# I have no idea how this rumour got legs



## bblandine

Could anybody post an English equivalent for "got legs" or translate it in French ? Thanks.


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## JCEst

"got started" "gained momentum"


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## nouvellerin

I like JCEst's suggestions, and the imagery of a rumour "getting legs" is that it walked around telling everyone so that now everyone knows.


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## Missrapunzel

s'est répandue?


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## Aglandau

My suggestion: 

Je n'ai aucune idéee comment cette rumeur a commencé à courir.


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## Micia93

également :
"s'est mise en route"


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## david314

Missrapunzel said:


> s'est répandue?


 It's the same meaning:  _... how it *spread*. _


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## bblandine

Thanks everybody for all those very interesting replies !


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## Teafrog

Aglandau said:


> My suggestion:
> 
> Je n'ai aucune idéee comment cette rumeur a commencé à courir.


That's perfect, imo, as it keeps the "leg" analogy. Could you also say "…commencé à gambader…" or "…commencé à cavaler" to keep the humour in it?


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## Moonlit-Sunset

> Je n'ai aucune idéee comment cette rumeur a commencé à courir.


Je préfère celui-là : on dit bien : _Il y a des rumeurs qui courent... _


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## bblandine

Moonlit-Sunset said:


> Je préfère celui-là : on dit bien : _Il y a des rumeurs qui courent..._




On dit : "il y a des bruits qui courent". Je n'ai jamais entendu cette expression avec "rumeurs". Mais ça veut dire la même chose, évidemment.


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## bblandine

JCEst said:


> "got started" "gained momentum"



I did not know "gained momentum" yet. 

I think it is rather useful to get advice from  English mother tongue people
especially for subtilities and language habits you can only meet when staying in a foreign country. This website is a very good idea. I often check words in 
the dictionary.


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## bblandine

Missrapunzel said:


> s'est répandue?



ou peut-être "a pu se répandre".


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## bblandine

Micia93 said:


> également :
> "s'est mise en route"



Merci à tous pour toutes les excellentes suggestions de traduction.


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## bblandine

Teafrog said:


> That's perfect, imo, as it keeps the "leg" analogy. Could you also say "…commencé à gambader…" or "…commencé à cavaler" to keep the humour in it?



You're right ! We have to keep the humour included in "legs".


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## tilt

bblandine said:


> On dit : "il y a des bruits qui courent". Je n'ai jamais entendu cette expression avec "rumeurs". Mais ça veut dire la même chose, évidemment.


On fait bel et bien courir des rumeurs, si si !
J'approuve totalement la suggestion de Aglandau.


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## mgarizona

Actually the implication of saying something 'has legs' is that it is long-lasting. Many rumors are started but no one pays any attention to them. Other rumors never die, no matter how ridiculous they seem. People keep repeating them for decades on end. The classic involving Richard Gere and the gerbil comes to mind. That is a rumor with legs!


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## bblandine

tilt said:


> On fait bel et bien courir des rumeurs, si si !
> J'approuve totalement la suggestion de Aglandau.



  Si l'on s'en tient strictement aux expressions existantes, le bruit "court" mais la rumeur "circule". Maintenant on peut toujours affecter n'importe quel verbe a n'importe quel sujet !


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## bblandine

mgarizona said:


> Actually the implication of saying something 'has legs' is that it is long-lasting. Many rumors are started but no one pays any attention to them. Other rumors never die, no matter how ridiculous they seem. People keep repeating them for decades on end. The classic involving Richard Gere and the gerbil comes to mind. That is a rumor with legs!



In such a case we have to say in French that "la rumeur persiste" to 
include the "long-lasting" meaning.


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## Punky Zoé

Hi all

My two cents : ... comment cette rumeur a pris corps (not legs but body ).


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## mgarizona

bblandine's _persiste_ at least conveys the right idea. Could one say _la rumeur se perpétue_ ???

This still leaves the question of the "got." The speaker's wonderment isn't in fact inspired by the rumor's persistance but rather by the rumor's ever having had the capacity to attain that persistance. (Kind of the same thing but not exactly.)

_être jamais en mesure de se perpétuer_ ???


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## tilt

bblandine said:


> Si l'on s'en tient strictement aux expressions existantes, le bruit "court" mais la rumeur "circule".


Je ne serais pas aussi catégorique :


> *COURIR*, verbe.
> *B.−* [Le suj. désigne un inanimé]*
> 1.* _Vieilli._ [En parlant d'une rumeur, d'un bruit]  Se répandre dans (_cf. supra_ II A 2 a). _Cette nouvelle court la ville, les rues._
> source : http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/courir
> ​


Pour ma part, je ne crois pas avoir jamais fait de différence entre *rumeur *et *bruit *quant aux verbes *courir *et *circuler. *



mgarizona said:


> bblandine's _persiste_ at least conveys the right idea. Could one say _la rumeur se perpétue_ ???
> 
> This still leaves the question of the "got." The speaker's wonderment isn't in fact inspired by the rumor's persistance but rather by the rumor's ever having had the capacity to attain that persistance. (Kind of the same thing but not exactly.)
> 
> _être jamais en mesure de se perpétuer_ ???


