as of Jan 2019!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
1ère attribution de prix a été garantie
Comes up in a company sweepstakes blurb sent to customers taking part in the lottery. Doesn't quite make sense in the context of the rest of the text. At the outset, the winning numbers are 'extracted' from lists and randomly assigned to participants, along with the non-winning numbers.
Does this sentence make sense as it stands? (it is I believe a translation from the Italian)
TIA for your help.
May 5, 2016 10:45: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "business"
Jun 24, 2016 06:45: Dr. Mara Huber Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
Germany
Professional experience since 1984
Native in: German 
, English
Works in: English to German, German to English, French to German, and 3 more.
1st round of prize awards has been guaranteed
United States
An economic geek with social skills
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
the first prize award was for you/you won the first prize award
| disagree |
Tony M
: But it doesn't mean you won the first prize!
11 mins
|
| disagree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: I think you have fallen into the trap intended ; the original means that X is among the first to receive a prize.
2 days 16 mins
|
United Kingdom
Your language needs understood
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English
your first prize is guaranteed
Translate more than words: their spirit
Native in: French , English (Variants: British, UK, US)
Works in: English to French, French to English
you have been awarded first prize
| disagree |
Tony M
: You too have "fallen into the intended trap" as Nikki points out; this person has NOT won first prize, as asker has confirmed — but the promoters want to make them FEEL like they have, hence the evasive wording.
26 mins
|
Discussion
"E’ A LEI CHE E’ STATA GARANTITA LA 1A ATTRIBUZIONE DI PREMIO"
I too noted the phrasing "1ère attribution de prix" and not "attirubtion du 1er prix". Unless there is an error in the original, then this is carefully phrased and meant to give the impression that what you are hearing is something which means :
"you have been awarded first prize"
when in fact what is being said is :
"you are among those to receive one of the first prizes to be awarded".
Nothing more, nothing less.
It is also possible that the original Italian was so convoluted that it was nearly impossible to interpret the deep structure without more information about the inner workings of the contest.
http://www.bernardwerber.com/unpeuplus/ESRA/tentative.html
So you need to be just as clever in English and find a wording that is both true (you are in the first drawing and you won... something) and what the reader would like to hear "... the first prize"
There are newspapers specializing in these titles in France, for example "Hollande laisse tomber", and the full report details that a spoon has fallen from his hand: everything is true, but the reader gets fooled
Participants receiving this notice are guaranteed to receive a prize, but not the 1st prize, the text is seemingly purposely vague...
There are not two rounds as such, which is why I'm a bit confused. I think the idea is simply that "your prize is guaranteed", even if that prize is a 2-€ coupon to purchase some goo with.
The way it works is, a few weeks after the customer agrees to take part in the sweepstakes, a second letter is sent stating e.g. "you're already a winner", but of course they must submit an order to claim the prize,.
It's the usual blurb: "Notification: you have won a prize!" — then it goes on in the small print to say that your name is in the draw to possibly win "the holiday of a lifetime with the person of your choice [I'll choose Brad Pitt, thanks!]", but in the meantime you can have 5p off a bag of cat litter...
So you have been awarded a prize in the first round of the draw...