Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
laisser quelque peu à désirer
English translation:
it left something to be desired
French term
laisser quelque peu à désirer
Quant à la chose que nous avons eue, elle laissait quelque peu à désirer.
I need to provide a good rendering of what this phrase actually means and the emotional content (sarcastic, objective, etc.) is for the native speaker.
Thanks very much,
Harold
| 4 +4 | it left something to be desired |
Karen Tucker (X)
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| 4 +2 | to leave quite / much to be desired |
Philippe Maillard
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| 4 +2 | leave a little to be desired |
David Hollywood
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| 4 +1 | it wasn't all it was cracked up to be |
CMJ_Trans (X)
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| 4 +1 | it was not quite up to the mark |
Anna Kiff
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| 3 +1 | leave a little bit to be desired |
Laurel Porter (X)
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| 3 -1 | left little to be desired |
French Foodie
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Aug 3, 2005 15:21: writeaway changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (1): df49f (X)
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Proposed translations
it left something to be desired
| agree |
Rachel Davenport
3 mins
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| agree |
Rachel Ward
44 mins
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| agree |
Tony M
: Yes, I think you've captured it very well --- a euphemism for 'wasn't very good'
2 hrs
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| agree |
Philip Taylor
20 hrs
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Brazil
Accuracy first
Native in: French (Variants: Belgian, Standard-France) 
, English (Variant: UK)
Works in: English to French, Portuguese to French
to leave quite / much to be desired
| agree |
Laurel Porter (X)
: If it's expressly "a lot", rather than the English understatement, then I'd say "leave quite a bit to be desired."
4 mins
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Yes, I do agree : quite a bit. Thanks !
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| agree |
Aisha Maniar
11 mins
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Thank you !
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leave a little bit to be desired
"What we had together left a little bit to be desired," wasn't all it could be, etc.
Just my take. Good luck!
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Note added at 4 mins (2005-08-03 12:27:42 GMT)
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Oops, sorry, David - you got there first!
| agree |
Sinziana Paltineanu (X)
7 mins
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| neutral |
David Hollywood
: no problem at all :)
42 mins
|
worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
leave a little to be desired
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-08-03 12:38:08 GMT)
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But something about watching it play out just... left a little to be desired.
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Note added at 16 mins (2005-08-03 12:39:03 GMT)
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or maybe: left a tad to be desired
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Note added at 16 mins (2005-08-03 12:39:28 GMT)
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if you\'re looking for a more ironic version :)
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Note added at 17 mins (2005-08-03 12:40:06 GMT)
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The plot left a tad to be desired. At some points I found myself wondering, \"And
your point is?\". It can be very difficult to follow at times, ...
| agree |
Sinziana Paltineanu (X)
: http://www.allwords.com/word-leave little to be desired.html
6 mins
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| agree |
mcguegan
2 hrs
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it wasn't all it was cracked up to be
the sentence means "to a certain extent it left something to be desired" - it wasn't perfect by a long shot
| agree |
Trudy Peters
: I like that, provided it fits the context - of which there is little.
4 mins
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it was not quite up to the mark
left little to be desired
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Note added at 30 mins (2005-08-03 12:52:51 GMT)
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More examples along the lines of CMJ\'s and Anna\'s suggestions:
wasn\'t up to snuff (much less formal)
wasn\'t up to scratch
wasn\'t up to standard (more formal)
I agree that left *something\" to be desired is better than my inital suggestion.
| disagree |
Tony M
: Sorry, Mara, but your first suggestion is off the mark for the English expression; it needs 'a' or 'something' or some other qualifier, otherwise it means the opposite!
2 hrs
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I couldn't agree more! Which is why I added a note. :-) Something to be desired is the right expression.
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Discussion