* La rumeur se perpétue* ne se dit pas, non. Les traditions peuvent se perpétuer, pas les rumeurs !

 Pour parler d'une rumeur qui gagne en intensité et qui persiste, on emploi facilement le verbe *enfler *en français.
Pour traduire la phrase initiale, je proposerais donc : _*Je ne sais pas comment cette rumeur a pu enfler [de la sorte/à ce point].*
_


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Salut,

Et la rumeur s'est _propagée _?


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## Cath.S.

_La rumeur perdure._
Sorry about the absence of metaphor.
_La rumeur se perpétue_ (MgAz) ne me choque absolument pas.


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## david314

Hi guys, I like all of your most recent suggestions -I believe that they all capture the notion of _a rumor which perpetuates itself, sticks around, & 'gathers amplitude'_. 

24/7, _berzingue!_


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## tilt

egueule said:


> _La rumeur perdure._
> Sorry about the absence of metaphor.
> _La rumeur se perpétue_ (MgAz) ne me choque absolument pas.


_Perdurer _and _perpétuer _have the same drawback, in my opinion.
They both refer to time, whereas the other suggestions, like the original expression, refer to space: the rumour doesn't necessary lasts for long, but it's widely spread.


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## Cath.S.

Ma nouvelle suggestion :
_Comment cette rumeur a-t-elle pu prendre une telle ampleur._

J'étais précédemment à côté de la plaque.


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## mgarizona

tilt said:


> _Perdurer _and _perpétuer _have the same drawback, in my opinion.
> They both refer to time, whereas the other suggestions, like the original expression, refer to space: the rumour doesn't necessary lasts for long, but it's widely spread.


 
No, I'm afraid 'endurance over time" (not distance) is exactly what is being described here by 'having legs.'

I was able to confirm a suspicion that this usage of 'legs' is an example of _Varietyese_: a sort of slang used in the daily entertainment industry journal, _Variety._

Their website contains an online "slanguage dictionary" which defines *legs* thusly:

*legs* _-- stamina at the box office; "The film opened big but rival distribs are dubious about its legs."_

(In the US many movies "open big"--- make a lot of money their opening weekend--- but then lose audience. A movie like the new Batman "has legs;" it continues to make a lot of money week after week after week.)

This box office stamina--- the ability to endure, last, continue over time--- has been generally co-opted into the general language.

Compare to the image in the phrase "to be on its last legs" meaning "to be at an end, to be about to collapse, finish."

[That being said, I quite liked _a pu enfler à ce point_!]


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## Nicomon

mgarizona said:


> Compare to the image in the phrase "to be on its last legs" meaning "to be at an end, to be about to collapse, finish."


 "to be on its last legs" i.e. _battre de l'aile / avoir fait son temps_ is sometimes translated to French as _en être à ses derniers milles..._ which gives an idea of distance. 
But that may be - probably is - a Quebec expression. 

I googled rumor got legs (you get a fee more results spelling rumor the American way) and most hits sound like distance, more than endurance over time. Couldn't the expression be used to mean both. For instance this one : 





> The state is now trying to track down how the *rumor got legs* and actually spread across the state in a few hours


 It definitely sounds to me like got legs = started running. 
_Je ne sais vraiment pas / je me demande bien comment cette rumeur_ _s'est mise à courir (ou circuler) / s'est propagée _


mgarizona said:


> That being said, I quite liked _a pu enfler à ce point_!


 I like it too. However to render onto Caesar... see tilt's post #22 (last line).


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## mgarizona

Nicomon said:


> I googled rumor got legs (you get a fee more results spelling rumor the American way) and most hits sound like distance, more than endurance over time. Couldn't the expression be used to mean both.


 
I did the same googling and of the first 10 (of 43) returns the only one which clearly suggests distance instead of time is the one you quoted. (The McDonald's one is iffy.) I'm not sure you want to let the Kona (Hawaii) scuba diver blogspot be your guide in these matters, but yes of course people are free to use expressions to mean things other than their usual meanings if it suits them. 

I can certainly see how someone with no exposure to _Variety_ese can assume "got legs" means "spread" and in turn use it themselves in just that way. 

There, the waters are now entirely turbid!


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## Nicomon

Thanks mgAz. I may have read them too fast, misinterpreted the English or wanted the expression to also be used to mean distance. 
Like this other line which is hit # 6 or 7 





> - Doesn't anyone think that if it was started by an L.A. station, that one of us would have heard about it before the rumor got legs and headed back east.


 I understand "got legs" in this sentence as in... _grew legs and started walking towards east_.  I'm sure bblandine will know from complete context which of the two the author - whether he used the expression correctly or not - really meant, between distance/spreading and endurance/lasting.  

That said, I think that tilt & egueule solution : _comment la rumeur a pu enfler à ce point_ / _prendre une telle ampleur_ is a happy middle.


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