Translation - French-English - mots d'esprit

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This translation request is "Meaning only".

Title

mots d'esprit

Text
Submitted by

BERNICHE

Source language: French

Soudain, il se pencha et me demanda poliment de lui prÃªter un objet sur lequel, au moment de le nommer, il buta sans parvenir Ã le prononcer.

je compris aussitÃ´t la phrase dont l'obscuritÃ© se dissipa.

Me souvenant de ma rencontre, je me mis Ã rÃ©flÃ©chir

L'Ã©tendue de ma pensÃ©e dÃ©pendait-elle donc de mon vocabulaire et, s'il en Ã©tait ainsi, Ã©taient-ce donc les mots qui contenaient l'esprit ?

Title	Words of wit
Translation English Translated by sagittarius	Target language: English Suddenly, he leaned and politely asked me to lend him an object which, at the moment of naming it, he fumbled for the right word. I understood at once the phrase the obscurity of which had dissipated. Remembering my encounter, I began to reflect. Did the extent of my thought depend on my vocabulary and if so, were these words the ones that contained a wit?

Validated by lilian canale

- 4 March 2009 22:17

Last messages

	Author	Message
		3 March 2009 16:44
	lilian canale Number of messages: 14972	Hi sagittarious, I'd translate that: "il buta sans parvenir Ã le prononcer" as: "he got mixed up pronouncing it" Also there are too many commas in the last sentence and an extra "thus". I think it should read: "Did the extent of my thought depend on my vocabulary and if so, were these words the ones that contained a wit?"
		4 March 2009 01:19
	sagittarius Number of messages: 118	Hi again, lilian! How about this version instead of "he got mixed up pronouncing it": "...an object which, at the moment of naming it, he fumbled for words with." It's more clear, isn't it? The last sentence "Did the extent of my thought depend on my vocabulary and if so, were these words the ones that contained a wit?" is OK now. Thank you!
		4 March 2009 02:28
	lilian canale Number of messages: 14972	Great then...to the poll
		4 March 2009 18:06
	irini Number of messages: 849	My French is not good enough for me to evaluate this one, but are we sure "l'esprit" refers to "wit"? I somehow get the feeling that the author is wondering whether, since his thoughts depended on the words he knew, the words themselves sort of contained his mind, his intellect, his thoughts so to speak.
		4 March 2009 18:35
	BERNICHE Number of messages: 1	THANKS FOR YOUR HELP