# Les jeux sont faits



## kinikya

How would you translate "les jeux sont faits" into English?
Thanks


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## bobepine

In what context?

In roulette for example, the croupier announces "No more bets."
Jean-Paul Sartre's book of that title is translated as "The chips are down."


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## pieanne

The dice are cast?


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## The MightyQ

What is the exact context?
If the phrase is used in a betting establishment then it is formulaic, but if it is used figuratively then there could be many translations.


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## kinikya

Thanks for your answers. I mean it in the figurative way. In such and such situation "les jeux sont faits".


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## Nathalie1963

Chips are down.


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## tay/mic

Bsoir
In figurative way,  aussi "la messe est dite" (c'est le "ite, missa est"  du prêtre, en latin, = allez, la messe est terminée) signifiant pour les fidèles  la fin de la liturgie.

En argot, " les carottes sont cuites" = it's all up


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## Nathalie1963

It really all depends on what you want to say. Context is always important.


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## wildan1

pieanne said:


> The dice are cast?


 
_The* die is* cast._ That is a bit different, Anne, in my experience. It means that a person or plan are fully formed and there is no changing him/it.

_die_ here refers to _un emporte-pièce_ (déjà formé) not _un dé_ (de jeux)


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## pieanne

wildan1 said:


> _The* die is* cast._ That is a bit different, Anne, in my experience. It means that a person or plan are fully formed and there is no changing him/it.
> 
> _die_ here refers to _un emporte-pièce_ (déjà formé) not _un dé_ (de jeux)


 OK!
Thank you, Wildan, I didn't know that...


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## Suehil

I'm sorry, Wildan, but I don't agree. 'Die' is the singular of 'dice' and 'the die is cast' means, indeed, 'les jeux sont faits'


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## Already-Seen

Suehil said:


> I'm sorry, Wildan, but I don't agree. 'Die' is the singular of 'dice' and 'the die is cast' means, indeed, 'les jeux sont faits'


_ Alea jacta est!_ as we say in French, I mean in France...


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## wildan1

Suehil said:


> I'm sorry, Wildan, but I don't agree. 'Die' is the singular of 'dice' and 'the die is cast' means, indeed, 'les jeux sont faits'


 
I stand corrected, Sue. _Alea jacta est_, as Julius Caeser said. I learned something new today!

_Die_ is so infrequently used in English for games (almost always _dice_ in my experience), I had assumed the expression referred to a _stamping die_, which once cast (coulé), cannot be changed...

(My apologies to Pieanne)


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## Nathalie1963

Excellent find on the alea jacta est  ! Did not remember my Asterix here !


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## Les Jeux Sont Fait

ca signifie "the bets are down"


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## syrita

Can anyone tell me what this expression means?

Thanks.

S.


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## Wheatus

Bonsoir,
Cela veut dire que c'est irrémédiable, qu'on ne peut plus revenir en arrière.
Cette expression vient du jargon des casinos, quand les joueurs ont misé et qu'ils ne peuvent plus changer d'avis.


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## syrita

Thank you, perfect!

Sarah


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## edwingill

"les jeux sont faits" in a figurative sense ="the die is cast"


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## syrita

I went for the die is cast, but all of them have proven very useful. many thanks.


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## Haghenschlapfter

I came here to understand this article title from le monde about SDK.  Which uses it in the negative.  This thread helped and I thought others would find it helpful to see real life context.



> Dominique Strauss-Kahn et la justice américaine : les jeux ne sont pas faits



http://www.lemonde.fr/dsk/article/2...pas-faits_1523728_1522571.html#ens_id=1522342


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## wildan1

Haghenschlapfter said:


> I came here to understand this article title from le monde about SDK. Which uses it in the negative.


In this context I think we might say in AE _The chips are down._


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## Island Thyme

Donc je peux les utiliser comme synonymes: les jeux sont faits = la messe est dite = les carrottes sont cuites ?


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## wildan1

To me, _les jeux sont faits_ is not the same as_ les carottes sont cuites_--the former is like the _chips are down_--all of the factors are now known and the situation is serious, but we await the outcome.

_Les carottes sont cuites_ means it's all over and the outcome is negative.


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## pieanne

The die is not cast?


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## Island Thyme

Thanks, Wildan, for the precision about the negative.

In AE, for that headline, we'd probably say "it's not over 'til it's over."


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## btrevis

Hi all

I am English, but live in France, and speak both languages.........

Les jeux sont faits does mean - the die is cast, but that has two meanings in English (the die, as in dice, and die as in a mold), which in this case actually mean the same thing weirdly.  The French phrase I believe means that fate is out of my hands.  I have thrown the dice and am waiting for the outcome that is out of my hands now, which basically means the same as I have made the mold and so the outcome is (also) fixed.


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## parm1024

_Les jeux sont faits_ is a gambling term. It's used by the dealer to let the players know that they cannot remove/change their bets because the game is starting.

In the book by Sartre _Les Jeux Sont Faits_, one can truly appreciate it's use in non-gambling terms. I can't recommend this short novel enough as it is a good introduction to existentialism and relatively easy to read for someone with a couple of years of French under their belt.


