# drinkable



## Mamawousi

Hello,

This is part of a wine menu I am translating from English into French.
The description says the wine is "very drinkable".
"tout à fait buvable" would look quite wrong in a wine list. 
Would "agréable" be suitable?

Thanks a lot!


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## gillyfr

Yes, "very drinkable" and "tout à fait buvable" are very different. Agréable sounds perfect to me. How about adding something like "éminemment"?


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## Micia93

How would you translate "tout-à-fait buvable", then (in this slight derogatory meaning)


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## Gracewriter

Yes, much better! Can't imagine someone actually writing "very drinkable" on an English menu unless their second language is English. If I saw that on a menu here in U.S. I would probably laugh then look for cock roaches scurrying around.

I'd like to see agreeable to the palate or something along those lines.

Hope this helps.


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## Micia93

What I meant Grace, was outside the present context. 
for instance, you walk along the street, there is a fountain and you ask someone :
"peut-on boire de cette eau" ?
"ho, oui. Elle est tout-à-fait buvable !"
would you use "ho yes, very drunkable" there ?


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## Gracewriter

Eminently Agreeable <---perfecto!  I'd probably still add to the palate if it were written in English.


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## Mamawousi

Thank you all, that was _very_ helpful!
I'll try éminemment agréable, or agréable au palais!


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## Gracewriter

Ok, first I have to look up every word you just said in French, then I'll get back to you.  There is no word drunkable unless you are joking.  And it would be a pretty funny joke if you said that in context.

Humor is one of my strong points when writing so let me look up those French words so I can understand better what you are asking.  Sorry my French is soooo bad.


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## JeanDeSponde

Mamawousi, le problème est en effet que _drinkable _veut dire _potable, buvable_... donc déjà une mauvaise traduction, et donc in-retraduisible en français avec précision !
Gouleyant ? Délicieux ? Bonne chance !


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## Mamawousi

And Gracewriter, I strongly suspect the list was translated from French and Spanish in the first place, which doesn't help...


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## Asr

@Micia 

I would reply that as : Yes, it is perfectly drinkable  or Sure, it is drinking water.


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## Gracewriter

That explains it!  Sounds challanging!  Any time I can help, for any English meanings, I am at your service!


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## Micia93

Asr said:


> @Micia
> 
> I would reply that as : Yes, it is perfectly drinkable or Sure, it is drinking water.


 

Thanks Asr ! 
I was a bit lost with all these drinks ...


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## Gracewriter

"Could one drink this water?  Yes, it's quite drinkable."

English translation:  It won't make you sick if you drink it!

drinkable would generally mean, 

the substance is either healthy/unhealthy or is so thick or sour in it's nature you'd be afraid you'd choke on it.  Hence, drinkable.

I would never refer to anything as being drinkable outside of the above contexts.  In other words everything is drinkable in liquid form, so the question is whether it is possible or healthy when using the word drinkable.

I still like drunkable, even though it's not a word because it sounds funny.

In any event it is not a good word to use when referring to wine.


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## gillyfr

"Very drinkable" sounds very British to me. It's not an exceptional wine, but it's pretty damn good. OTOH, it isn't something you expect to see on a winelist (where you would expect to see wines that are at least pretending to be exceptional...). Possibly on a label, but more likely in a critic's selection.


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## JeanDeSponde

gillyfr said:


> "Very drinkable" sounds very British to me. It's not an exceptional wine, but it's pretty damn good. OTOH, it isn't something you expect to see on a winelist (where you would expect to see wines that are at least pretending to be exceptional...). Possibly on a label, but more likely in a critic's selection.


Well, French understatements are gaining in the UK, then - this is almost exactly how we would say _tout à fait buvable_ in the same context! (Though not on a label nor on a menu - but a critic could write it)


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## Gracewriter

Saying out loud "very agreeable" would be more Americanese.  Saying out loud "very drinkable" does sound acceptable if it's delivered in a British accent.  We would then translate it into very agreable.


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## Kelly B

I was thinking _approachable _was a more appropriate wine-jargon term (meaning pleasant, agréable as suggested above, simple, not complex, but tasty). Then I looked that up for ideas, and found _abordable,_ which is another totally inappropriate translation. How ridiculous does _d'access facile_ sound? 

Still thinking...


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## Topsie

C'est un vin facile à boire.


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## Gracewriter

_d'access facile_   Hum. Probably just me but I don't understand this one.

C'est un vin facile à boire.  Um, sounds ok, but not very romantic.

I'm still thinking too...


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## anangelaway

Gracewriter said:


> C'est un vin facile à boire. Um, sounds ok, but not very romantic.
> 
> I'm still thinking too...


Not romantic? I agree. Well, sure something romantic would be :
_Un vin charnu et souple, aux tannins doux et à la belle puissance. Un vin de plaisir, facile à boire aux arômes XYZ. (from the Institut du goût des vins) _
But yes, we're far from _'very drinkable'_. I have the feeling _'very drinkable'_ really is the translation of _'facile à boire'_ as described on many wine articles and wine characteristics. Vin facile à boire


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## Topsie

Of course the best (in fact the only) way to describe a wine is to taste it!
Mamawousi will have to send us all a bottle so we can decide what to write!
Some (not too risky) ideas : un vin rafraichissant / désaltérant / équilibré / harmonieux / accueillant / qui emplit bien la bouche....


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## Gracewriter

"Wines that soothe the palate and ease the soul"

Ok, probably too romantic, but I like it.

or

"Our wines soothe the palate and tickle the spirit"  <---"spirits" here is another word for alcohol.  Kind to "cheesy" but I like it too.


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## Gracewriter

Topsie, marvelous idea.  

Do send some wine so we can better describe it!  And while I'm waiting on it, I'll go and translate everything else you just said.  should be finished about the time the wine arrives.


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## Gracewriter

I sure wish the dictionary in here spoke the words as well.  It's hard remembering all the different pronunciations for your 3,000 vowel sounds not to mention all the letters that are completely silent...but not always silent.  

Sorry for going off topic.  But it does sound like facile a boire is a standard description in the wine world.  Too bad.  I would expect something more noble or regal or sexy.


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## Kelly B

We have pronunciations for a number of English words in the on-site dictionary (look for Écouter / Listen and a loudspeaker icon), but not for French ones so far. However, in our Resources subforum, Phonétique, Prononciation / Phonetics, Pronunciation thread, post #3 *Prononciation (synthèse vocale) Pronunciation (vocal synthesizer)*, we've listed several sites where you can listen to pronunciations in several languages including French and English.


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## Gracewriter

Merci beaucoup!


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## Micia93

"d'accès facile" doesn't fit here
"c'est un vin facile à boire" doesn't have the connotation if a tasty wine
I would stick to "c'est un vin très agréable"
there is also "gouleyant" (awful word but used in the wine jargon)


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## Mamawousi

Thank you all once again!
If I ever do go to that restaurant and order that wine, I'll toast you all!


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