Welcome to Baseball in French, Lesson 2. Previous lessons can be found here.
Today's term is la flèche.
In English, that translates to "the arrow". What's the baseball translation?
Line drive.
As in the following broadcaster expression:
Here's the pitch... and Dawson shoots an arrow into left field for a base hit!
I think it's simple enough to picture an archer loosing an arrow with purpose toward its target a couple hundred feet away, and
how that action would resemble a line drive. Considering Dawson amassed 1735 singles, 503 doubles, 98 triples, and 438 home runs over his career, you can be sure he slung a bunch of arrows himself.
In the English language, we've got numerous terms for a line drive: dart, seed, pea, bullet, rocket shot, liner, laser, frozen rope, etc.
Arrow is a little more French and elegant, isn't it?
What do you readers think? Good terminology? Or do you prefer some of the English-language versions?
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Lesson 3 a few Sundays from now.
I'm a fan of creative metaphors... especially on the fly like in a broadcast booth... regardless of language.
ReplyDeleteRight? It has even more of an effect with radio broadcasts. Really helps paint the picture and keep the audience engaged.
DeleteI put French down as my primary language I wanted to learn jn school. Got Latin instead which is what I put last. I still wish I lgt anything but Latin. Besides that, because I'm bored, the whole sentence you used in French is "Voici le terrain... et Dawson décoche une flèche dans le champ gauche pour un coup sûr !"
ReplyDeleteThanks for that translation, TwinKiller! I'm going to have to find a full baseball game broadcast in French now.
DeleteI don't know about arrow... but is does sound nice in French!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Jon!
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