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## jasmim

"Lex jeux sont faits, rien ne va plus"

Would someone please help me translate this sentence into English? It appears in a Portuguese novel as a citation, and unfortunately I don't know a word about French....

Thank you in advance!


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## Uncle Bob

The French phrase is also used in English, so you probably don't need to translate it.

In gambling, it is what the croupier says when he spins the roulette wheel and no more bets can be made, though it is also used figuratively.

It is "The bets are placed, no more bets" but I'm a better translation is possible.


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## TechnoBob

jasmim said:


> "Lex jeux sont faits, rien ne va plus"
> 
> Would someone please help me translate this sentence into English? It appears in a Portuguese novel as a citation, and unfortunately I don't know a word about French....


Let me guess: You were on p 135 of José Saramago's novel, "The Double", correct? I came to this forum for the same reason! I'm reading the book to further enrich the experience of seeing the almost surreal movie version -- the just-released "Enemy", starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

Here, "the die is cast" appears to be a good translation of the protagonist's admonishment to himself, to go with the decision NOT to alter his quest, but rather to proceed by mailing the letter and by then reacting to whatever response he gets.


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## broglet

wildan1 said:


> I stand corrected, Sue. _Alea jacta est_, as Julius Caeser said. I learned something new today!
> 
> _Die_ is so infrequently used in English for games (almost always _dice_ in my experience), I had assumed the expression referred to a _stamping die_, which once cast (coulé), cannot be changed...
> 
> (My apologies to Pieanne)


Etymology is an uncertain art and I'm not sure you should 'stand corrected'. Your interpretation of 'the die is cast' seems perfectly plausible and I suspect there are two parallel etymological tracks at play here.


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## david314

I recently saw our phrase translated (in the French subtitles of an American movie) as:  All bets are off 

I am comfortable endorsing the above translation.


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## Upperleftcoast

kinikya said:


> How would you translate "les jeux sont faits" into English?
> Thanks


I'm a few years behind all those who have previously responded to your post, but in searching for confirmation of my interpretation I came across this forum today.  My interpretation would also include "what's done is done".  I've actually used the French phrase in a song I wrote, with my interpretation in mind.


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## oieblanche

Adding in my two cents even though this is a very old post, but I've just come across it today. 
Adding to the figurative use of the term:
I also think of it as "the wheels are in motion"  ... the action doesn't have to be 100% completed (what's done is done), but that it's too late to change what is currently unfolding.  "Les Jeux sont fait" is said as the roulette begins to turn... no more bets.... but the outcome isn't known yet.  The die is cast frequently has the connotation that the die has already settled and revealed the number... as the time between throwing (casting) and landing is so fast.

If you wanted more examples of English idioms implying 100% done, I'd offer "the ship has sailed."


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Either "There's no turning back" (wasn't it after he'd crossed the Rubicon and burned his boats that Caear said this?) For some reason, in AE we say "to burn one bridges [behind one]", or, in the negative / opposite (#21, for DSK), meaning, "It's not over yet". ("It ain't over till it's over", quote from Lorenzo Pietro Berra, best known as "Yogi", beloved American icon (baseball player) means rather "Let's not make hasty conclusions / Nothing's been decided yet.")


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## guillaumedemanzac

Island Thyme said:


> In AE, for that headline, we'd probably say "it's not over 'til it's over."



And in opera "It's not over till the fat lady sings,"  -- often used jokingly to mean Don't give up/ All is not lost/ ......

The die is cast seems to either mean : the mould is made and cannot be changed   --- as in the popular phrase about someone wonderful : they broke the mould/die after he was born  OR it means the oracle's pebbles as in Alea Jacta Est, the pebbles/dice have been cast/thrown and cannot be changed.

I would only use dice for a pair - Roll them dice!


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I think "All bets are off." means "That changes everything - what's been said (wagers made) before doesn't apply now."


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## BUCK52

A croupier usually says:  Put down your stakes !....then ..."No more bets"
"Les jeux sont faits" can be translated by "Dice (are) cast"


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I think that we say "The chips are down." to mean "It's crunch time.", "It's time to put up or shut up." [vulgarly, "Shit or get off the pot."]. "When the chips are down" = "When it's time to act."


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## oggers

Why in Ferris Bueller's Day Off does Ed Rooney translate it as The game is over! Is this right or is it because The Die is Cast wouldn't sound right?


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## JClaudeK

Nathalie1963 said:


> It really all depends on what you want to say. Context is always important.


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## david314

I just saw a Netflix translation of:  _ It is what it is._

Interestingly, this is somewhat different from the translation which I cited above.  It would seem that this expression may vary according to context.


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## LARSAY

Literally, _alea jacta est_ means "le sort est jeté". Julius Caesar said that when crossing with his legion the river Rubicon ,in the north of Italy, which no legions were allowed to cross from the north in order to prevent a military coup. Caesar meant that, after crossing it, there was no other choice than to march all the way to Rome.


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## guillaume de manzac m

The die are cast. The dice have been thrown. Kismet. There's no turning back.Toss a coin and let fate decide. LOTS of versions of this!

The most poetic version is  very long but very good :

*The moving finger writes, And having writ moves on, Nor all thy piety nor wit, Can move it back To cancel half a line, Nor all thy tears, Wash out a word of it.*


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