# un bidouilleur



## She-Elf

j'en ai une bonne: comment dirait-on un bidouilleur, au sens de bricoleur, qui arrive à faire des merveilles avec trois fois rien.


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## Bobbum

A computer geek?


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## whims

bidouiller :fiddle with
bidouilleur : a fiddler ?


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## harrythelm

Dans quel contexte ? l'informatique – hack ou bien geek; le bricolage, Mr. Fix-it


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## Bobbum

Q'qn allumé de l'informatique?


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## She-Elf

non, pas informatique. En fait je veux parler des gars qui ont fait les effets spéciaux de Star Wars (le premier!), le démarrage de cette industrie où tout était encore à inventer. Donc on parle plus de mécanique; d'un esprit très inventif et innovant.


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## harrythelm

Comme c'est souvent le cas, il faudra sans doute passer du substantif au verbe. On dit en anglais que quelqu'un "can do wonders out of xxx" exactement comme en français


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## She-Elf

wonderboys! non?


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## harrythelm

je ne connais pas ce terme


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## Transfer_02

You would almost need a whole paragraph to explain the meaning of bidouilleurs in the context you give! 

Those crazy inventors who were making up special effects from all kinds of nuts and bolts stuff: modelling clay, mechanical kits, miniatures, hidden wires, mirrors...


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## Bobbum

Un faiseur?


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## pointvirgule

A (skillful, imaginative, innovative) _tinkerer_?


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## Nicomon

pointvirgule said:


> A (skillful, imaginative, innovative) _tinkerer_?


  Le terme ne m'est pas familier, mais ça me semble correspondre.

En français québécois, un « _bidouilleur »_ est un « _patenteux_ ». Or sur *ce fil*, quelqu'un a suggéré _tinkerer_.


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## dunescratcheur

In BE "tinkerer" is good for matters mechanical but probably less so for bricolage maison. These days one frequently hears (and reads) the term "DIYer" which seems to cover both this and some "tinkering" too.....

For the unenlightened:

DIY = *D*o *I*t *Y*ourself


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## edwingill

I suggest handyman


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## Moon Palace

I like _tinkerer _for the context of Star Wars more than _DIYer _or _handyman,_ which to me seem more befitting for handywork indeed, but SW goes beyond this. 
I was thinking of _a jack of all trades? _


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## dunescratcheur

Edwingill is right (of course!) and "handyman" was exactly what one said before DIYer and does indeed include the tinkering element as well. 

I did find this as an online traduction of bidouilleur:

"Le crépuscule du bidouilleur

Tinkerer’s Sunset"

http://www.framablog.org/index.php/post/2010/08/02/apple-crepuscule-du-bidouilleur

...which is part of an article on "hacking" amongst other things, and on this subject I am aware that (in AE at least) "hack" has also transmutated from solely an IT term into an equivalent of tinker as in:

_"Students *Hack* Honda Engine to Run Entirely on Hydrogen.
Students from Hacienda Heights, California have built a vehicle with a hydrogen internal combustion engine (HICE) using a four-stroke engine from Honda."_

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/students_hack_honda_engine_to_run_entirely_on_hydrogen.php


So the sentence:

"...il m'explique que le moteur a était bidouillé"

http://forum.lesarnaques.com/encher...nte-moteur-occasion-sur-leboncoin-t79886.html

...could well be translated by "...he told me that the engine had been hacked."


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## dunescratcheur

Strictly in the context of the Star Wars special effects that She-Elf has specified,   "bidouilleur" concerns the ability of a person  rather than the actual bidouillage which is quite difficult to render concisely.

Moon Palace's "jack of all trades" is a good descriptive term about someone's abilities to do lots of things but doesn't say necessarily include an innovative or inventive element .... 

...one might also describe a Star Wars bidouilleur as a "special effects wizard"  or as being "mechanical genius" but again these don't quite express precise meaning of bidouilleur and regretfully I concur with Transfer02 

_"You would almost need a whole paragraph to explain the meaning of bidouilleurs in the context you give!"_...

