# idées en vrac



## Christal2

Comment traduire "des idées en vrac" pour dire que l'on va donner quelques idées/ exemples en vrac (sans ordre particulier, sans logique spéciale).
Merci!


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## marcolo

My suggestion :

A bunch of ideas.

WR gives "higgledy-piggledy" that I don't know, I don't think that this expression is as popular as "en vrac". Let's see if natives have better ideas


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## Franglais1969

marcolo said:


> WR gives "higgledy-piggledy" that I don't know, I don't think that this expression is as popular as "en vrac". Let's see if natives have better ideas



I hate to contradict you, but  "higgledy-piggledy" is a common expression, at least in BE.

_Christal2, it id the custom of the forum to attempt the translation yourself first, which is why wildan asked you for your effort._


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## marcolo

How would you use it then ?

Ideas higgledy-piggledy. (5 hits on google  )

when "idées en vrac" gives 30K hits, not the same scale ...


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## myrrh

Well, if you put it this way, it could be "here are my first ideas" or "the first ideas i came up with" or "here's what i first came up with"..


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## Franglais1969

A mon avis, _brainstorming _n'est pas convenable dans ce contexte.

_Autre suggestion:
_
*random ideas.*


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## Nicomon

Franglais1969 said:


> A mon avis, _brainstorming _n'est pas convenable dans ce contexte.
> 
> _Autre suggestion:_
> 
> *random ideas.*


 
This one gets my vote.   e.g.  _an unsorted list of random ideas_

PS: I have never heard or seen "higgledy-piggledy", and can't say that I like te sound of it.


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## Angle O'Phial

I can confirm that higgledy-piggledy is BE. I've heard it before, but I'd wager that a majority of AE speakers haven't.


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## wildan1

_higgeldy-piggeldy_ might be understood in AE, but no one would attempt to say it with a straight face! You would draw a laugh with that word and distract attention from whatever you wanted to say, I'm afraid.

_Some random ideas_
_My first thoughts_
_Off the top of my head, I would say..._


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## happydaiz

how about _a mish-mash of ideas_?

Only if the context isn't too formal though.


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## Frenchaccenture

I would say *"Ideas in bilk"*

Cheers

FrenchAccenture


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## Arrius

If the sentence isn't meant to be pejorative, then *ideas in no particular order*.All the other suggestions except for *random ideas* given so far have been pejorative, and I agree that *brain-storming* is inappropriate (in any case the procedure requires several participants).


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## honeybfly

*random *ideas


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## wildan1

Frenchaccenture said:


> I would say *"Ideas in bilk"*



I think you meant _in b*u*lk _-- which is the literal meaning of _en vrac_ (des produits à vendre entassés et sans conditionnement individuel)

But figuratvely, this doesn't work in English.

_en vrac_ à mon avis ne porte pas forcément de jugement comme plusieurs des propositions anglaises faites ici -- _higgeldy-piggeldy_ (que je ne dis pas non plus en AE) ou _mish-mash_--tous deux suggérant que les idées sont " n'importe quoi ".

Selon l'âge de la personne (plus de la quarantaine ?) , _random _pourrait également porter un jugement. Chez les djeuns, plutôt pas.

Pour cela j'ai proposé off the _top of my head. Results of a brainstorm_ rend aussi l'idée mais le processus que cela suggère me semble plus organisé quelque part que _" en vrac "._


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## Biglake

Ideas off the top of your head.


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## prinjon

"Off the top of my head" is easy to understand and means about the same.

Anyway, it is a french expression which meaning would also "what comes first to my mind in no specific order". So it is acceptable and clear.


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## Arrius

Although I have never used the phrase, *off the top of my head* means to me an  idea or or number of ideas providing information, or a possible solution to a specific problem given impromptu at short notice on demand or request, not a confused collection of ideas as in* idées en vrac*.


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## Itisi

to make a list of/suggest ideas as they come


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## wildan1

Itisi said:


> to make a list of/suggest ideas as they come


That is what _off the top of my head_ means in AE in this kind of context:

_Just give me some ideas off the top of your head -- Donnez-moi vos idées tout simplement en vrac._


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## catheng06

Bonjour, 
je prépare une correction de bac blanc. J'ai des diapo de power point que je voudrait intituler "en vrac" pour y mettre des erreurs récurrentes mais nayany pas de lien ...... opteriez vous pour 
*higgledy-piggledy* howlers
ou howlers at randoms ? 

toute autre idée "plus anglo saxonne" bienvenue of course ....

Merci


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## wildan1

_Random howlers_ could work here, I think. Or _Assorted Howlers _(like a box of various kinds of chocolates).

Given the discussion above, I suggest you avoid _higgledy-piggeldy._


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## Hildy1

Arrius said:


> ideas in no particular order.


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## catheng06

OK thanks . I'll go for assorted howlers `.........


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## Chierye

Hello 
What is the best to say between "a jumble of short stories" and "a mishash of short stories"?


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## Kelly B

Welcome, Chierye,
Please tell us more about your own context. Cherches-tu à traduire un titre tel nouvelles en vrac ? et si c'est le cas, nouvelles assorties servirait-il tout aussi bien comme titre, ou y-a-t-il une nuance significative qui les distinguerait l'un de l'autre ?


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## Itisi

Welcome to the forum, *Chlerye*!

Both your suggestions sound a bit uncomplimentary to me...   Is that what you want?  Otherwise, 'an assortment', 'a miscellany'...?


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## Chierye

Kelly B said:


> Welcome, Chierye,
> Please tell us more about your own context. Cherches-tu à traduire un titre tel nouvelles en vrac ? et si c'est le cas, nouvelles assorties servirait-il tout aussi bien comme titre, ou y-a-t-il une nuance significative qui les distinguerait l'un de l'autre ?



Oui, ça aurait été pour un titre du style "Nouvelles en Vrac"



Itisi said:


> Welcome to the forum, *Chlerye*!
> 
> Both your suggestions sound a bit uncomplimentary to me...   Is that what you want?  Otherwise, 'an assortment', 'a miscellany'...?



So, is it possible to say "a miscellany of short stories" and "an assortment of short stories" to traduct " Nouvelles en vrac"?


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## Itisi

It would help if you gave some context...


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## Chierye

It is for a title for a kind of "book of short stories"


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## Kelly B

Si tu cherches à renforcer une notion qu'elles sont choisies au hasard, moi j'aime bien Miscellany of, qui est bien moins péjoratif que jumble ou mishmash.


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## Chierye

D'accord, 
merci beaucoup!


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## joelooc

a helter-skelter selection/collection of short stories     ?


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

"An Assortment of Short Stories", "Miscellaneous Short Stories"? (Note: the capitalization is American.)


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## Itisi

Slightly tongue-in-cheek, like 'nouvelles en vrac', I think, how about 'Diverse short stories'?


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## Chierye

Thank you vert much fort your propositions. 

I think I will take one between the two "a miscellany of short stories" or "miscellaneous short stories"(which is more American if I understood well)


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Chierye, what I meant was capitalizing the initial 'S' in *S*hort *S*tories was how we'd write it in American English. (Or maybe I was thinking of the protocol for using capitals in titles in British publications, but not book titles?)


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## SteveD

...a slew of ideas

(If you don't know this word, it's pronounced "sloo")
slew - English-French Dictionary WordReference.com


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