Word Exploration

I wish here to explore and explain some of the expressions that are so hard to translate from English into French and vice versa, and to invite comments and contributions that can help clarify or enlargen the possibilities for translation.


When training to facilitate the Circles of Active Hope initiated by Chris Johnstone, I noticed that Chris has an amazing knack of finding pithy, short-hand ways of cramming essential concepts in short, sharp sayings that stick in the mind...in English.
I am at a loss to find decent equivalents in French!
So I am just going to describe some of them here and invite your participation to the ongoing process of finding concise ways of expressing these things in French.


For example, when moving through the first phase of the spiral: Grounding ourselves in Gratitude, Chris suggests a practice he calls 42+.

So compact in English! But how to transfer this into a pithy saying in French?

4 = for = gratitude for something
2 = to = gratitude towards somebody
+ = the additional step you could take to communicate your gratitude or materialise it in some way


Another tricky one for me is Chris' exploration of the Great Turning, when he mentions:

• turning away from the industrial consumer society that is devastating the planet
• turning towards a life-sustaining society, and
• turning up to play one's part in that construction

To turn away from is to turn your back on something.
To turn towards is to turn to start approach something more closely.
To turn up means to be present, with the aim of participating.

Again, I'm at a loss as to how to say this is in a rhythmic or fun way in French.
Any ideas are welcome!

---