....see above 3 paras


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## Moon Palace

dunescratcheur said:


> "jack of all trades" is a good descriptive term about someone's abilities to do lots of things but doesn't say necessarily what they habitually do, so the said "jack" might well be able to bidouiller without necessarily being a bidouilleur.


Yes, but this was precisely what grounded my suggestion: I believe the special effects wizards of SW ,to take up your wording, went beyond the trade they were supposed to master in those days, so that they came up with innovative ways that they wouldn't have thought possible before. They explored their field and took it to new boundaries, this is what I believe is comprised in _bidouilleur_ in this context: they experienced new tricks.


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## dunescratcheur

Moon Palace - My apologies I agree but edited too late to preempt your reply.


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## Aoyama

Well, I don't really think that "bidouilleur" can apply here to those who did special effects in the first Star Wars movie. Bidouilleur (as already said) means a "bricoleur de génie", someone who, in a way, has a gift at tinkering but is able to repair things or find an unconventional way to solve problems in a machine.
I'm not sure "bidouilleur" would apply to CG (computer graphics) either ...
Now, which word would be better ... ?


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## Transfer_02

dunescratcheur said:


> Moon Palace's "jack of all trades" is a good descriptive term about someone's abilities to do lots of things but doesn't say necessarily include an innovative or inventive element ....



The full saying is, "Jack of all trades, master of none" which is often (but not always) used to imply that someone tries his hand at a lot of different tasks but doesn't actually execute any of them particularly well.


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## Aoyama

In French, "qui trop embrasse, mal étreint" ...


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## Nicomon

Aoyama said:


> In French, "qui trop embrasse, mal étreint" ...


 This, to me is in English : _You shouldn't bite more than you can chew_ OR _grasp all, lose all._

For _Jack of all trades, master of none_, I say : _touche-à-tout, pro en rien. _

I'm no native, but I really don't think that solutions like _Jack of all trades,__ handyman, DIYer_ fit the context. 

Je continue de penser que _bidouilleur = patenteux = (inventive) tinkerer -_ voir le post #12

Et dans le domaine informatique, ce serait_ hacker -_ voir le post #17 





> En anglais, le terme _hacker_ désigne parfois une personne qui a une passion immodérée pour tout ce qui a trait à l'informatique, mais qui ne commet pas nécessairement de délit informatique. En français, on parle dans ce cas de mordu de l'informatique, de passionné d'informatique, de *bidouilleur* ou de *fouineur*.


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## Aoyama

Then also : "bon à tout, bon à rien" ...
For "bidouilleur", I'm thinking about "bidouiller = trafiquer (une machine)" ...


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## Pedro y La Torre

DIYer seems like a decent proposition depending on the context. 

I can't think of a word in English which fits the French one perfectly, _tinkerer_ doesn't sound great to my ears, but that might be just a personal feeling.


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## franc 91

I agree - to tinker with something means to make minor adjustments often not quite knowing what you're doing - amateurishly.


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## Nicomon

Pedro y La Torre said:


> DIYer seems like a decent proposition depending on the context.


 As you said... depending on context. From what I understand, a DIYer is a handyman. 

This thread specific context, as mentioned by She-Elf (the OP) is as follows : En fait je veux parler des gars qui ont fait les effets spéciaux de Star Wars (le premier!), le démarrage de cette industrie où tout était encore à inventer. Donc on parle plus de mécanique; d'un esprit très inventif et innovant. 

I maintain that DIYer doesn't fit the bill.  



franc 91 said:


> I agree - to tinker with something means to make minor adjustments often not quite knowing what you're doing - amateurishly.


 I guess definitions vary from a person to another. 





