Oct 28, 2017 12:15
6 yrs ago
French term
United Kingdom
Master in Translation Studies 5 yrs exp
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, Portuguese to English
il m’a traitée de camée
French to English
Social Sciences
Slang
This phrase appears in a witness statement relating to fraud.
The context is that a woman involved in the affair is recounting a phone call she received in which the gang leader wants to know if she is going to inform on him. I can understand that she is being insulted but what is the best translation in English.
The context is that a woman involved in the affair is recounting a phone call she received in which the gang leader wants to know if she is going to inform on him. I can understand that she is being insulted but what is the best translation in English.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 5 +10 | He called me a junkie |
Odette Grille (X)
|
| 4 +1 | he called me a druggie |
Tony M
|
| 3 -1 | he called me a cokehead |
Daryo
|
Change log
Oct 28, 2017 21:09: writeaway changed "Field" from "Law/Patents" to "Social Sciences"
Proposed translations
+10
23 mins
Selected
He called me a junkie
More common than "druggie" here in Canada, I believe.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
: But maybe less so in the UK, where I think this term seems now to be a bit dated, perhaps? Well, to those of us not in the 'milieu', at any rate ;-)
4 mins
|
| agree |
Azhar Zafar
6 mins
|
| neutral |
Charles Davis
: The problem with this, to me, is that a junkie is specifically a heroin user (junk = heroin), whereas "camé(e)" doesn't specify; it could be anything: cocaine, crack, meth, even marihuana
2 hrs
|
| agree |
katsy
: on hard drugs. I thonk Charles is right strictly speaking but I'm not convinced the term is used specifically for heroin addicts/ sorry my phone won't let me write "think" above😞
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Jennifer White
: agree with Katsy
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Solen Fillatre
: Yes, junkie
6 hrs
|
| agree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
6 hrs
|
| agree |
Lara Barnett
: Whatever the original specific use of junkie may be, this is still commonly used more generally for any drug overuse.
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: not just in Canada. word is used for any overuse of hard drugs as few junkies these days take heroin on its own but rather a cocktail of drugs.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=junkie
11 hrs
|
| agree |
Paolo Dagonnier
2 days 19 hrs
|
| agree |
writeaway
: Agree with others. It's the term for substance abusers. Definitely not specifically heroin. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/junkie
2 days 19 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks. I'm sure this is correct from the context"
+1
15 mins
French term (edited):
il m’a traité de camé
he called me a druggie
or 'accused me of being a druggie' — depends if it was just an empty insult, or if there was actually a literal accusation behind it.
'druggie' is equivalent register to the source term (as would be other terms like 'smackhead' etc.), but if you wanted to use a more formal term, you could say 'drug-addict'.
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Note added at 16 minutes (2017-10-28 12:31:39 GMT)
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It is also conceivable that she meant 'he accused me of being on drugs (at that particular moment), but I imagine that is probably less likely.
'druggie' is equivalent register to the source term (as would be other terms like 'smackhead' etc.), but if you wanted to use a more formal term, you could say 'drug-addict'.
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Note added at 16 minutes (2017-10-28 12:31:39 GMT)
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It is also conceivable that she meant 'he accused me of being on drugs (at that particular moment), but I imagine that is probably less likely.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Charles Davis
: I'm not sure I can imagine a gang leader using the word "druggie"; it sounds too mild to me. // Yes, point taken. The advantage of "druggie" is that it is non-specific. Practically every colloquial term (inc. e.g. "dopehead") refers to a particular drug.
2 hrs
|
|
Thanks, Charles! In direct speech, i'd agree with you; but as this is only reported speech; I thought it could be OK.
|
-1
14 hrs
he called me a cokehead
strictly speaking a cokehead
came \kam\ féminin
(Argot) Cocaïne ou toute autre drogue.
La came, commença-t-il, vois-tu c’est une organisation comme il n’y en a pas beaucoup qu’on pourrait comparer. — (Francis Carco, Images cachées, Éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 1928)
https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/came
although if could be also any other drug ...
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Note added at 14 hrs (2017-10-29 03:00:57 GMT)
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or possibly "a space cadet" ...
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Note added at 15 hrs (2017-10-29 03:35:34 GMT)
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"he told me that I'm off my head"
off my head
high on drugs or drink , out of it not really here
"i took so many painkillers i was off my head"
#stoned#drunk#high#floating#wasted
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=off my head
one other possibility, depending on what is the rest of the story - if the intended meaning was "you don't know what are doing ..." rather than just throwing insults of the "you're a junkie" kind ...
again, context, context, context!
came \kam\ féminin
(Argot) Cocaïne ou toute autre drogue.
La came, commença-t-il, vois-tu c’est une organisation comme il n’y en a pas beaucoup qu’on pourrait comparer. — (Francis Carco, Images cachées, Éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 1928)
https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/came
although if could be also any other drug ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2017-10-29 03:00:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
or possibly "a space cadet" ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2017-10-29 03:35:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"he told me that I'm off my head"
off my head
high on drugs or drink , out of it not really here
"i took so many painkillers i was off my head"
#stoned#drunk#high#floating#wasted
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=off my head
one other possibility, depending on what is the rest of the story - if the intended meaning was "you don't know what are doing ..." rather than just throwing insults of the "you're a junkie" kind ...
again, context, context, context!
Discussion