French term
Iran
fait sa toilette
| 5 +4 | gets washed |
Conor McAuley
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| 4 +3 | has a wash |
Nathalie Beaudelot
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| 4 +2 | spruces herself up |
Yelena Perel
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| 5 | washes up |
Barbara Cochran, MFA
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| 4 | grooms herself |
Gregory Marneffe
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Feb 16, 2021 15:40: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other"
Feb 16, 2021 16:37: Michele Fauble changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): Conor McAuley, Tony M, Michele Fauble
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Proposed translations
France
Excellence, Expertise & Experience
Native in: English (Variants: Wales / Welsh, UK, Scottish, Irish, British)
Works in: French to English, English
gets washed
| agree |
philgoddard
32 mins
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Thanks Phil!
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| agree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: Or "(is) getting washed", continuous form.
47 mins
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Thanks Nikki! I didn't have the context when I posted.
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| agree |
Tony M
: I don't like this use of a pseudo-passive with 'gets' — it sounds almost like someone is washing her! 'has a wash' would surely be more natural and unambiguous?
48 mins
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Thanks Tony! I think it's a question of regional, personal and even historical usage -- I would say I'm having a shower, but maybe the character's wash consisted of a splash of water on the face and a quick brush of the teeth.
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| agree |
Michele Fauble
: In my American English usage it’s ‘get cleaned up’.
1 hr
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Thanks Michele!
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| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: I have to rather cheekily say that this reminds me of those people you see in the queue at Costa saying "can I get two lattes please"
6 hrs
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?
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France
ATA-certified: engineering, medical
Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian , English
Works in: English to Russian, French to Russian, English to Ukrainian, and 5 more.
spruces herself up
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: Your reference shows the term in use but doesn't indicate that it is a translation
5 mins
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True; however, I don't think it is our goal to provide a link to a dictionary that includes the term in question. Besides, it is not always possible.
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| agree |
Barbara Cochran, MFA
: You beat me to it! Certainly the most literary and inventive option on the page.
23 mins
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Thank you
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| agree |
Verginia Ophof
25 mins
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Thank you
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| neutral |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: In context, I can find nothing to suggest this rendering. "To spruce o/s up" means making a special effort to look nice. "Faire sa toilette" is about getting washed, so this is an overtranslation here.//This is anachronous.///Sorry, not anachr. 159/1974.
31 mins
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I agree, more context is needed. Not sure it is anachronous, though.
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| neutral |
Tony M
: As Nikki says, 'spruces herself up' is over-translation, and also in my view rather colloquial in style for what appears to be the register here.
42 mins
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No context was presented when I posted my answer.
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| neutral |
philgoddard
: This might work well elsewhere, but in this unusual context the translation needs to be quite plodding and literal.
48 mins
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Agree. No context was presented when I posted my answer.
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: over-translation. More about performing her ablutions:-)
2 hrs
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Luxembourg
Absolute commitment to quality
Native in: French (Variants: Belgian, Standard-France)
Works in: English to French, Spanish to French, French to English, and 1 more.
grooms herself
I would say "has a wash" or "gets washed" if the focus is on getting clean or rather "grooms herself" if we put the emphasis on the fact she is making herself beautiful.
Best regards
Gregory
| neutral |
Tony M
: 'grooming' has too specific a connotation to really work here — and seriously risks over-translation
43 mins
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| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: agree with TM
1 hr
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: no, that's what a cat does
2 hrs
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United States
Laudable Lady Linguist
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 3 more.
washes up
| neutral |
philgoddard
: This only works in US English, and would sound very odd anywhere else, where it means do the dishes.
2 mins
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Bogus disagree, since I am an American translator.
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| neutral |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: In UK EN, it can be said that s/one "washes up" meaning himself but it is usually qualified, e.g. "washes up a treat, - well". It then means that the person can end up looking fine, nice, etc. once he has made an effort. So OK for UK, but overtranslation.
24 mins
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Makes no difference to me what it means in the UK, because like I mentioned before, I am an American translator.
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| neutral |
SafeTex
: the idea in my mind is not to rule out either US or UK suggestions but I'd still be very careful about offering up a suggestion in one variant that does not work at all in another if you happen to know that this is so and without warning the asker
2 hrs
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Ireland
Tourism, food industry, pharmaceutical
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to French
has a wash
| agree |
Vanessa Lewisohn
: yes it is !
2 hrs
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
: That's the way we say it but please see my comments about the English edition of the original book which surely must be the authority here
4 hrs
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| agree |
Tony M
: And as Nikki has pointed out elsewhere, we mustn't forget the possible 'continuous' form: 'is having a wash' or even 'is washing'
4 hrs
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Reference comments
washing
“When I have finished washing myself, I check if my girls have finished washing. If they have, we go to school together so we will not be late to school,” says Elaire Gama, 11, who attends the Bembéréké Primary School in a rural farming village in northern Benin.
« Quand j'ai fini ma toilette, je vérifie si « mes filles » ont terminé la leur. Si c'est le cas, nous partons à l'école ensemble pour ne pas arriver en retard, » dit Elaire Gama, 11 ans, qui fréquente l'école primaire de Bembéréké, un village d'agriculteurs d'une zone rurale, au nord du Bénin.
https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/benin_53376.html
https://www.unicef.org/french/infobycountry/benin_53376.html
Discussion
http://str-tn.org/species_of_spaces_and_other_pieces_georges...
Species Of Spaces And Other Pieces Georges Perec - str-tn.orgstr-tn.org › species_of_spaces_and_other_pieces_georg...
PDF
We also inform the library when a book is "out of print" and propose an antiquarian . ... Species of Spaces and Other Pieces - Georges Perec - Google Books ...
but I don't like to get involved with such websites.
Not necessarily the "correct" translation, but an "official" translation.
Used regarding cats cleaning themselves too!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28297.Species_of_Spaces_a...
I'm not sure if you're translating this into Persian or just reading it, and I'm not suggesting you rely on someone else's translation rather than the original, but it does exist in English.