> Tinkerer is also a good colloquial description of what I am and what I do. I make things for the shear joy of creation. I also really enjoy sharing the things I make and the tools and techniques I use with other people.
> 
> "Bidouilleur" est un mot familier qui décrit bien mon statut. Je construis des choses pour le pur plaisir de la création. Je suis très content aussi de partager les choses que j’invente, les outils et techniques que j’utilise avec d’autres gens.


 *Source* You can also do a search on the page, for words like _tinkering_ and _bidouillage_.

So..._ inventive/imaginative tinkerer_ may not be the perfect solution, but imho - and for She-Elf's specific context - it seems closer than any word that would normally be translated as « _bricoleur / homme à tout faire_ ».


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## Pedro y La Torre

Nicomon said:


> I maintain that DIYer doesn't fit the bill.



I agree there, but I share franc 91's concerns. Perhaps across the Atlantic, tinkerer has different connotations though.

In this case, why not just use something like "innovator/pioneer"?


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## Transfer_02

Would "_a nuts and bolts guy_" fit here?  It gets quite a few hits on google but most of them are US Eng and I have no idea if the connotations are the same.  To me, a "nuts and bolts guy" is someone who likes building stuff (and also taking stuff to pieces) and figuring out how things work with pretty basic tools and materials.  But maybe in American English it has other meanings...


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## Bobbum

Nuts and bolts means the same thing here: the basic working components or practical aspects.


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## Nicomon

Pedro y La Torre said:


> I agree there, but I share franc 91's concerns. Perhaps across the Atlantic, tinkerer has different connotations though.
> 
> In this case, why not just use something like "innovator/pioneer"?


 Well... if you take a few minutes to actually read the citation and click on the "Source" link that I provided above (#28), and then search the page for _tinkering_, you'll know it has different connotations. 

Besides, pointvirgule (#12) suggested _innovative tinkerer_, which, you'll admit, is not as vague as _innovator_ by itself, that nobody would ever translate as _bidouilleur_. 

This was my last post on this thread. In the end, it's not my decision to make.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Nicomon said:


> Well... if you take a few minutes to actually read the citation and click on the "Source" link that I provided above (#28), and then search the page for _tinkering_, you'll know it has different connotations.



Not too sure what the aggressive tone is for? The page you linked to seems to be a mix of French, English and Romanian, which caused me to skim it rather than read in depth. Apologies.



Nicomon said:


> Besides, pointvirgule (#12) suggested _innovative tinkerer_, which, you'll admit, is not as vague as _innovator_ by itself, that nobody would ever translate as _bidouilleur_.



In AE, this may be a solution, I don't know. In British English it just sounds off, for want of a better term. Of course at the end of the day, mine, like yours, is only a personal opinion. The thread starter is free to make up their own mind.


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## Nicomon

Sorry PyLT. Was in a bad mood last night; nothing personal. 

I should have mentioned - instead of suggesting a "search by word" - that the info about "tinkerers and tinkering" can be found 
under the title *He wrote* (a few paragraphs after Jake von Slatt's picture) in this specific article : 

~ Jake von Slatt
- _The California Steampunk Convention_ *[FRA]** / **[ENG]** / **[ROM]*

Il a écrit :
Qu’est-ce que c’est que le "Bidouillage" ? (eng. Tinkering)


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## Bobbum

Has anyone considered a macgyver?


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## Keith Bradford

Interestingly, people in my French theatre group call me a MacGyver when I produce special effects out of odds and ends, but I'd never heard of the word in England.

I'd go for *Mister Fix-it*.

In England in the 1950s it was* Billy Bean* (who "built a machine, with sticks and stones and glue"). In the 1930s it was _*Heath Robinson*_.


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## franc 91

I was thinking of Heath Robinson too (I didn't think I was that old)


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## Keith Bradford

Wikipedia tells me that "*William Heath Robinson* (signed as W. Heath Robinson, 31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist and illustrator, best known for drawings of eccentric machines."

So yes, you're that old.

Re-quote: "in Britain the term 'Heath Robinson' is used to refer to an improbable, rickety machine barely kept going by incessant tinkering."


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