French term
France
Legal, Medical, Marketing & Gaming
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, French, French to English
de but en blanc
"Et si vous êtes tous si surpris lorsque quelque chose vous arrive, et que vous avez l'impression que ce n'est pas ce que vous vouliez, il est très possible que cela soit simplement dû à la confusion de vos propres intentions : vous ne savez pas ce que vous voulez, il vous serait surement bien ardu de le définir clairement si cela vous était demandé de but en blanc"
Just to remind, "de but en blanc" here means "to say / ask something suddenly, in a direct manner, without warning". And I'm wondering if there could be a English phrase to render that
Thank you all
| 5 +8 | out of the blue, outright |
Shilpa Dawda
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| 4 +1 | off the top of your head - off the cuff |
polyglot45
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| 3 +1 | unexpectedly/ suddenly/without prior notice |
Lisa Rosengard
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| dictionaries (two among others) |
writeaway
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May 28, 2020 14:34: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
May 28, 2020 14:45: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other"
Non-PRO (3): Katia Tolone, mchd, Yvonne Gallagher
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Proposed translations
India
15 years of experience in translations
Native in: French 
, English (Variants: US, UK)
Works in: French to English, Hindi to English, Gujarati to English
out of the blue, outright
Native in: English , French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
off the top of your head - off the cuff
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Note added at 23 mins (2020-05-28 09:46:04 GMT)
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this is from the other end of the telescope - if you were asked to do so off the cuff
| agree |
Cathy Rosamond
: I like off the cuff.
3 hrs
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: wrong end of telescope. Someone else asking you...
4 hrs
|
United Kingdom
experienced and well qualified linguist
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: Spanish to English, English, Spanish, and 3 more.
unexpectedly/ suddenly/without prior notice
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Note added at 23 hrs (2020-05-29 08:50:41 GMT)
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En anglais 'off the cuff' peut vouloir dire qu'il l'a dit comme si les mots lui étaient arrivés de sa propre manche. Une autre possibilité pour traduire la phrase idiomatique est 'out of the blue' comme si cette phrase-là lui était arrivée du ciel. En cas où les phrases idiomatiques en anglais peuvent porter un petit peu d'un reproche j'ai choisi 'unexpectedly' comme 'inattendu'.
Il vous serait durement bien ardu de le définir clairement si vous cela était demandé de but en blanc.
You would definitely find it difficult to clearly define it, if you were asked unexpectedly.
| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: asker is looking for a match for the French idiomatic expression
2 hrs
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As matches for the French idiomatic expression 'off the cuff', 'out of the blue' and 'outright' are OK, but 'from the top of his head might be better'.
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| neutral |
philgoddard
: Once again, you're not reading the question or the previous answers.
2 hrs
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As matches for the French idiomatic expression 'off the cuff', 'out of the blue', 'outright' are OK, but 'from the top of his head' might be better.
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| agree |
Wolf Draeger
: If Asker wants an expression then "point-blank" is closest but "suddenly" is absolutely fine.
2 days 3 hrs
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Reference comments
dictionaries (two among others)
d (locutions)
♦ de but en blanc : suddenly ; point-blank ; just like that*
■ il me demanda de but en blanc si… : he asked me point-blank ou straight out if…
Larousse (free online)
de but en blanc
locution adverbiale
[demander] point-blank, suddenly
[rétorquer] bluntly
demanda-t-elle de but en blanc she suddenly asked
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/but/1...
| agree |
mchd
1 hr
|
| agree |
philgoddard
2 hrs
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| agree |
Jennifer White
2 hrs
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