Perfectionnez votre anglais en chanson #2 : Idioms & Personality

Hello Folk’s,

En ces temps de confinement studieux (pour moi, en tous cas !!) et après le 1er article sur les idiomes et les animaux, voici une nouvelle leçon d’anglais pour froggies à l’accent douteux, et qui vous permettra de passer un nouveau cap… je l’espère !!

Aujourd’hui, retour sur quelques expressions à connaitre absolument pour décrire le caractère et la personnalité des uns et des autres.

Idioms & Personality

Qu’ils soient superbes (rough diamonds) ou carrément insupportables (pain in the neck), vos ami(e)s et/ou collaborateurs méritent bien d’être traités de tous les noms :

• 1) ‘He is a chatterbox’ = c’est une vraie pipelette,
• 2) ‘You’re a big mouth !’ = vous êtes une grande gueule !
• 3) ‘I’m a creep’ = je suis une canaille,
• 4) ‘He is such a Scrooge !’ = quel radin !
• 5) ‘It has been a wimp’ = il a été faible, c’est une poule mouillée,
• 6) ‘He loves to be a smart aleck’ = il adore faire le malin,
• 7) ‘A solitary daydreamer’ = un rêveur solitaire,
• 8) ‘Is he hot-headed ?’ = est-ce une tête brûlée ?
• 9) ‘A busybody is someone who meddles in the affairs of others’ = un fouineur est une personne qui aime s’immiscer dans les affaires des autres,
• 10) ‘I know how to deal with troublemakers’ = je sais gérer les provocateurs, fauteurs de troubles,
• 11) ‘I admire her because of her glowing personality’ = je l’admire car elle est lumineuse/rayonnante,
• 12) ‘Your manager may appear to be a wet blanket’ = ton chef risque de passer pour un rabat-joie,
• 13) ‘Some have decided to lay low’ = certains ont décidé de faire le dos rond,
• 14) ‘Am I a happy camper with this ?’ = est-ce que je suis content de cette situation ?
• 15) ‘No, she’s not a bunny boiler’ = non, ce n’est pas une méchante revancharde.

Et pour aller un peu plus loin dans votre apprentissage de la langue de Shakespeare, voici la pépite du jour, ‘Workingman’s Blues #2’, signée Bob Dylan… ainsi que les paroles partiellement traduites en bas de cet article…

Workingman’s Blues #2

There’s an evenin’ haze (= brume) settlin’ over the town
Starlight by the edge of the creek (= ruisseau)
The buyin’ power of the proletariat’s gone down
Money’s gettin’ shallow and weak
The place I love best is a sweet memory
It’s a new path that we trod (= fouler)
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad

My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
Come sit down on my knee
You are dearer to me than myself
As you yourself can see
I’m listenin’ to the steel rails hum (= bourdonnement)
Got both eyes tight shut
Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
Creeping it’s way (= rampant) into my gut (= intestin)

Meet me at the bottom, don’t lag behind (=être en retard)
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back (= être en retrait) or fight your best on the front line
Sing a little bit of these workingman’s (= ouvrier) blues

Now, I’m sailin’ on back, ready for the long haul (= trajet)
Tossed (= remué, balancé) by the winds and the seas
I’ll drag ’em all down to hell and I’ll stand ’em at the wall
I’ll sell ’em to their enemies
I’m tryin’ to feed my soul with thought (= réflexion)
Gonna sleep off the rest of the day
Sometimes no one wants what we got
Sometimes you can’t give it away

Now the place is ringed with countless foes (= ennemis, adversaires)
Some of them may be deaf and dumb
No man, no woman knows
The hour that sorrow (= chagrin) will come
In the dark I hear the night birds call
I can hear a lover’s breath
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
Sleep is like a temporary death

Meet me at the bottom, don’t lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues

Well, they burned my barn (= grange), they stole my horse
I can’t save a dime (= dix centimes)
I got to be careful, I don’t want to be forced
Into a life of continual crime
I can see for myself that the sun is sinking
How I wish you were here to see
Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking
That you have forgotten me?

Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss (= s’agiter) and they fret (= tracasser)
They waste your nights and days
Them I will forget
But you I’ll remember always
Old memories of you to me have clung (s’accrocher)
You’ve wounded me with words
Gonna have to straighten out your tongue
It’s all true, everything you have heard

Meet me at the bottom, don’t lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues

In you, my friend, I find no blame
Wanna look in my eyes, please do
No one can ever claim (= prétendre)
That I took up arms (= prendre les armes) against you
All across the peaceful sacred fields
They will lay you low
They’ll break your horns and slash you with steel
I say it so it must be so

Now I’m down on my luck and I’m black and blue
Gonna give you another chance
I’m all alone and I’m expecting you
To lead me off (= me diriger) in a cheerful (= joyeuse) dance
Got a brand new suit and a brand new wife
I can live on rice and beans
Some people never worked a day in their life
Don’t know what work even means

Meet me at the bottom, don’t lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the front line
Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues

Best Regards,

Meloman.

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