Cycad

Justt forgot : feel free to ask if I can help with french. If I have time : with pleasure.

Ben C Smith

Thanks, everybody. (Just so long it is clear that it would be the French language I occasionally need help with, by the way, not necessarily certain other kinds of French. )

Actually, I misspoke when I said that I could not find that word in a dictionary. I was really using a glossary. I did try to find it in an online French-English dictionary, but I parsed it incorrectly and got nothing.

But now that I know that the IIDB is positively swarming with French experts, forget the dictionary! (JK.)

I have modified my translation accordingly, and will upload it later today. Many thanks.

Ben.

Huon

ébranlé : past participle of the verb "ébranler". A house can be "ébranlée", shaken by an earthquake. But also figuratively, my faith, my confidence is shaken "ébranlée".

Now, I did not learn the verb "to wank" at school :rolling: Thank you, IIDB !

And familiar "un petit branleur" is a lazy man. (petit = small, pejorative). No equivalent for women.

The root of all these words is the verb "branler" and the masculine substantive "le branle". From the dictionary, "le branle" is the movement of a thing which oscillates to and fro, like a bell. Or, more ancient, an impulsion given to something. Or, in the 17th century, it was a sort of ceremonious dance. And the dictionary says that the etymology of these words is the same as that of the verb "brandir" (to brandish, to wave something, maybe a sword, with great movements)

vsop44

I have a petit Larousse dictionnary and here is what it says .

Ebranler : Diminuer la solidite par des secousses , modifier les sentiments de quelqu'un, troubler , emouvoir .

Ebranlement : mouvement cause par une secousse violente

By the way I found S C Carlson 's tranlation very good .