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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

approprier

English translation:

takes responsibility for

Added to glossary by Wyley Powell
Oct 29, 2021 01:41
2 yrs ago
50 viewers *
French term

approprier

French to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general) Bio of a consultant
The consultant in question has "expérience en certification et en conformité. Il ***s’approprie*** la validité des chiffres pour mener les financements, les fusions et les acquisitions à bien. C’est un conseiller stratégique de haut niveau, habitué à collaborer avec un grand nombre de partenaires.

TIA
Proposed translations (English)
3 takes responsibility for
4 +6 take ownership
4 to be on top of stg. / in control of stg.
4 To be across (the financials/fundamentals/figures)
4 to keep abreast of
4 to see something through to the end
3 to assess/check the validity/accuracy

Discussion

AllegroTrans Nov 4, 2021:
Or simply "is responsible for".
Julie Barber Nov 3, 2021:
My thoughts are that while the consultant will check the figures, the word does give a definite sense of taking responsibility/ownership of this task. You could use various alternative words such as "oversees", "ensures" etc.
Nikki Scott-Despaigne Nov 2, 2021:
Sorry Conor. Hadn't checked the discu posts. This expression includes "à bien" and immediately struck me as being an adaptation of the usual "mener à bien", seeing through to the end, that he does the job well.
AllegroTrans Oct 29, 2021:
Indeed the French is a bit dodgy. But would we really say in English that a financial consultant, auditor or whatever he is "takes ownership"?
Conor McAuley Oct 29, 2021:
The word employed is "validité" (perhaps in error, but that's the word that's used), not "validation".

The way "mener / à bien" is split up is hardly genius writing either.

There's a fairly strong smell of a text that has already been on a troubled journey from English into French, and perhaps a back-translation is being done because the client is not happy with the FR>EN translation.
Daryo Oct 29, 2021:
Details ... this consultant "takes ownership" not of the figures themselves, but of "the validation of the figures" - of the process.

It is "management jargon" that might sound as "waffling" but it makes perfect sense within the logic of that trade.

IOW in plain-speak: this consultant takes it on himself to first check ("validate") the figures before using them as a starting point for any kind of analysis. Sounds to me like a rather sound method worth bragging about as a USP, not as "waffling" ...
Conor McAuley Oct 29, 2021:
I also agree with Steve's own admission that it's HR blah or babble (that's not his fault).

The resulting sentence doesn't make much sense to me, but then the French doesn't either.

It is much more common to talk about taking ownership of a problem, issue, or challenge -- you take responsibility for dealing with it.

"taking ownership of the validity of the numbers" is waffle of the highest order, but that is indeed how these people talk.

"The playbook required to implement the roadmap to leveraging our differentiation", that kind of BS.
Conor McAuley Oct 29, 2021:
It's very easy when Steve gives you the answer (after my Discussion entry), isn't it?

Unfortunately his answer is quite hard to plagiarise.
Daryo Oct 29, 2021:
"taking ownership" of one issue or another is what good managers / management consultants are supposed to be doing - no need for much more context.
Conor McAuley Oct 29, 2021:
Context Do you have any more context, Wyley? Even the business sector in question would help.

It's hard even to hazard an educated guess with the information provided.

Proposed translations

1 day 12 hrs
French term (edited): s'approprier
Selected

takes responsibility for

le Petit Robert defines s'approprier as 'faire sien', and this seems the most likely meaning here. He takes responsibility for ensuring that the figures are accurate, so that financing, mergers and acquisitions are successfully achieved. No references or examples, just my instict.

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Note added at 1 day 12 hrs (2021-10-30 14:31:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry, instinct not instict!
But takes ownership of may be better, as it's management jargon.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Merci"
26 mins

to be on top of stg. / in control of stg.

suggestions
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

To be across (the financials/fundamentals/figures)

You might be able to weave this is.
I’ve been hearing it more and more to
mean “having a in-depth/extensive knowledge/understanding of a subject.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/122379/usage-of-...

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be across something

https://www.lexico.com/definition/be_across
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5 hrs

to keep abreast of

the financials, etc;
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+6
7 hrs

take ownership

Recruiter / HR blah meaning "to take charge of" with connotations of self-starting, initiative-taking etc.

Takes ownership of the accuracy, reliability and relevance of the reporting and analysis
https://lifeatexpediagroup.com/jobs/job?jobid=R-62801
Direct, honest, and supportive in communications and takes ownership of the accuracy, reliability and relevance of your [sic] work
https://www.builtinnyc.com/job/data/senior-associate-financi...
He takes ownership of the process, and is clear about the criteria he is using for assessing the whole team.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5085a2f1e4b022321f5f6...


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Note added at 7 hrs (2021-10-29 09:17:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In other words, you can translate it literally. Quite possibly it was calqued from English in the first place.
Peer comment(s):
agree Emmanuella
10 mins
agree Daryo : bog standard "management jargon" // agree, it was a calque from EN in the first place, so a most literal back-translation is all that's needed, trying to reinvent the wheel is pointless ...
2 hrs
Exactly!
agree Katarina Peters : precisely
4 hrs
agree Verginia Ophof
7 hrs
agree Cyril Tollari
1 day 1 hr
neutral Nikki Scott-Despaigne : I'm afraid this only tells half the story for me as the whole expression is "s'approprier... à bien". The person takes on the job of doing X,Y and Z, sees it through to the end and does so well.
4 days
agree Julie Barber : This is definitely the meaning, although I would consider other options (noted in the discussion box). I don't agree with Nikki as it is "mener.....à bien" not "s'approprier... à bien"
5 days
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10 hrs

to assess/check the validity/accuracy

He sounds like an auditor or a person who has to conduct some form of auditing

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2021-10-29 12:43:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

OR: "is responsible for assessing/checking the validity/accuracy..."

It could be helpful if Wyley would tell us this person's job title.
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4 days
French term (edited): s'approprier à bien

to see something through to the end

Re-read this bearing in mind the expression "mener qlqchs à bien", meaning that something is seen through to the end.
Here, the "à bien" cannot be ignored, lest you miss a key part of the meaning.
It means he takes care of X,Y and Z (takes the responsibility for something) and does so well.

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Note added at 4 days (2021-11-02 17:27:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The person takes the responsibility on board, sees it through to the end/does so well.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Adrian MM. : are you sure it isn't mener à bien .... www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/business-commerce-gene...
3 hrs
neutral Julie Barber : I agree with Adrian, that it is mener à bien
16 hrs
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