# Qu'importe le flacon pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse



## kate123

Quelque soit l'ivresse
Qu'importe le flacon


---->(this is from a song)
        what does this mean?

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## petitpoisson

whatever the drunkenness
whatever the bottle

i think; please correct me anybody if i am wrong


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## ChiMike

kate123 said:


> Quelque soit l'ivresse
> Qu'importe le flacon
> 
> 
> ---->(this is from a song)
> what does this mean?


 
This little ditty from Keren Ann Zeidel is probably best translated:

Whatever the state of inebriation (the French word can also mean euphoria), what does the flask matter (i.e., what we drank), 

This is followed up in the next verse by:
Quelque soit l'impasse, qu'importe le détour

Whatever the dead-end may be, what does the detour matter (i.e., how we got here)

And, of course, whatever the meaning of "ivresse" (inebriation, intoxication, euphoria), it doesn't come close to Coleridge:

Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes in holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of paradise.


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## kate123

I see...thank you v. much


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## salama77

hi,
In fact, the original sentence is really old: "Qu'importe le flacon, pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse", meaning "Whatever the flask, provided that one gets the drunkeness" but without (?) the negative connotation of being drunk (ChiMike is right with the subtile translation by "euphoria").
I particularly like this expression that can apply to anything, even sex partners!


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## annaagen

hi everyone, i'm having a few problems finding a translation for this phrase - qu'importe le flacon du moment qu'on a l'ivresse . it's being used to describe that its not the exterior of something thats important but what's inside....
thanks!


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## Léa123

How about: it's the contents that count, not the packaging.


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## dewsy

There is actually an English proverb (my motto when I was younger )

Never mind the bottle, let's just drink it!


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## xymox

Hi,

More literally I'd suggest:

It's not the bottle that counts but what's inside.

And for the very literal translation, it says:

The flask doesn't really matter once you¡re intoxicated/drunk.


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## Canaveral

"Qu'importe le flacon *pourvu qu'on ait* l'ivresse" Alfred de Musset
Ca veut dire la même chose mais ça sonne mieux non ?


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## Gil

I'm afraid de Musset was not talking about drinks:


> Aimer est le grand point, qu'importe la maîtresse ?
> Qu'importe le flacon, pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse ?"


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## Canaveral

annaagen said:


> hi everyone, i'm having a few problems finding a translation for this phrase - qu'importe le flacon du moment qu'on a l'ivresse . it's being used to describe that its not the exterior of something thats important but what's inside....
> thanks!


I think that anaagen was not talking about drink either.


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## redcedar

Bonjour à tous 

"qu'importe le flacon pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse" 

La traduction que j'ai essayée de faire est celle-ci :

"if you get drunkennness, euphoria, the bottle is not important" 

Quelqu'un peut-il me dire si c'est acceptable ? 

Merci beaucoup 

Redcedar


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## Wopsy

I'd say 'The bottle's not important, so long as you get drunk'
or 'It doesn't matter what you drink, so long as it gets you drunk'


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## surlatoile

"It doesn't matter about the bottle, as long as you've got the drunkeness"
ou bien
"As long as you're drunk, the bottle isn't important"

Quelque chose comme ça?


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## redcedar

Bonjour Wopsy et Surlatoile 

Merci beaucoup, j'aime la première proposition de Wopsy ainsi que la première de Surlatoile :

W : the bottle is not important, so long as you get drunk 

Slt : it doesn't matter about the bottle, as long as you've got the drunkenness 

Pour la petite histoire : un ami Chinois apprécie les Opéras du Sud de la Chine mais pas trop l'Opéra de Pékin. Il a eu une excellente surprise hier en allant voir et écouter un Opéra du Nord et me l'a dit.
I am crazy about Southern China Operas and Beijing Opera, so I tried to told him this saying.

Redcedar


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## JiPiJou

Alfred de Musset, _*La Coupe et les Lèvres*_

Doutez, si vous voulez, de l’être qui vous aime,
D’une femme ou d’un chien, mais non de l’amour même.
L’amour est tout, — l’amour, et la vie au soleil.
Aimer est le grand point, qu’importe la maîtresse ?
Qu’importe le flacon, pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse ?
Faites-vous de ce monde un songe sans réveil.

http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/La_Coupe_et_les_L%C3%A8vres


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## Keith Bradford

"Aimer est le grand point, qu'importe la maîtresse ?
Qu'importe le flacon, pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse ?" 

"The main thing is that we should love, it little matters who.
The thing is to be drunk on wine, whoever made the brew."


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## narwhal

The phrase basically says 'Regardless of the bottle (in this case probably wine) the quality matters not as long as drunkenness  follows.
What he was in fact saying referring was ...Regardless of how she looks,as long as there is sex'


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## A-class-act

Voila ce que j'ai trouver en cherchant sur Google 
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/poetry_literature/908238-qu’importe_le_flacon_pourvu_qu’on_ait_l’ivresse.html
[url]http://lemodemdefrancois.over-blog.com/article-12708387.html
[/URL]


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## goblinator

Bonjour à tous  Je cherche à traduire la phrase suivante "Qu’importe le flacon, pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse", pour une traduction de fiche technique sur le vin.  Je ne trouve pas de bonne traduction ("Whatever the container, provided it is drunk" ne me plait pas trop) et je ne vois pas comment je pourrais le dire.  Merci d'avance pour votre aide  Toute idée sera la bien venue   Bonne journée à tous.


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## Micia93

"no matter the container provided we get drunk" ??


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## VanOo

What about : "the bottle does not matter as much as the drunkenness" or "As long as we get drunk, doesn't matter what the bottle looks like" but I think better the first one (it sounds more poetical and it is important to be romantic when it comes to wine !)


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## goblinator

I will go with the fisrt  thanks a lot VanOn


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## Island Thyme

It sounds very awkward to use drunkenness like that.  You might say: he was arrested for public drunkenness.  But you'd say: The bottle doesn't matter, it's getting drunk that counts.

However, I really like Keith Bradford's lovely translation above!


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## Aaricia

Hi there,

Just a little mistake to correct, Kate 123 & ChiMike : QUELLE QUE soit l'ivresse, l'ivresse quelle qu'elle soit (...) et non quelque soit. Many native French-speakers make the mistake but it's a mistake though 

Quelques personnes (some people), quelque argent (some money, in an old-fashioned style)

Cheers


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## broglet

never mind the bottle, feel the inebriation


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## polaire

Who cares about the bottle, so long as you become drunk?


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## Itisi

It doesn't matter what spirit is in the bottle as long as our spirits are lifted/as long as it lifts our spirits


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## broglet

narwhal said:


> The phrase basically says 'Regardless of the bottle (in this case probably wine) the quality matters not as long as drunkenness  follows.
> What he was in fact saying referring was ...Regardless of how she looks,as long as there is sex'


if that is what he meant, an alternative would be 'you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire', but this does not appear to be goblinator's context


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