# C'est un passage obligé !



## Juju333

"Avec ce nouveau responsable, tu dois faire preuve de courage car au début il teste beaucoup ses employés donc il va te mettre des bâtons dans les roues! Mais c'est *un passage obligé*! Après il se calme! Il a toujours fonctionné comme ça!"

Comment dire cela dans ce contexte précis?

Merci!


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## antoine boileau

Hard to translate : "it's inevitable" is simplest. But you could write "it's a necessary hurdle to jump over", or "... challenge to overcome", or "..obstacle to overcome". Or even, if the context is right, "it's a sort of initiation test". 
I'm sure others will have better suggestions to add ....


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## elroy

Maybe: It's just a phase he has to go through.


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## Juju333

elroy said:


> Maybe: It's just a phase he has to go through.


It's not about the manager but about the employee. He has to go through that he doesn't have a choice. C'est un passage obligé (for the employee).


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## Juju333

What about "It's a rite of passage" or "It's a ritual"?


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## elroy

Juju333 said:


> What about "It's a rite of passage"?


I thought of that, but it doesn't have the same meaning.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

antoine boileau said:


> (Y)ou could write "it's a necessary hurdle* to jump over" [or 'clear'], or "... challenge to overcome", or "..obstacle to overcome". Or even, if the context is right, "it's a sort of initiation test".
> *'obligatory?



In another context, I'd suggest "rite of passage", but perhaps not in a business setting. 


Juju333 said:


> It's not about the manager but about the employee. He has to go through that he doesn't have a choice. C'est un passage* obligé (for the employee).



*_épreuve_?


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## Juju333

elroy said:


> I thought of that, but it doesn't have the same meaning.


Really? How so?


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

elroy said:


> Maybe: It's just a phase he has to go through.



I'm not sure I agree; we say of an adolescent "they're just going through a phase".

Juju333, for me a "rite of passage" is an initiation ceremony (for joining a group but not for proving one's worth to a employer).

(Edit: which I think is why antoine boileau said in #2 "Or even, if the context is right, a sort of initiation test".


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## Juju333

"Don't worry he's going to be riding you really hard at the beginning but he always does that. So you'll have to soldier on for a little while and then it'll get better! C'est un passage obligé (pour toi)!"


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Juju333 said:


> Really? How so?





Juju333 said:


> "Don't worry he's going to be riding you really hard at the beginning but he always does that. So you'll have to soldier on for a little while and then it'll get better! C'est un passage obligé (pour toi)!"



Would you mix FR & EN like this? Is the employee addressed a French speaker, and the person speaking bilingual and trying to explain the situation in the former's native language?

"It's a kind of test you have to pass." — ?


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## Jim in Phila

Suggestion"  "It's an obstacle (course) he has to go through."


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## Juju333

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Would you mix FR & EN like this?


What? It's just to make it clearer, so I wrote the first part in English.


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## Juju333

Autre exemple:

"Dans la vie il faut vivre des choses difficiles des fois. C'est un passage obligé pour prendre en maturité!"


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Juju333 said:


> Autre exemple:
> 
> "Dans la vie il faut vivre des choses difficiles des fois. C'est un passage obligé pour prendre en maturité!"


I'm not sure "_prendre en maturité_" is the best expression for proving one's capacity to do one's job well.


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## Juju333

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> I'm not sure "_prendre en maturité_" is the best expression for proving one's capacity to do one's job well.


It's a complete other example. Nothing to do with the initial one.


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## elroy

"rite of passage," when used figuratively, is used to refer to something  unpleasant that you have to go through to get on to a more pleasant stage.  In your original example, I thought you were just expressing that it was a "rough patch" the new hire had to go through.  If you meant it was something everyone has to go through in the beginning before they "graduate" on to the next stage, in which they have the privilege of not having to endure the boss's antics, then yes, "rite of passage" could work.


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## trans-latour

It is a compulsory step.


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## broglet

"But you'll just have to put up with it!"


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## Juju333

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Would you mix FR & EN like this? Is the employee addressed a French speaker, and the person speaking bilingual and trying to explain the situation in the former's native language?


Not at all.


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## Juju333

elroy said:


> "rite of passage," when used figuratively, is used to refer to something  unpleasant that you have to go through to get on to a more pleasant stage.  In your original example, I thought you were just expressing that it was a "rough patch" the new hire had to go through.  If you meant it was something everyone has to go through in the beginning before they "graduate" on to the next stage, in which they have the privilege of not having to endure the boss's antics, then yes, "rite of passage" could work.


It's just at the beginning yes, and then it gets better all the time. So I can say "It's a rite of passage"? What about the second example? Can I use it too in this context?


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## elroy

Juju333 said:


> What about the second example? Can I use it too in this context?


I don't think it works quite as well in that example, no.


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## Juju333

Alright, thank you a lot everyone!


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## broglet

You can't really call this a rite of passage because we are talking about "un nouveau responsable".  A rite of passage is something like a barmitzvah which has a long tradition.


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## wildan1

I would use _rite of passage _in the context described, where every new employee meets the same challenge. I think the term fits perfectly here.


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## broglet

Hi Wildan.  On reflection I realise that you could indeed use it in this way, as a kind of humorous metaphor.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

"It's a gantlet everyone has to run." ?


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## Ikwik64

"Trial by ordeal" and "ordeal by fire" are used figuratively with roughly the same sense.


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## elroy

Ikwik64 said:


> "Trial by ordeal" and "ordeal by fire"


I haven’t heard these.  I’ve heard “baptism by fire.”


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## Ikwik64

elroy said:


> I’ve heard “baptism by fire.”


Perfect! I wish I'd thought of that.


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## broglet

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> "Its a gantlet everyone has to run." ?


good suggestion but better still with an apostrophe and a u


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

broglet said:


> good suggestion but better still with an apostrophe and a u


Thanks, I've added the apostrophe, but 'gantlet' also exists, although it seems the spelling with 'u' has become more common; perhaps I should adopt it .


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## MLange

One other option: "It's a hoop you will have to jump through."


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## tswsots

I might say, "you just have to tough it out."


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