moving by numbers

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would please tell me what "moving by numbers" means in this passage? How would you translate it in French?

"The Nairobi police say she's been killed", Mildren said, as if he said it every day.
"Utter nonsense," Woodrow snapped back before he had given himself time to think. "Don't be ridiculous. Where? When?
"At Lake Turkana. The eastern shore. This week end. They're being diplomatic about the details. In her car. An unfortunate accident, according to them," he added apologetically. "I had a sense that that were trying to spare our feelings".
"Whose car? " Woodrow demanded wildly —fighting now, rejecting the whole mad concept — who, how, where and his other thoughts and senses forced down, down, down, and all his secrets memories of her furiously edited out, to be replaced by the baked moonscape of Turkana as he recalled it from a field trip six months ago in the unimpeachable company of the military attaché. "Stay where you are, I'm coming up. And don't talk to anyone else, d'you hear?"

Moving by numbers now, Woodrow replaced the receiver, walked down his desk, picked up his jacket from the back of his chair and pulled it on, sleeve by sleeve.

All the best,
Hela

 

[Anglika]

He is doing things automatically and in careful sequence.

 

[hela]

Bonjour Alain,

Comment traduiriez-vous "moving by numbers" dans ce contexte, SVP?
Cordialement

 

[susiedqq]

Since Woodrow is in shock from hearing the news about his friends, he is numb, moving without thinking.

Doing things "by the number" is by strict procedures or steps.

(Sorry, I don't know French)

 

[Anglika]

"se deplacer avec precision"
"se deplacer point par point"
"se deplacer methodiquement"

All of these could be used.

 

[hela]

Dear Alain and friends,

In the same passage we have:

Shiny, overweight, twenty-four-year-old Mildren, High Commissioner's private secretary, Essex accent, fresh out from England on his first overseas posting — and known to the junior staff, predictably, as Mildred.

How do you understand "shiny" = "toujours impeccable / tiré à quatre épingles" OR "rafiné" OR something else ?

Many thanks,
Hela

 

[Anglika]

I think it means more like "as shiny as a new coin" - he is young and unspoiled.

 

[hela]

And what about "Essex accent", is it a posh accent or rather something like Cockney ? Would you know a site where I can hear it, please?

All the best

 

[Flittle]

Hi Hela,

Try this link.

Estuary English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frank

 

[hela]

Good evening Anglika,

I didn't quite understant your explanation of "shiny"

I think it means more like "as shiny as a new coin" - he is young and unspoiled.

by unspoiled do you mean that he is an unexperienced diplomat?

Best regards

 

[Anglika]

Yes - absolutely. Metaphorically he is as bright and shiny as a newly minted coin that has never been used before. He is unmarked by experience, is naive and new and very young.

 

[CHOMAT]

Candide, ingénu , inexpérimenté.

 

[Anglika]

Alain, how would you translate the metaphorical "shiny" or is it not possible?

 

[CHOMAT]

Unfortunately , the metaphoric side of shiny may be lost in French. There are nouns, adjectives which mean unexperience but in a pejorative way : like un bleu .The standard is lower as well.
I have looked for ' light'adjectives like shiny but none gives off this sense of naïvety .
Any suggestion ?

 

[hela]

Good morning,

Could "shiny" also mean "sweaty / greasy / perspiring" ?

So, in this context would you opt for:
1) spruced up, neatly dressed = tiré à quatre épingles
2) inexperienced / unseasoned, green = bleu
3) bald head (?) = chauve
4) sweaty = luisant, brillant, graisseux (??)

What a dilemma for a translator! :-?
All the best

 

[Anglika]

It is, isn't it!

The adjective "shiny" could be that he was rather over-weight and sweaty, but unless the broader context confirms that, I would avoid it.
I wouldn't use "bald" unless it is clear elsewhere that he is bald.

My instinct is to go with Alain's "ingenu" if you want to avoid "un bleu".

There is a clue to his appearance and behaviour in the reference that he is nick-named "Mildred" which implies a person of slightly over-evident refinement and naivety.

 

[CHOMAT]

Bleu belongs to the lexical cluster of the army.

ingénu would do. It encompasses both genders and yet, intuitively, there is something feminine in ingénu. One tends to see a young and innocent girl.

We could opt for a shift from adjective to noun:
Un novice ( like the English novice), perhaps will do meaning someone unexperienced. Candide ( naïve and unspoiled which slightly differs from the English candid ) as an adjective seems OK to me as well.