# comme un dessert



## craiguito

I'm reading a text which describes a large vehicle moving very slowly: *il avance à très faible allure COMME UN DESSERT* I've never come across this before. Would we just have to say it was at _a snail's pace_?


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## Cath.S.

Unless some people eat snails (dipped in chocolate) as dessert, I don't see what on earth this could mean.


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## Jabote

Thre might be something missing in the original sentence... I think I have heard somewhere "avancer à faible allure, comme UN CHAMEAU DANS LE DÉSERT"... like a camel in the desert...


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## craiguito

It's definitely DESSERT.
Stupid text!


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## Gil

Jabote said:
			
		

> Thre might be something missing in the original sentence... I think I have heard somewhere "avancer à faible allure, comme UN CHAMEAU DANS LE DÉSERT"... like a camel in the desert...



Et si c'était de la mélasse qui monte la côte en hiver...


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## Jabote

Gil said:
			
		

> Et si c'était de la mélasse qui monte la côte en hiver...


 
rofl... now THAT indeed is SLOW !!!


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## Jabote

If a cheese can be considered as a dessert, then a VERY RIPE cheese can walk too... and probably slowly...


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## fetchezlavache

do you have the whole sentence please ?


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## Cath.S.

A friend of mine just suggested to me that when you're a kid, you spend the whole meal waiting for the dessert, and that it seems like eternity...


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## Jabote

egueule said:
			
		

> A friend of mine just suggested to me that when you're a kid, you spend the whole meal waiting for the dessert, and that it seems like eternity...


 
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Now THAT'S clever !!!! Quite a good idea in fact ... ! Could be it actually !


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## fetchezlavache

_applied to a vehicle ?????????_ come on !!!! the idea is cute but i find it doesn't make sense at all...


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## Cath.S.

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> _applied to a vehicle ?????????_ come on !!!! the idea is cute but i find it doesn't make sense at all...


Well it was just a suggestion and i've read weirder similes before. 
Craiguito, what is the style of that book like?
Edit: Zut, il est parti!


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## Gil

egueule said:
			
		

> A friend of mine just suggested to me that when you're a kid, you spend the whole meal waiting for the dessert, and that it seems like eternity...


Lucky you.
You have smart friends


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## Jabote

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> _applied to a vehicle ?????????_ come on !!!! the idea is cute but i find it doesn't make sense at all...


 
He he.... I had kept "à faible allure comme un dessert" in mind... I had forgotten all about the vehicle.... ! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	









 Nope, definitely doesn't make any sense !!!


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## Benjy

and at the end of the day desserts move pretty fast when they are being shoveled at light speed into the mouth of a hungry man/woman


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## Cath.S.

Gil said:
			
		

> Lucky you.
> You have smart friends


I also have slower ones but I never quote them online.


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## fetchezlavache

fetchezlavache said:
			
		

> do you have the whole sentence please ?



when you have time, please do post the whole sentence, it lacks something after 'dessert' in order to make sense..


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## OlivierG

Le Gone du Chaâba:
"Encombrant le petit chemin de son nez de fer immense, il avance à
très faible allure, comme un dessert, un camion de poubelles majestueux, plein aux as, débordant de trésors de tous côtés.»"


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## OlivierG

I think "dessert" is not related to "faible allure". It just means it causes desire, admiration.


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## Jabote

OlivierG said:
			
		

> I think "dessert" is not related to "faible allure". It just means it causes desire, admiration.


 
And also like a camion de poubelles ???? Personally a camion de poubelles does not cause any desire or admiration in my little self...


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## OlivierG

Maybe you. But the narrator, in his childhood, lived in a shantytown...


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## Gil

OlivierG said:
			
		

> Le Gone du Chaâba:
> "Encombrant le petit chemin de son nez de fer immense, il avance à
> très faible allure, comme un dessert, un camion de poubelles majestueux, plein aux as, débordant de trésors de tous côtés.»"


Le camion qui va porter les trésors au dépotoir est donc "désirable comme un dessert". 
Il doit y avoir mieux que désirable, mais étoffer un peu serait un moyen de s'en tirer.


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## Cath.S.

> I think "dessert" is not related to "faible allure". It just means it causes desire, admiration.


That's right. I read the book too a while ago - but couldn't remember that particular sentence, my memory isn't that good.

"as tempting as a dessert", maybe.


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## Tsarina

Peut-être c'est parce-que j'ai faim à ce moment --- but what popped into my head was the image of a dessert cart in a fancy restaurant, loaded with big cakes and fancy desserts of all kinds, lumbering down between the tables ---


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## jalkues75

The garbage truck's advancement is compared to a desert as in Sahara or perhaps the Mohave.   It advances slowly as if advancing to the desert--which it doesn't want to visit!


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## fetchezlavache

merci olivier pour la phrase ! it's certainly an odd one. boy are there things about that book that i have forgotten ! i think the little boy is so in awe of the many goods spilling over the garbage truck that he compares it to a dessert.


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## craiguito

Thank you all for the sugestions - seems to have caused quite a discussion. I can see the image that some of you have suggested. Don't quite know how I'd convey that in English (I have to translate that particular passage). I also think it might be a spelling mistake.


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## RODGER

Just to have my two pennyworth, I think you've been thrown off the scent because the initial sentence is a slightly disjointed and "comme un dessert" refers simply to the appearance of the truck and not to its speed. So if we could rephrase the original to read

 "_Encombrant le petit chemin de son nez de fer immense, il avance à très faible allure, ce camion de poubelles majestueux,comme un dessert, plein aux as,débordant de trésors de tous côtés_" 

then a sense emerges. Non ?


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## Gil

OlivierG said:
			
		

> Le Gone du Chaâba:
> "Encombrant le petit chemin de son nez de fer immense, il avance à
> très faible allure, comme un dessert, un camion de poubelles majestueux, plein aux as, débordant de trésors de tous côtés.»"



Proposition (mistakes and gallicisms included):

Tantalizing as a dessert, the majestuous garbage truck, packed with treasures jutting out from all sides, slowly proceeds forward, encumbering the little road with its great big iron nose.

It's a start.  
I felt the inversion made it easier.


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## RODGER

Yes, so to take it on, "Like a tantalizing dessert, the majestic garbage truck, stuffed with treasures trailing from all sides, rolls slowly forward, filling the little road with its great iron nose"

getting there......

 Rodger


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## Gil

RODGER said:
			
		

> Yes, so to take it on, "Like a tantalizing dessert, the majestic garbage truck, stuffed with treasures trailing from all sides, rolls slowly forward, filling the little road with its great iron nose"
> 
> getting there......
> 
> Rodger


I like that.  I suppose you forgot the "big"  in "great big iron nose".


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## RODGER

yes, there's still a small problem here "great" on its own is not big enough for "immense" but "great big" is 2 words and amazingly when you think about it "big" is in competition with "great" somehow and reduces the impact, so what about "enormous" ?
"its enormous iron nose " 

Rodger


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## Gil

RODGER said:
			
		

> yes, there's still a small problem here "great" on its own is not big enough for "immense" but "great big" is 2 words and amazingly when you think about it "big" is in competition with "great" somehow and reduces the impact, so what about "enormous" ?
> "its enormous iron nose "
> 
> Rodger


I thought that "great big" was cute in this context.
I googled and found:
"...Perhaps I should explain myself, that is, "elucidate."
Great big words, I like big words.
Letter by letter, the bigger the better
Great big words. La la la la la la la la la la!"

Anyway, "enormous" sounds all right too.


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